This paper explores how cross-institutional Peer Observation of Teaching (PoT) provided a stru ctured opportunity for professional conversations by which observers and observees shared and developed their perspectives on teaching experience and skills. Such professional conversations offer opportunities for both parties to gain a perspective on practices that may have been taken for granted. Participants from three Higher Education institutions engaged in cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional PoT, followed by facilitated reflective conversations. This paper captures the factors for success that enabled continuing conversations on teaching and learning and highlights the value of supporting such conversations outside formal, uni-institutional peer observation programmes.

During the emergency online pivot, two faculties (i.e., divisions) of a large Irish university aimed to document insights about teaching and learning in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. An anonymous online survey of all teaching staff within each faculty was undertaken, some of the results of which are presented here. Key findings focus on the use of online technology in higher education, demonstrating the differential impacts on different disciplines and year groups, and pointing to levels of educator readiness and the need for focused professional development and training to prepare staff for integrating online learning to ensure satisfactory outcomes. The emergency online pivot led to significant progress in the use of technology in higher education, and greater academic staff recognition of the benefits and scope afforded by technology. Arising from their COVID-19 experiences, staff expressed a strong preference for blended learning as opposed to learning taking place either fully online or in-person. The potential role of hybrid learning in ongoing efforts towards sustainability was also noted. Many of our findings align with recent research, which is discussed throughout. We argue that a ‘one size fits all’ approach to online education is not appropriate, with greater nuance required and consideration of the rapidly changing educational landscape and issues of environmental sustainability.

Expectations of teacher leadership for school improvement have gained increasing currency in recent years. While extensive research on teacher leadership and practicing teachers exists, comparatively little research exists at pre-service level and there is little empirical data regarding leadership experiences and practices of novice teachers particularly in the context of leadership for inclusion. This paper draws on empirical data from six primary teachers in the Republic of Ireland who had undertaken a leadership for inclusion and special education module in their pre-service education and evidenced their willingness and readiness to practise leadership in schools. During their first year of teaching the teachers were engaged in a community of practice to help bridge the knowledge practice gap related to leadership for inclusion. A visual ethnographic research approach was used to track the teachers as they transitioned from ‘talking the talk to walking the walk’. Analysis of results indicates teachers’ ability to exercise leadership in their own classrooms, in collaboration with others within and beyond their schools. This paper extends the knowledge base on how leadership development in pre-service education evolves in the experiences and practices of a group of novice teachers and subsequent implications for teacher educators.

The outcomes of a collaborative whole-school model of professional development on teachers' learning to enact an inclusive education initiative, in a mainstream post-primary school explores the outcomes of whole school collaborative professional development on teachers' learning in terms of the degree and quality of teacher change in relation to inclusive practices, in this instance specific to level two learning programmes (L2LPs) and what factors facilitated or hindered teachers' learning for enacting inclusive practices. The findings of this paper highlight the potential of facilitated PD to empower teachers to develop greater levels of knowledge, skills, and experience of inclusive practice to enable collective decision-making and enhanced planning and teaching for all learners. Though aimed at a specific programme (L2LPs), the authors believe this research has wider implications for supporting mainstream teachers build capacity in their inclusive practices generally.