Assessing the value of SCOTENS as a cross-border professional learning network in Ireland using the Wenger–Trayner value-creation framework

Abstract

SCoTENS (the Standing Conference on Teacher Education North and South) is a unique network of teacher educators from north and south of the Irish border. Funded by government departments and membership institutions across the island, it is facing a range of potential uncertainties. This study is an attempt to map the values and impacts of a complex boundary object. A framework designed by Wenger-Trayner was adapted to create a bespoke research tool. This was deployed to collect data in semi-structured conversations (cross-border pairs of respondents) and in monologues from individual contributors. The study permitted researchers to access both the breadth (from a range of stakeholders) and depth (from immediate to transformative) of significances and to capture the unique flavours and forms of perceived values across this terrain. Sustaining this vulnerable and valuable network in an uncertain future will be usefully informed by these findings.

Innovation in Teacher Professional Learning in Europe

“…However, SCoTENS' distinctive contribution and impact for teacher learning and teacher education should not be underestimated, since, as Clarke et al (2020) argue, "there has not been a tradition of formal academic and professional engagement across teacher education on this island … there was no ). The challenge is to sustain and grow this in a period of ongoing turbulence in wider society, the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and ongoing industrial disputes within the teaching profession.…”

What’s in it for me? A mixed-methods study on teachers’ value creation in an inter-institutional community on open educational resources in higher education

“…These cycles of value creation have been explored in various studies on networks and communities and from several perspectives. Previous studies have, for example, examined value creation from the perspective of teachers (Booth & Kellogg, 2015;Van Waes et al, 2016;Zaalouk et al, 2021), students (Dingyloudi et al, 2019;Forbes, 2020;Mavri et al, 2021), volunteers (Hanley et al, 2018), and participants in a cross-border learning network (Clarke et al, 2021). However, within the domain of OER, insights into value creation within communities are scarce.…”

Supporting Teaching and Learning Reform in College Mathematics: Finding Value in Communities of Practice

“…They identified labels for each type of value consistent with this study’s codebook definitions: immediate value—productive activities, potential value—knowledge capital, applied value—promising practices, and realized value—“return on investment” (i.e., seeing the payoff/benefit of the new knowledge implementation in practice). Clarke et al ( 2021 ) utilized the value framework to develop “ground narratives” that allowed them to identify themes within the broader community.…”