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Researching Professional Learning at Scale

PDiE Symposium | Glasgow

Professional Development in Education (PDiE) is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Taylor & Francis. The journal positions itself as ‘more than a journal’, involving members of the Editorial Board engaging in scholarly debate and conversation on educator professional learning with researchers, teachers, policymakers and other stakeholders at events beyond the journal itself. Over the years the Editorial Board has held symposia in a number of different countries, seeking to engage directly with colleagues on matters of interest in the field of professional development and learning.

This symposium in Glasgow is the latest in that series, and we are delighted to be co-hosting it in collaboration with two centres that our Editorial Board members are closely involved with: the Centre for Transformative Change in Schools (CenTCS) at the University of Glasgow and the Lastinger Center for Learning at the University of Florida.

Symposium Co-Hosts

Lastinger Center for Learning | University of Florida

The Lastinger Center improves the quality of teaching, learning, and childcare by researching, developing, and scaling educational innovations for adults and children that put all learners on trajectories for lifelong success. The Center serves over 50,000 educators each year through its professional development programs that promote measurable improvements in educator and student learning.

About the Symposium

The symposium will focus on research on professional learning at scale, taking its inspiration from recent developments in Scotland and Florida.  Scotland is embarking on an exciting and ambitious, nationwide programme of research-informed professional learning for and with its teachers. This led to the establishment of the Centre for Teaching Excellence, the overall aim of which is to:

‘…support teachers, including those in Gaelic Medium Education, to actively lead and engage with research and evidence to help inform and develop their practice. This will help support teachers to engage with research and evidence to help enhance their practice, which in turn will help to improve the overall outcomes for the children and young people across Scotland.’ (SG Tender document, September 2024)

Florida passed legislation in 2024 that established the Lastinger Center in statute and charged the Center (S. 1004.561) to develop and administer programs, provide professional learning and technical assistance, and conduct and publish research with the goal of improving student achievement in early learning, literacy, and mathematics across a US state with a growing population of over 22 million residents.

However, research on professional learning at scale is beset with challenges, not least those of context. There remains a persistent knowing-doing gap between research-based principles and actual practice that inhibits systemic improvements that ensure effective, universal and sustainable educator and student learning. PDiE, CenTCS and the Lastinger Centre have therefore come together to lead a day of exploration and interrogation of research and practice around organising, facilitating and understanding professional learning at scale.

Research Questions

The overall aim of the symposium is to build a research agenda that might support the development of a cumulative sub-field of research on professional learning at scale, drawing together international perspectives, seeking to conceptualise responses to questions including: 

• What and how do educators actually learn when nations or states try to scale up professional learning efforts?
• What impacts occur in classrooms, schools, and systems that constitute a return on investment to stakeholders?
• How can research inform policy to create conditions that support quality professional learning at scale?

Event Details

Date: Tuesday 25th March 2025
Venue: One A The Square, Gilbert Scott Building, University Avenue, Glasgow G12 8QQ
View the Campus Map; search for ‘Gilbert Scott Building: 1A The Square Café’ to see where the entrance is.

Programme