Theory Of Practice Architectures Research Articles

Middle leaders in higher education: the role of social-political arrangements in prefiguring practices of middle leading

ABSTRACT Middle leadership is an area of increasing interest in higher education with little research to date exploring middle leading from the perspective of function or discipline leadership roles within Departments. This article uses a case study of twelve middle leaders within a university faculty in Australia to examine the broader contexts of middle leading practices. Using the theory of practice architectures as a theoretical tool, the article discusses practice arrangements enabling and constraining middle leading for discipline leaders and coordinators. Of particular interest is the important role of social-political arrangements in enabling and constraining middle leading practices and the tensions that arise. Given the critical strategic role of middle leaders in leading teaching and learning in universities, this article provides a deeper understanding of the practice landscape within which middle leading practices happen and factors influencing the middle leader’s role so that universities can provide appropriate support and development.

Solo, collaborative or collective? Newly qualified teachers’ experiences of being stirred into induction practices

ABSTRACT This study investigated newly qualified primary and lower secondary school teachers with a master’s degree in Norway and how they experienced being stirred into induction practices in their school. The theory of practice architectures was the theoretical framework used in the analysis, and the term ‘stirred into’ refers to the dynamics of entering and becoming a practitioner of a specific practice. A thematic analysis of 42 interviews revealed three induction practices: 1) solo practices where the teachers plan and evaluate the teaching alone, 2) collaborative practices where the teachers plan and develop the teaching through collaboration with a few colleagues and 3) collective practices where the teachers can discuss their teaching with all their colleagues and engage in mutually beneficial and productive interactions. The study identifies how the schools’ site-specific practice architectures prefigures and shapes newly qualified teachers’ practices during the induction phase.

Beyond whole-school approaches to sustainability: Social practices and practice architectures at secondary schools in England

The education sector is an important component of the UK's net zero strategy, in terms of both the carbon footprint of school buildings and operations, and the opportunities to teach about environmental issues and empower climate action. However, school sustainability is often narrowly defined around individual choices and behaviours by different school stakeholders, rather than the broader patterns of social practices. This qualitative study of secondary schools in England involved stakeholder interviews and student focus groups at twelve schools in Greater London and the Thames Valley Region (Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire) where 142 people participated in this research, including teachers, students, parents, governors and school staff (leadership, facilities, finance). School sustainability was explored through the lens of social practice theory, and three bundles of practices and arrangements were identified: teaching/learning, catering/eating, movement/travel. Whole-school approaches to sustainability were reframed through the semantic, material and social spaces identified in the theory of practice architectures. School sustainability requires a substantial investment into retrofitting school buildings, but it also needs to be woven in the culture of a school – firmly on the agenda of the governors and leadership team, parallel to an issue like safeguarding – and supported by clearly identified roles and relationships in each institution. This research is aimed at environmental educators and researchers wishing to apply insights from social theory to develop more effective whole-school approaches to sustainability. This research also reveals a potential divide between state and private schools when it comes to environmental education, empowerment and action.

Försök till transspråkande undervisning

Today many classrooms in Sweden are multilingual, characterized by a diversity of linguistic, cultural and epistemological resources available for teaching and learning. Handling this diversity puts certain demands on teachers in order to provide all students equal learning opportunities in a context where the language of instruction is Swedish. As a response to this, local school development projects based on multilingualism as a resource have been initiated. This study focuses on two such projects with the aim to deepen the knowledge about how translanguaging teaching practices can be developed. To make visible what characterizes as well as enable and constrain translanguaging teaching practices under development, the theory of practice architectures is used. Three different practices are identified The Multilingual, The Ambivalent multilingual and The Monolingual teaching practice. The practices are formed by differing cultural-discursive, material-economic and social-political arrangements. Above all, cultural-discursive arrangements such as norms and ideas affect the differences between the three practices. Existing norms and ideas affect how material and economic resources, mostly identic in all three practices, are used. Furthermore, monolinguistic norms seem to form hierarchical relations. Thus, we argue to develop translanguaging practices multilingual norms are important to develop.

“Oh, you’ve never done that before?!” Preservice teachers being ‘stirred in’ to unfamiliar practices with infants and toddlers

ABSTRACT Undertaking infant-toddler practicum during initial teacher education is critical to ensuring preservice teachers (PSTs) are well prepared for their future role as early childhood teachers. PSTs, however, can face challenges in infant-toddler practicum given the demands of this unique teaching and learning context. A knowledgeable, experienced educator as a guide is key to supporting PSTs’ learning during placement. This paper illuminates the practices of an infant-toddler educator who supported an international PST’s learning during her first nappy change on an infant-toddler practicum in an early childhood service in Australia. The paper addresses the scarce literature on PSTs’ experiences in infant-toddler settings, which can guide their relationships with colleagues. Drawing on the theory of practice architectures, we analyse a video vignette of the PST and educator during a nappy changing practice. We highlight the practices of both the educator and PST which helped the PST learn by being ‘stirred in’ to this common but unfamiliar practice for her and many other PSTs who may never have held a baby before. Implications call for cooperative and experienced educators who can support PSTs with pedagogical and practical elements of the practicum.

Coming to practice differently in the workplace: a practice architectures exploration of workplace learning in times of change

ABSTRACT The recent pandemic resulted in significant changes in workplaces that saw people come to live and work differently. What was previously experienced and understood to be the ‘workplace’, along with associated work practices, has shifted and the construct of the workplace has become multiple as more people work remotely. We propose that these changes have also shifted practices of working, providing significant insights into how learning may be happening, not in ‘workplaces’ but rather in reformed ‘sites’ of work. To explore changed work and learning practices in sites of work, we adopt the Theory of Practice Architectures to explore how workers in managing roles learned to practise their work differently in newly formed sites of work. This article provides evidence from semi-structured interviews with 12 managers during the changes wrought during the pandemic in Australia using the ‘Interview to the double’ approach. We highlight how the managers understood their changes in work and shows empirically how the concept of ‘workplace learning’ requires a reconceptualization of learning that rejects a focus on learning as defined by process and instead adopts a practice-based definition of learning as ‘coming to practice differently’.

‘The wrong’ kind of students or ‘Santa’s workshop’? Teaching practices for newly arrived migrant students in Swedish upper secondary VET

At some upper secondary schools in Sweden, newly arrived migrant youths can attend vocational courses while studying in the language introduction programme. The teaching practices in relation to language learning for newly arrived migrant students in this kind of school-based VET and how these practices are conditioned are investigated in the article. Eight VET-teachers were interviewed, and the narratives were analyzed using concepts from the theory of practice architectures. Three teaching practices in relation to language learning were identified within the broader project of teaching newly arrived students in VET: i) Swedish language first, ii) second language learning-in-action, and iii) joint VET and second language teaching. These practices were in turn connected to three different approaches to language learning in VET: language learning understood as a) segregated skills instruction, b) as happening ‘naturally’ while participating in VET-practice, c) integrated in VET but requiring explicit instruction and daily interaction with Swedish-speaking students. A conclusion drawn from the study is that newly arrived migrant students are provided unequal opportunities for development of vocational knowing and language competences in Swedish upper secondary schools depending on local conditions. The results also show how economic resources and support from school-leaders provides conditions for re-shaping teaching practices.

YouTube as a site for vocational learning: instructional video types for interactive service work in retail

ABSTRACT Online instructional videos have been presented as an efficient instructional method in workplace learning and vocational education and training (VET). Increasingly, public video-sharing sites like YouTube are used by firms, educators and learners to teach and learn about work practices, new work roles and skills. However, more knowledge is needed about what instructional videos exist and how they facilitate vocational learning. This article draws from online video research to explore vocational learning on YouTube for interactive service work. Focusing on connected service encounters in which transactions and customer service are intertwined through interaction with digital technologies, cashier work was used as the empirical case. With concepts from narrative and multimodal analysis, the theory of practice architectures was the framework for analysing 160 YouTube videos for cashier work. The article proposes a taxonomy of online instructional video types for VET and workplace learning comprising nine video types divided into two main categories: professional instructional videos and peer instructional videos (vlogs). It is found that transactions and customer service are instructed separately. Consequently, YouTube videos do not yet prepare learners for connected service encounters. Overall, the taxonomy can contribute to a more purposeful use of video in VET and workplace learning.

Improving a Swedish health practice for refugees through participatory action research: potentials and constraints

ABSTRACT This paper reports on a two-year project focusing on health communicators working with refugees in Sweden. By employing participatory action research and the theory of practice architectures, the study examines a health information practice for newly arrived refugees and highlights its potentials and constraints. The joint meetings that occurred between the participating researcher and the health communicators during the project were the primary source for collaboration, development, and data collection. The findings show that perceptions of limitations due to existing power structures initially hindered the group from experimenting with new activities for the groups of refugees. However, as the communicators gained experience, the conversations in the joint meeting practice changed, which facilitated the action research process. By challenging common working methods, which were initially perceived as causes for concern, the communicators recognised that the concretisation of the health information they wanted to convey could also function as a useful pedagogical tool. The analysis shows that, despite constraints during the working process, the participatory action research practice created a democratic work process which empowered all participants. Collective talks in the communicative space nurtured an architecture that generated new ideas and made it possible to leave the classroom-based teaching situation for new ways of learning about health and physical activity. The findings also show that participatory action research made the communicators aware of their capacity to implement change by offering various movement-based activities that benefited the participating refugees and increased their agency and empowerment.

Decentring pedagogical leadership: educational leading as a pedagogical practice

ABSTRACT Pedagogical leadership is increasingly emphasised in education policies and leadership standards. Yet conceptualisations of pedagogy and pedagogical leadership vary from a focus on compliance that operationalises the role of formal school leaders, through to notions of pedagogical leadership as a praxis-oriented practice. This paper focuses on pedagogical leading practices in school settings in Sweden and Australia. Utilising the theory of practice architectures, it explores how historical notions of pedagogical leadership have changed over time in the two countries. Findings show that there are different depths of pedagogical understanding and differences between understandings of individual and collective pedagogy in policy, school leadership and practice. Both cases raise questions about the state of educational leadership and pedagogical leadership globally and the decentring of pedagogy from students, the ultimate purpose of pedagogical practice. Properly understanding pedagogy is one way of decentring the popular role title ‘pedagogical leader’.

Norm Critical Projects in Swedish School Librarian Practices

In this article, we explore the practices of school librarians with a specific focus on norm critical pedagogy, a distinctively Scandinavian concept with a basis in critical pedagogies. In Sweden, norm critique is a practice, a pedagogy and a discourse. Our article offers examples of school librarian practices that deal with issues of sexuality and gender conceptualized in their work with LGBTQ+ literature from a norm critical perspective. We analysed semi-structured interviews with eight librarians in four secondary and upper secondary schools through the lens of the theory of practice architectures (Kemmis & Grootenboer, 2008). Our findings demonstrate how the norm critical practices of school librarians are enabled and constrained by arrangements within the school site, as well as by management, colleagues and professional learning practices. The projects carried out by school librarians that employ norm critical perspectives are both strengthened and challenged by collaboration with principals and other education professionals at the school site. When teachers challenge the views of librarians, they the latter have to re-think and re-negotiate normative positions. Hence, norm critical thinking is not only taught but also practiced in the everyday work in school libraries. This article argues that these norm critical perspectives and the librarians’ practices represent important contributions to the democratic assignment of Swedish schools.

Placement Architectures in Practice: An Exploration of Student Learning during Non-Traditional Work-Integrated Learning in Rural Communities

Work-integrated learning (WIL) in rural communities provides students with important learning opportunities while also providing a service to those communities. To optimise the potential benefits of work-integrated learning for health students and rural communities it is important to explore the practices and outcomes of these experiences. This study used a qualitative research design underpinned by the theoretical framework of Theory of Practice Architectures to examine the way students learn during these placements. Purposive sampling was used to identify students for participation in the study. Seven students from the disciplines of paramedicine, physiotherapy, and speech pathology participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. The learning described by the students was examined, followed by a critical interrogation of the data to assess how these learnings and associated practices were made possible given the site-specific practice architectures. The findings of the research are represented by three themes: learning affordances related to placement design, learning through relationships between people and professions, and learning through rural embeddedness. Being embedded in rural communities gave the students access to several arrangements that fostered learning, particularly through the sayings, relatings and doings that the students engaged with. This research demonstrates the transformative potential of rural WIL opportunities for learning and future rural practice.

Developing school leading guidelines facilitating a whole school approach to education for sustainable development

This study explored the function of school leading in the implementation process of education for sustainable development (ESD) in five Swedish schools employing a whole school approach (WSA). A follow-up study design was used, in which schools that had initiated an ESD project in 2016 were subsequently visited twice for interviews with principals during the project and after it was finalized. The theory of practice architectures in combination with the concept of school improvement capacity was used as the theoretical framework in the analysis. The study showed how school leading should be about enhancing the local school’s capacity to improve. It also showed how specific practice architectures prefigured a WSA to ESD and how school leading in this context was about arranging—or orchestrating—practice architectures in ways that enabled such an approach. The issues of time and endurance were pivotal. Based on the empirical results from this study and school improvement theory, guidelines were developed that can be used to drive a WSA to ESD process forward through three different school improvement phases: initiation, implementation, and institutionalization. The limitations and suggestions for further research are also discussed.

Student teachers’ research and development (R&D) practice - constraining and supporting practice architectures

ABSTRACT An important aim of teacher education is to produce teachers who are innovators and education researchers who engage in continuous learning about teaching as part of their professional lives. For student teachers to develop research skills and turn their knowledge into professional research and development (R&D) competence, they must practice their skills and apply their knowledge to relevant contexts. This study uses the theory of practice architectures as a theoretical and analytical lens to examine the arrangements that enable and constrain student teachers’ R&D practice. A descriptive case study was conducted with participants from two practicum groups from a master’s programme in Norway. While the use of observational tools was found to enable R&D practice, constraining arrangements were also identified. The article argues for greater attention to student teachers’ research activities during practicum, particularly organisational conditions needed to enhance the relationship between university learning and practicum-based learning.

‘Is there anything more to professionalism than knowledge?’—relating theory and practice in a university-based institutionalisation of a third space for preservice teachers

ABSTRACT This article investigates practices that engage preservice teachers’ ideas of professionalism within the context of a university-based mentoring programme. The case is explored by observation of mentoring sessions, analysis of documents grounding the mentoring sessions, and mentor and mentee interviews. Practices are investigated through the theory of practice architectures and made the subject of a thematic analysis. The purpose of the investigation is to highlight how practices can contribute to enhancing preservice teachers’ understanding of different aspects of professionalism, particularly those related to expectations of teachers’ professional competence. The findings show how mentoring practices can contribute to widening preservice teachers’ understanding and how contextual factors, like power relations, can come into play in mentoring practices. The analyses illuminate how professionalism is being negotiated in a third space institutionalised in a campus-based mentor programme in teacher education.

Connective Enactment and Collective Accomplishment in Professional Practices

Working with others is key to professionalism but little attention has been given to how specific actions contribute to collective practices to secure shared ends in work. This essay considers how professionals’ actions connect with one another in distributed (multi-participant) work practices. Recently, Hopwood, Blomberg, Dahlberg and Abrant Dahlgren identified a new way of viewing how professionals in distributed practices coordinate their actions to accomplish shared ends, in terms of phenomena they describe as “connective enactments” and “collective accomplishments”. In this essay, we explore the possibility that these phenomena have far more general application than the cases studied by Hopwood et al. We use the theory of practice architectures to outline this more general account and test its viability in by examining a case of culinary services practices. This more generalised account may offer new ways to understand features of distributed work practices and enhance professional practice and learning.

Principles for school student participation in pre-service teacher action research: a practice architecture’s perspective

ABSTRACT This study focuses on pre-service teachers’ views of the conditions that foster their participatory action research practices in secondary schools and on how these conditions can inform the development of a teacher education program for a participatory approach. By using the Theory of Practice Architectures as an analytical lens, eight cases of participatory action research projects were studied at two interrelated sites of pre-service teachers’ learning: the teacher education institute and the internship school. Findings shed light on the conditions for fostering participatory action research practices in a teacher education context in terms of three kinds of arrangements, i.e. cultural-discursive, material-economic, and social-political. Based on the findings, a set of 17 principles for supporting participatory research practices is presented that can be used to assess the viability of preservice teachers’ participatory action research within a teacher education program, and that also supports a well-aligned institute-school collaboration.

Leading practices of Steiner school principals: a reflective practice perspective

ABSTRACT This article is based on the author’s autoethnographical research on leading practices of Steiner school principals over a period of major change and crisis in a Steiner school’s life. This research included the use of the theory of practice architectures to uncover unsustainable contradictions in Steiner schools which constrain the full promise of the educational approach as an engine room for social change and renewal. These contradictions include doubt and uncertainty about the role of the principal and of leadership itself; and the depth of the emotional load of the principal and teachers in holding the competing ideological and pedagogical tensions of the Steiner and broader educational policy environment. Maintaining the integrity of the higher purposes of Steiner education involves moving away from a leader-centric approach that does not fit well within the Steiner school ethos, to embrace capable, praxis-oriented leading practices which involve intentional hierarchy and healthy collective participation.

Stödpraktiker i relation till arbetsplatsförlagt lärande i svensk gymnasial lärlingsutbildning

This article explores educational support practices during workplace-based learning in upper secondary apprenticeship education in Sweden. Many students in need of educational support attend upper secondary VET, but how they are supported in relation to workplace-based learning has not been investigated in any extensive way. 15 semi-structured interviews with upper secondary VET-school personnel were conducted. Through the use of concepts from the theory of practice architectures three different support projects embedded within three practices were identified: a workplace socialization project; a qualification project; and a social-pedagogical project. These support practices were conditioned by how students were viewed; the allocation of resources at the local schools, and the schools’ possibilities to influence the workplaces. The study concludes that support for workplace-based learning is shaped as a one-sided responsibility falling on the schools. Although apprenticeship education might fit some students in need of support, many of them are left without any support during the workplace-based learning part.

Promoting students’ safety and wellbeing: ethical practice in schools

Although ‘child safety’ is now a national policy priority in Australia, there is little research exploring the practices in schools that contribute to children and young people’s felt sense of safety and wellbeing. Drawing on a mixed-method Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery project, this article presents findings from interviews with school staff (N = 10), leaders (N = 5) and nine focus groups with students (N = 58), in primary and secondary schools in three Australian states (New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia). We employ relational ethics, recognition theory and the theory of practice architectures to explore practices at school that support student wellbeing and safety. The findings contribute significantly to understanding the ‘bundled’ nature of current practices and the conditions that enable and constrain these. Close attention to these findings is critical as schools seek to operationalise the National Child Safe Principles and refine ongoing safeguarding procedures. The findings have informed the development of an online survey that is currently testing, on a much larger scale, which elements of ethical practice are most positively associated with students’ safety, wellbeing and recognition at school.