International Conference 2026
The Professional Learning Atlas: Mapping Frontiers in Research, Policy, and Practice
The IPDA International Conference 2026 took place at the Spencer Hotel in Dublin, Ireland from 5-6 June 2026.
Our 2026 conference theme is ‘The Professional Learning Atlas: Mapping Frontiers in Research, Policy, and Practice’.
This conference positions the professional learning landscape as a vast and dynamic atlas – an interconnected system of frontiers representing research, policy, advocacy, diplomacy, agency, and practice.
Each “frontier” in this metaphorical atlas represents a critical component of professional growth and its impact on real-world implementation.
Through exploration, discovery, and charting, attendees will collaboratively map new ways to connect research theory to action, vision to impact, and intention to transformation.
Conference strands
This conference strand explores how professional learning is shaped by geographic and social contexts, emphasising inclusion and equity in education. Aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education), it examines barriers to lifelong learning and strategies to ensure equitable access for all, regardless of location or background. Discussions will focus on fostering professional learning that reduces educational disparities and promotes inclusive learning environments. By addressing these challenges, this strand aims to advance sustainable, high-quality education globally. The below are some prompt questions for you to consider:
How do space and time shape the opportunities, challenges, and evolutions of professional learning in education? How do we support professional learning in diverse contexts? What can be used to create more inclusive and accessible professional learning experiences?
This conference strand explores emerging opportunities, dilemmas, and challenges in professional learning. It examines how new frontiers—such as technological advancements, policy shifts, and evolving workplace demands—reshape professional learning. Discussions will focus on navigating these complexities. By mapping these new landscapes, the strand aims to foster innovative approaches that support lifelong learning and professional growth. The below are some prompt questions for you to consider:
What emerging trends or innovations in professional learning excite you the most? How can new technologies enhance professional learning in your field? What role does mentorship play in navigating new frontiers of professional learning? How do you address resistance to change in professional learning environments? How can organisations ensure that professional learning remains relevant and adaptable to individual needs? What are the opportunities for professional learning that are not fully recognised or that we are not fully embracing-how can we bridge that gap?
This conference strand explores the potential transformative impact of professional collaboration in enhancing learning and development. It examines how connections across disciplines, sectors, and geographies foster innovation, knowledge sharing, and inclusive growth. Discussions will highlight effective collaborative practices, challenges in building partnerships, and strategies for sustainable professional networks. By emphasising the power of working together, this strand aims to strengthen professional collaboration to drive meaningful change. The questions below offer some relevant prompts to consider for this strand:
How has your professional learning been shaped by both local and global influences? How has collaboration with diverse professionals (locally or globally) enhanced your learning and development? How can collaboration across disciplines or industries lead to better learning opportunities? What lessons can local professional communities learn from global networks, and vice versa? Where are cross sectoral professional communities and collaboration visible and what is the potential learning within these communities?
This conference strand explores the design, implementation, and/or impact of transformative professional learning. It examines innovative approaches that drive meaningful change, emphasising strategies that enhance engagement, effectiveness, and long-term outcomes. Discussions will focus on best practices, challenges, and the evidence-based impact of professional learning initiatives. By mapping diverse pathways, this strand aims to inspire sustainable and impactful learning experiences across various professional contexts.The questions below offer some relevant prompts to consider for this strand:
What key principles should guide the design of transformative professional learning experiences? How can we know that professional learning is transformative? How can organisations foster a culture that supports ongoing professional growth? How does leadership influence the successful implementation of professional learning programs? How do you define and measure the success of professional learning initiatives? What are the long-term effects of transformative professional learning on individuals, organisations, and communities?
Photo gallery
Tickets and registration
Please use the following links to book your place at the conference. Administrators or group bookings please visit this page.
Your conference ticket includes lunch and refreshments. It does not include accommodation. The conference dinner can be booked separately, and will take place on Friday evening at The Spencer Hotel at a cost of £60.
Location: The Spencer Hotel, Dublin
June is one of the best times to visit Dublin. Days are long — sunset isn’t until around 9.30pm — and the city has a real energy about it. Temperatures typically sit between 12–18°C, so it’s pleasant rather than hot. A light jacket and a compact umbrella are always worth packing, but you’re unlikely to need anything heavier. Dublin is a very walkable city with a fantastic food and cafe scene, and the area around the Spencer Hotel has easy access to the Docklands, the IFSC, and the city centre.
The Spencer Hotel
Address: Excise Walk, IFSC, Dublin 1, Ireland, D01 X4C9
Located on the banks of the River Liffey, The Spencer Hotel is a 4-star hotel in Dublin City Centre, perfectly positioned in the IFSC to explore all that Dublin has to offer.
Parking
The Spencer Hotel provides secure parking to guests at The Clarion Quay Car Park. View full details.
This link to Parkopedia may also be useful to find other local options.
Accommodation
Rooms are available at the Spencer Hotel, which is ideal for convenience. For those looking for alternatives nearby, the following hotels are all within easy reach of the venue:
Getting there
Travelling to Dublin by public transport? The venue is conveniently connected to both Connolly and Heuston Stations, linking Dublin with the rest of Ireland.
The LUAS Red Line stops just behind the hotel at Mayor Square/NCI, and Connolly Station is only a 5-minute walk away.
Bursaries
IPDA is pleased to offer a limited number of bursaries to support up to 8 members in attending the 2026 Annual Conference.
The bursaries aim to reduce financial and practical barriers to participation. They are especially intended for members who may otherwise be unable to attend, including:
- Students
- Early Career Researchers (completed doctorate within the last 5 years)
- Members from developing countries
- Independent researchers
- Teachers and practitioners
- Full-time parents and carers
- Unemployed individuals
- Retired individuals
- Self-funded delegates
- Individuals with registered disabilities
If you are part of a group of six or more attendees from the same institution, please contact the IPDA Administration team to request a group discount code.
Keynotes & Presentations
Dr Romina Madrid Miranda, University of Stirling
Mapping Networked Learning Systems for Equity and Sustainability
Education sits at the intersection of urgent global challenges: the climate crisis, widening inequities, and fragile democracies. Goal 4 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals reminds us that education is both a right and a lever for transformation. Yet schools and systems are caught between reproducing unsustainable economic logics and leading movements for equity and sustainability. Within this tension, teachers’ and leaders’ roles must be reimagined—not to prepare learners for the world of the past, but to equip them for the world that is coming. This requires rethinking professional learning to build cultures of inquiry, collaboration, and transformation across systems.
This keynote draws on international cases to map possibilities and challenges for leadership professional learning. In Latin America, fragile infrastructures reveal the urgency of sustainability, contextual adaptation, and political awareness in professional development. In Scotland, a well-established infrastructure offers rich opportunities for collaboration, yet faces the paradox of abundance: with so many initiatives, coherence and impact on student learning can become fragmented.
Across contexts, networks and collaboration emerge as both a strength and a site of tension. While essential for equity and resilience, partnerships are often romanticised; in practice, power imbalances and political dynamics shape outcomes.
The keynote concludes by advancing the idea of the Networked Learning System (NLS): a framework to embed professional learning within wider ecosystems. Anchored in equity, reciprocity, evidence, and inquiry, the NLS envisions professional learning that strengthens leadership resilience, cultivates sustainability education, and builds the collective capacity needed for systems change.
Dr. Romina Madrid Miranda is a Senior Lecturer in Educational Leadership at the University of Stirling and Programme Director of the MSc in Educational Leadership. Her research examines how school leaders foster collaboration, equity, and system improvement. She leads international projects in Chile, the USA, and the UK on system leadership, youth climate action, and networked learning. Dr. Madrid Miranda co-convenes multiple leadership networks and serves on the editorial boards of journals focused on leadership and school improvement.
Dr Mark Carver, University of St Andrews
What does it look like to be a scholarly practitioner? ‘Doctorateness’ and ‘graduateness’ as threshold concepts
Emerging researchers are well-placed to find interesting areas for research that have a direct impact on practice in their context. But it can be challenging to pivot between research and practice. In this session, I offer two related concepts of doctorateness and graduateness and how they can be regarded as threshold concepts – potentially troubling, but irreversible changes in how we relate to our practice. As well as directing professional learning to help cross these boundaries, these concepts can help emerging researchers map their own territory and feel more coherent in their practice.
Mark Carver is director of postgraduate research as the International Education and Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of St Andrews, where he runs the online Professional Doctorate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Mark is also on the editorial boards of the IPDA journals ‘Practice’ and ‘Professional Development in Education’.
Explore the Professional Learning Atlas with our International Association Chairs
The IPDA Conference will provide insights from a wealth of international voices from our atlas of international communities throughout the conference, sharing research and practice via our esteemed association leads.
WomenEd Symposium
Leading Professional Learning With Local Action and Global Solidarity
Education is a profession where women represent approximately 70% of the workforce, yet leadership remains historically dominated by an “old boys’ club” culture and male-dominated panels (“manels”). This session explores how WomenEd NI, as part of a global grassroots movement, intentionally disrupts these traditional power dynamics to champion equity and systemic growth.
Operating as a network within a network, WomenEd NI bridges the gap between global insights and local imperatives. We address the unique socio-political landscape of Northern Ireland – including the TransformEd curriculum reform, Fair Employment Act, and the urgent priority of Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG) – to ensure professional learning is deeply contextualised and relevant.
Our approach moves beyond romanticised notions of partnership to deliver tangible, bespoke support twice a year for the entire education community. Key features of our work include:
- Radical Inclusion: Intentionally seeking diverse perspectives and expanding professional learning to include classroom assistants, school leaders, and union representatives.
- Strategic Collaboration: Partnering with the Chartered College of Teaching (CCT), CCE, and progressive organisations to embed equity within the system.
- Sustaining the Pipeline: Using coaching, mentoring, and research-led outreach to address diversity gaps and encourage talent retention within the sector.
By celebrating growth and identifying gaps through both global initiatives and local research, WomenEd NI demonstrates how a networked approach can transform individual careers into a collective movement for sustainable, equitable change.
WomenEd NI Network Team
The WomenEd NI team represents a diverse collective of educators and leaders committed to gender equality in Northern Ireland’s education system. As part of the global WomenEd grassroots movement, the NI network focuses on empowering women to connect, collaborate, and consider leadership. The team works across sectors to challenge systemic bias and celebrate the achievements of women at all levels of the profession.
Jackie Hill FCCT, MA(Ed), PGCE, PG Cert (Mentoring), BA(Hons), NPQH
Jackie’s career has included teaching in Further Education (N Ireland) and post-primary (Stockport), plus regional and national roles in teacher recruitment, initial teacher education and inspection, professional learning and school partnership. She is passionate about schools celebrating diversity, and becoming inclusive and equitable places for all. She was a chapter editor for DiverseEd: A Manifesto. A Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching (CCT), Jackie is currently a member of the Ethics Committee, having previously served on the CCT’s Council.
Laura McAleer FCCT
With over 20 years of experience in the classroom, Laura McAleer FCCT is a dedicated educator currently serving as Head of Science. A Chartered Teacher and a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching, she has a deep-seated commitment to professional excellence and evidence-informed practice. Furthering her commitment to professional advocacy and leadership, she has recently joined the team of Northern Ireland Network Leads for WomenEd, working to empower women in education, championing the values of connection, community, and systemic change within the sector.
Nicole O’Connor
Nicole is an educational generalist. She’s a digital learning strategist, creative consultant and co-founder of Digi Know This. A portfolio careerist with over a decade of experience in the education sector, Nicole has delivered professional learning to thousands of teachers across the UK, Ireland, and beyond – specialising in creative technology, digital literacy, accessibility, and the responsible application of emerging technologies and AI. Nicole’s work spans multiple roles, rarely defined by a single title or employer. As a hyperactive collaborator, her partnership with the WomenEd NI network team is rooted in authenticity, curiosity, and inclusion.
Sandra Patterson FCCT
Sandra is a veteran geography teacher with over 25 years of experience and a long-standing membership in the Geographical Association. A Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching, Sandra is a prominent advocate for social cohesion and equity. Her dedication to bridging community divides and closing equality gaps has driven her leadership within WomenEd Northern Ireland and her extensive work in Integrated Education. Sandra was Awarded the 2026 Ordnance Survey Award for Excellence in Geography Teaching.
Practice Journal: Hackin’ and Snackin’: professional learning as material counters
In this session we share our anarchive of co-created materials from the Co-Map project to explore the potential of anarchiving as a modality of professional learning.
Archives with which most of us are familiar are fixed-in-time, retrospective records of places, peoples or events that are meta-(en)coded to enable documentation, retrieval, preservation and interpretation of the past. By contrast anarchiving is concerned not with coding or interpretation of artefacts but with manufacturing encounters that put material objects in novel relation with each other (and people) in order to spark new and perhaps unexpected ways of thinking and doing.
Co-Map (Collaborative Community Mapping) was a two-year Erasmus+ funded partnership that brought together young people, families, teachers, headteachers, researchers and artists from five European countries to explore experiences of learning during the Covid-19 school closures. CoMAP drew on a ‘Maker Spaces’ methodology with a philosophy of collaboration and co-creation. Rather than traditional classrooms ‘Maker Spaces’ are ‘contact zones’ within which learning is re-configured, spatially, materially and relationally so that ‘no one comes out of the contact zone the way they went in to it…”.
Through the maker space events Co-MAP participants co-created a vast collection of artefacts. Focussing on a watercolour scroll, a digital animation workshop, a living exhibition, and body-digital encounters with Fortnite we invite you to encounter the Co-MAP anarchive.
As we interact with the artefacts we explore how as teachers we make meanings about learning, how we organise it, recognise it, where it happens, what (and who) gets included/excluded, valued and devalued and who decides? We also consider our implicatedness as teachers and teacher educators in the wider structural relations that frame our practice. Towards concluding we open a discussion about anarchiving as an opportunity for professional learning otherwise in post crisis contexts.
Four Nations Symposium
Managing the Teacher Workload-Wellbeing Nexus: Policy Approaches in the UK and Ireland
Across the UK and Ireland, evolving teacher workload demands and increasing concern about wellbeing have intensified in recent years, prompting diverse policy responses that aim to stabilise the profession, improve retention, and safeguard educational quality in the face of the global challenge of teacher attrition (Hulme et al. 2025, Fitzimmons et al. 2025, Packer et al. 2025). This symposium interrogates the “workload–wellbeing nexus” through a comparative policy analysis spanning Scotland, Wales, England and Ireland. We ask how national policy architectures conceptualise the relationship between workload and wellbeing; what implicit assumptions of teacher professionalism underpin these approaches; and how these assumptions shape implementation guidance, accountability regimes, and the lived experience of educators.
The symposium is organised around a structured mapping and comparative analysis of policy across four nations, including among others, legislation, ministerial guidance, professional standards, workload charters, wellbeing frameworks, inspection handbooks, and union-brokered agreements. Drawing on existing research in each context, we will share progress on our collaborative research that frames workload and wellbeing in the teaching profession. We propose to examine: underpinning policy mechanisms (e.g., administrative simplification, curriculum/assessment reform, time protection, mental health supports), governance and accountability levers that are enabling and constraining teachers as they navigate workload demands and associated assumptions about teacher professionalism that travel with these policies and its enactment in this challenging landscape.
IPDA England Symposium
Doctoral Study as Professional Learning
Connor and Pokora (2018) highlight the significance of collaborative professionalism, and that it enables professional learners, through collaborative dialogue to connect, solve problems and explore challenges critically. It also to provides a safe learning environment within which concepts can be explored and interpretations can be shared.
Doctoral studies can provide a variety of different ways within which co-constructive collaborative professional learning dialogues can take place to move professional learning forward. The impact of making thinking visible and exploring new ideas can influence the culture and working relationships within an organisation.
This symposium aims to explore the various ways in which engagement with participants and a community of learners can contribute to the success of a doctoral student and their professional context.
- Collaborative Professional Learning Dialogues through Communities of Practice
Doctoral learning is often shaped by peer-to-peer engagement, where candidates work with and for one another. These communities foster shared inquiry, collective problem-solving and the co-construction of knowledge. - Collaborative Professional Learning Dialogues through Supervision
Supervision is framed as a coaching relationship, privileging questioning over telling. Through timely, purposeful dialogue, supervisors and students co-create understanding, with insights from both perspectives illuminating this relational dynamic. - Collaborative Professional Learning Dialogues through Networks and Partnership Engagement
Engagement in academic and professional networks enables doctoral researchers to navigate the ‘busy-ness’ of the field, build identity and move from position-taking to position-making across in-person and online spaces. - Collaborative Professional Learning Dialogues through the Viva
The viva is reimagined as a professional conversation, where critical yet constructive dialogue consolidates learning and affirms scholarly contribution.
Together, these engagements position doctoral study as a dynamic, collaborative learning ecosystem.
Emerging Researcher Forum
The event will take place on 4th June 2026 from 17.30–20.30, and will be online.
This virtual event aims to provide a platform for colleagues to contribute, and share their research with others, in line with the conference theme.
The presentations will be followed by a discussion, and further explorations of the key themes.
Registration
All are welcome to register for this event.
Podcasts
Listen to the following podcast episodes for insight into this conference.
Introducing IPDA 2026
Stuart Mitchell and Lizana Oberholzer speak about the conference theme, the emerging researcher event and much more.
A conversation with IPDA Ireland Chair IPDA 2026
Stuart Mitchell discusses the conference with Aoife Brennan, Chair of IPDA Ireland. With an insight into Aoife’s and her work, as well as what we can expect in Ireland in June.
Emerging researcher focus
In this two-part episode, emerging researcher Louise is in conversation with colleagues about all aspects of finding and submitting to conferences.
Emerging researcher focus
In this two-part episode, emerging researcher Lynne gets lots of advice around presenting at, and making the most of conference attendance. The second part gives advice on what to do following a conference, including how to make the most of the talks you attended, the contacts you have made and touching on publishing your work.
We would like to invite you to prepare your abstract for the conference. Your submission should align with one of the strands listed above. The video below gives some guidance for preparing and submitting your abstract.
How to submit: You will use the Oxford Abstracts platform to submit your paper. Please ensure you have all of the information ready, including email addresses for each author. You will need to register an account.
Please note: If your paper is accepted for the conference it is expected that you will purchase a conference ticket and present in person.
Submission types
Click the toggles below to view submission criteria for each type.
Information: Presentations will last for 30 minutes (20 minutes presentation plus 10 minutes Q and A). Each paper should be clearly aligned to the conference theme and identify if it is a think/opinion piece, report on original research or an update on a work in progress. The contribution should provide an insight into your work and stimulate reader engagement and debate.
Word count: 250 words
Reviewing criteria:
- Is the work related in some way to the conference theme?
- Does the work indicate clear research questions/ focus of enquiry /research findings?
- Does the work provide a clear overview of research approach?
- Is the work referenced to or framed by contemporary current issues and debates?
- How does the work seek to make a novel or original contribution or provocation to the wider community? For example: Context; Theory; Methods.
Information: Want to share ‘work in progress’ but not yet ready to present a formal paper? Lead a small ‘round table’ conversation without PowerPoint. Round table conversations will last for 30 minutes including Q and A.
Word count: 250 words
Reviewing criteria:
- Is the work related in some way to the conference theme?
- Is the work referenced to or framed by contemporary current issues and debates?
- How does the work seek to make a novel or original contribution or provocation to the wider community? For example: Context; Theory; Methods.
Information: A lightning talk at our conference is a 5 minute pre-recorded video presentation that will be posted on the conference web pages. Presenters are encouraged to use only 3-5 slides. However, we encourage presenters to be creative with their content as well as succinct in their delivery. The talks must clearly link to the conference theme and should each introduce a new project, topic or idea.
Word count: 150 words
Reviewing criteria
- Is the work related in some way to the conference theme?
- How does the work seek to make a novel or original contribution or provocation to the wider community? For example: Context; Theory; Methods.
Information: We welcome posters from delegates which will be displayed at conference and introduced by the author at specific times in the programme. Posters will also feature in the IPDA website. The contribution should provide an insight into your work and stimulate reader engagement and debate. There are no limitation or restrictions – be as creative or imaginative as you like.
Word count: 250 words
Reviewing criteria
- Is the work related in some way to the conference theme?
- Is the work referenced to or framed by contemporary current issues and debates?
- How does the work seek to make a novel or original contribution or provocation to the wider community? For example: Context; Theory; Methods.
Information: This category of submission is aimed at those sharing insights and exemplification from sites of practice. For example, an effective approach to professional learning, new insights derived from non-traditional approaches, or an interactive discussion to test new ideas. Practice spotlight sessions will run concurrently for 30 minutes.
Word count: 250 words
Reviewing criteria
- Is the work related in some way to the conference theme?
- How does the work seek to make a novel or original contribution or provocation to the wider community? For example: Context; Theory; Methods.
Information: Symposiums are 90 minutes long and consist of a collection of contributions on a related theme within the overall conference theme. The abstract must include an overarching title/rationale and a paragraph about each contribution in the symposium. The symposium as a whole must have a clear focus and each contribution therein must be clearly related to the overall focus/theme of the symposium but also offer distinct perspectives. Please include references which must be part of the submission.
Word count: 500 words
Reviewing criteria
- Is the work related in some way to the conference theme?
- Does the work indicate clear research questions/ focus of enquiry /research findings?
- Does the work provide a clear overview of research approach?
- Is the work referenced to or framed by contemporary current issues and debates?
- How does the work seek to make a novel or original contribution or provocation to the wider community? For example: Context; Theory; Methods.
COnference POET
Back by popular demand, Dave Pitt will be attending the IPDA Conference and creating some poetry around our theme. Dave attended two online IPDA conferences during the pandemic and was a hit with delegates. We are looking forward to what he can create in-person.
Dave Pitt is a Black Country based performance poet, storyteller and playwright. His work is a mix of humour, poignancy, and anger and leads audiences on a ride of emotional highs and lows.
