ABSTRACT. This workshop will allow participants to explore their personal beliefs and values in relation to teacher professional learning through interactive presentations, group discussions, and small group activities. The workshop will draw on research-informed practices in the field of teacher professional learning- such as the work of Borko, Day and Timperley. Initially, the career trajectory of teacher learning will be examined- focusing on where and how teachers learn and what motivates them to learn. The workshop will also delve into various modes of professional learning including practitioner based inquiry, peer review, self-review, professional learning communities and student voice. Participants will be asked to discuss the potential of these various modes of learning. Finally, the workshop will examine Ireland's approach to professional learning as espoused in the Cosán document- a framework developed to guide, support and recognise teachers’ continuing professional learning following their induction process.

ABSTRACT. Teacher professional development has become a pressing agenda worldwide. In Cambodia, continuous professional development (CPD) has been underpinned in nearly all interventions concerning children’s learning. The Ministry of Education has developed policies, implementing guides and incentivising schemes rapidly since 2017 aiming to attract teachers’ CPD engagement. Pov Pheung investigates teachers’ perspectives on professional development and focuses on the motivators that encourage primary teachers in Cambodian public schools to pursue their CPD and what models and structures they find most valuable for enhancing their practice. Employing a qualitative approach, his study involves semi-structured interviews with eight teachers from various education and training backgrounds to discuss CPD experiences and recommendations for future arrangements. Findings indicate that Cambodian teachers were intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to engage in CPD, firmly believing it positively impacts children’s learning. They preferred face-to-face, interactive workshops focusing on teaching methods and resources. They welcomed online CPD initiatives but they needed ICT infrastructure and literacy and proposed the Ministry of Education to increase classroom released hours for CPD and compensate for missing out on their second job. Such a study with a larger sample size is recommended for future research.

ABSTRACT. Despite substantial investments in teacher training programs, many educators struggle to translate theoretical knowledge into effective classroom practices, resulting in limited impact on student learning outcomes.

A multi-layer approach to Teacher Professional Development is highly recommended to address this challenge.

First, a well-structured training program, whose contents are tailor-made, should combine theoretical discussions with practical workshops, reinforced by continuous coaching and mentoring to ensure the application of learned concepts. Second, a sustainable continuing professional development (CPD) structure should provide ongoing growth opportunities for graduates or alumni, supported by expert coaches and peer ambassadors who were the high achievers or outperformers during the intensive training. Third, strategic engagement with education authorities—including Provincial and District Offices of Education—ensures system-wide alignment in teaching and learning philosophy. Finally, an impact measurement framework focuses on student outcomes as the ultimate indicator of program effectiveness.

In conclusion, this theory of change recognizes that meaningful teacher development requires sustained support, practical application, systemic alignment, and outcome-focused evaluation to bridge the persistent gap between pedagogical theory and classroom reality.

ABSTRACT. Education is not only a child's conventional right, but it is also a resource for the development ofan individual and a nation. Whereas education is a fundamental focus of SDG 4 and importantin the country's national plan, there are many factors hindering children from accessing qualityeducation in Cambodia. Srei Snam is one of the remote regions that has many studentsdropping out and migrating to Thailand for work opportunities as a solution to economicchallenges, which has happened for generations.This research explored the impact of parental migration on children's access to qualityeducation in two villages, Kouk Prech and Romdeng, Srei Snam district. This research looked atfive cases of children living with grandparents using phenomenological interpretive perspectivesof lived experience. It also provided insights on the role of grandparents in the skippedgeneration households, importance of remittance, contribution to children’s access to qualityeducation and children’s aspiration for the future.Data collections were done using two instruments: qualitative family interview and teachers’focus group discussion to learn about their perception. The findings were shockingly found onthe grandparents' view of parental migration where they think there is no impact on children'saccess to quality education. However, the parents and teachers thought that there are someimpacts on their wellbeing, extra learning support at home, and someone to push them. Thispaper also provides positive aspiration of children and also key recommendations targeted tothese matters.

ABSTRACT. This presentation examines the key barriers to inclusive education in Cambodia, with a focus on negative cultural attitudes toward the education of children with disabilities. Drawing from case studies and experiences included in a larger PhD study, as well as insights from local teachers, this research sheds light on the challenges that must be overcome to promote inclusion in education. The presentation also discusses the potential opportunities for advancing inclusive education in Cambodia, and offers strategies for improving teacher training and fostering greater inclusion in the future.

ABSTRACT. Student dropout remains a critical challenge in Cambodia, despite significant progress in expanding access to education. This study examines the determinants of dropout across upper primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary education levels, aiming to identify patterns, risk factors, and effective policy interventions. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research analyses administrative data from Cambodia’s Education Management Information System (EMIS) and household surveys (CSES), alongside qualitative insights from interviews and focus group discussions with stakeholders, educators, students, and parents. In addition, the study attempts to examine the effectiveness of existing interventions, including scholarship programmes, Early Warning Systems (EWS), and school feeding initiatives. Findings from the study suggest that dropout is driven by multiple interconnected factors. At the individual level, poor academic performance, grade repetition, over-age status, and disabilities increase dropout risks. Household constraints, such as poverty, indirect education costs, parental migration, and low parental education, force families to prioritise short-term economic needs over schooling. At school, inadequate remedial support and weak school leadership are found to affect student learning and dropout. Addressing dropout requires holistic interventions targeting academic support, economic barriers, teacher training, inclusive education, and cross-sector collaboration. The implications of the empirical findings provide policymakers and practitioners insights in enhancing programmer interventions and considerations for future programmer designs to enhance student retention better.

ABSTRACT. Teacher education through the Froebelian philosophy was brought to Ireland by the Dominican Sisters in 1943 when they established the Froebel College of Education. After seventy years in existence, the sisters decided to incorporate the College into Maynooth University where it is now known as the Froebel Department of Primary and Early Childhood. Over the lifespan of the College’s existence, Froebelian graduates learned about Froebel’s principles of education, learning through these principles, and ultimately learning to teach and work according to these principles. In informal conversations with faculty, students and alumni, a curiosity about the unique identity of Froebel graduates frequently emerged. This prompted a desire to undertake a study which would examine more closely what constitutes a Froebelian graduate identity in Ireland and how it might be recognized.

To explore this matter, each of eight faculty members at Maynooth’s Froebel Department chose a graduate who, for them, epitomizes a Froebelian graduate professional identity, interviewed them, and together with the graduate, constructed a narrative of the graduate’s professional journey, and the role of their Froebelian education within it. These narratives were then analysed to create professional identity profiles of the graduates using Kaplan and Garner’s (2017) dynamic systems model of professional role identity, which views it as the actions that professionals take as a result of interacting components, both external and internal to the individual. These components are sociocultural context, dispositions, relevant ontological & epistemological beliefs; self-perceptions & self-definitions in the role; purpose & goals and perceived action possibilities in the role. Following this analysis, we worked together to compare profiles towards the identification of a shared vision of Froebelian graduate professional identities in Ireland. Learnings from this study may reveal how the potency of institutional culture underpinned by a strong, compelling and enduring set of philosophical values can influence the emergence of teacher professional identities.

ABSTRACT. Cambodia is striving to become a developed country by 2050, with STEM education playing a crucial role in realizing this goal and building a knowledge-based society. However, the country still faces significant challenges, including a shortage of qualified STEM teachers, inadequate training, and limited resources. This study aims to investigate Continuous Professional Development (CPD) practices for upper secondary STEM teachers in Cambodia, focusing on current programs' availability, effectiveness, and challenges, to identify gaps and propose improvements on policy and practice. The study employed a mixed-methods approach using an exploratory sequential design, beginning with qualitative data collection to explore key issues in-depth, followed by quantitative research to generalize findings. In the qualitative phase, the team conducted 52 interviews with stakeholders from the Ministry of Education, development partners, provincial education officials, school principals, and STEM teachers from three school types in six provinces. The quantitative phase surveyed 393 teachers from 55 schools across 11 provinces, ensuring representation from different school types and regions. The data indicate that the CPD practices vary significantly, ranging from formal academic education to informal learning activities. While some teachers are engaged in STEM CPD programs, access to CPD is uneven by school types and teacher positions, with resource schools receiving more opportunities than network schools and normal schools. CPD delivery sometimes lacks relevance and follow-up activities like mentoring or ongoing support, posing challenges for classroom adaptation. Challenges to CPD pursuits include time constraints, limited motivation, language barriers, CPD opportunities, and a lack of STEM experts. This study offers various policy implications on STEM CPD programs beyond the context.

ABSTRACT. Abstract Instruction is a complex process that inevitably requires assessment to monitor students' academic progress and abilities. Undeniably, active engagement of the students in their learning process and progress motivates them to actively learn and enables them to thrive for betterment. In doing so, students have to look back at their own learning, which is called “student’s self-assessment”. However, traditionally, most educational practices are in paper-and-pen/pencil exam formats and do not focus on students' self-assessment. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of student teachers' self-assessment on their academic learning outcomes and to explore student teachers' attitude towards this self-assessment. This research employs a pre-experimental research design, involving second-year physics major student teachers in their academic year 2023 – 24 in semester 2. A convenience sampling technique, as determined by the Office of Academic Affairs and In-service Training, was used, resulting in a sample size of 25 participants. The research instruments consisted of two types: 1. a pre-test and a post-test to measure student teachers' academic learning outcomes, and 2. a student teachers' self-assessment form. The results revealed that student teachers' academic learning outcomes significantly increased, with the mean score rising from 14.04 and a standard deviation of 4.58 in the pre-test to a mean score of 27.48 and a smaller standard deviation of 2.70 in the post test, with a p-value of less than 0.05, as determined by a paired-sample t-test using Excel 2019. The findings related to the second objective highlighted four key areas: an overview of classroom assessment, the development of assessment tools, the use of basic statistics, and solutions in the course of study assessment.