Teacher professional development activities are essential for teacher continious learning but to be targeted and successful they need to be context-embedded (Kyureghyan, 2023). This case study aims to explore a ‘Journal club’ as a professional development approach for novice ECE teachers. Journal clubs are informal and structured gathering to discuss research and practice literature to keep practitioners up to date, providing an opportunity to discuss how research is relevant to their practice and develop critical thinking skils (Linzer, 1987; Sidorov, 1995). Discussions are led by a facilitator who leads the group through thinking and reflection. Initially coming from medical field, the use of journal cubs in education settings has increased in recent years as research engagement has become more widespread in professional development and considered to be central in enhancing teachers’ professional learning and pedagogical practice (Admiraal et al., 2017; Elder and Crain-Dorough, 2021, Kowalczuk-Walędziak and Ion, 2024).

This study examines the implementation of a journal club model for ECE teachers in a newly opened pre-school in Armenia to engage them in continious professional learning. The research question of this study was:

·       How does the journal club function as a form of professional development for novice ECE teachers?

An interpretive qualitative case study (Yin, 2018) was employed  drawing on social constructivist perspectives (Cochran-Smith, & Lytle, 1999) to examine the implementation and function of a journal club as a professional development approach for novice ECE teachers.

Primary data consist of my field notes taken during and after each discussion meeting and semi-structured interviews with participating teachers. Overall, 15 topics were discussed as part of Journal club meetings. These interactions not only prompted critical reflection on pedagogical practice but also surfaced context-specific issues that teachers were encountering in their work. The journal club thus functioned both as CPD and as a form of mentoring, with sustained peer dialogue around practical and theoretical concepts. 

This study employs an interpretive qualitative case study design (Yin, 2018) to examine the implementation and function of a journal club as a professional development approach for novice early childhood education (ECE) teachers. The journal club was facilitated by the researcher, who selected readings and guided discussions aligned with participants’ professional needs and the researcher's knowledge of the context and professional judgement. Fifteen discussion topics were addressed over the course of the journal club meetings, which provided structured opportunities for teachers to critically engage with professional literature, reflect on practice, and discuss context-specific challenges. Primary data sources include reflective field notes made during and after each meeting, capturing both group interactions and moderator's reflections, as well as semi-structured interviews with participating teachers to explore their perceptions of professional learning and emergent experiences. Data were analyzed thematically, drawing on a social constructivist perspective (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999) to interpret collaborative sense-making, reflection, and community participation, and on teacher mentoring literature (Feiman-Nemser, 1998a; Hobson et al., 2009) to identify the informal mentoring functions that emerged during discussions.

Initial findings indicate that regular journal club meetings created a feeling of need in teachers as they reported to engage with professional reading/topics as well as developed participants’ abilities to read and apply professional literature through questioning and reflecting on their own practice. Meanwhile, the criticality in reading was still lacking and data shows that more emphasis is needed either through designing targeted JC interventions or activities that promote criticality. Teachers reported that the discussions helped them anticipate classroom challenges, articulate professional questions, and even apply their learning in their personal life (e.g. interaction with their children). Furthermore, the informal, discussion-based format appeared to support novice teachers and biweekly meetings served as a kind of a mentoring. The results suggest that JCs hold promise as informal, collaborative CPD formats for teachers. Moreover, these journal club meetings teachers reported experiencing a unique kind of mentoring when getting pedagogical guidance (core mentoring function for novice teachers, Feiman-Nemser (1998a) by linking research-based ideas to immediate instructional practices. Continued exploration of this model for both CPD and mentoring is recommended, particularly for novice teachers contexts where practice embedded and community supported informal learning opportunities are needed and formal professional learning opportunities are limited.

1. Admiraal, W. et al. (2017). Linking theory and practice: Teacher research in history and geography classrooms. Educational Action Research 2. Kowalczuk-Walędziak, M. and Ion, G. (2024). Understanding and improving teachers’ researcch engagement: Insights from success stories in Poland and Spain. Teaching and Teacher Education, Vol 151 3. Feiman-Nemser S. (1998a). Linking mentoring and teacher learning. Velon, 3 4. Hobson, A. J., et al. (2009). Mentoring beginning teachers 5. Kyureghyan, H. (2023). Exploring teachers’ learning experiences and core components of the professional development programme within a pilot reform project in Armenia, Teacher Development, 27:5, 613-629, DOI: 10.1080/13664530.2023.2213678 6. Karimi, F., Karimnia, A., Ashraf, H., & Khodabakhshzadeh, H. (2025). Constructing and validating a professional development model for EFL teachers: Insights from the journal club approach. International Journal of Instruction, 18(3), 485–510. 7.Yin, R. K. (2018). Case Study Research and Applications.