The team of Network 1 convenors kept close contact during 2020 even though the normal Network 1 meeting at the ECER conference did not take place because of the Covid 19 pandemic. We missed the opportunity to meet face-to-face with international colleagues who share an interest in professional learning and development, and we especially missed the vibrant interaction that has taken place at these meetings. Nevertheless, the convenor team has met virtually on two occasions and sub-teams have continued to work closely to continue the Network priorities of reviewing and programming in the build up to ECER 2021. Amongst these have been:
Election of link convenor. Ken Jones offered to serve as Link Convenor for another term and was duly elected. He will continue to work as co-convenor with Hannu Heikkinen for four more years. Attendance at the EERA meeting in Berlin will be rotated between the Link Convenors. All other convenors offered to continue for at least one more year.
Designation of roles within the convenor team. Hannu Heikkinen will step down as reviews coordinator but will continue to give support to Mihaela Mitescu and Sally Windsor who will lead the reviewing process in 2021. Amanda Ince will join Ken Jones and Stefan Zehetmeier in organising the ECER conference programming for 2021. Amanda continues to act as Secretary for the convenor team.
European Perspectives on Teacher Professional Learning and Development. Giorgio Ostinelli has successfully brought together academics from across Europe to give their perspectives on how professional learning and development operates in their own country. This has taken the form of linked symposia (held at ECER in Bolzano in 2019, accepted for ECER in Glasgow in 2020 and planned for submission to ECER in 2021). It is hoped to publish contributions from ECER presenters as a book edited by Ken Jones, Giorgio Ostinelli and Alberto Crescentini.
Social Media project. Sally Windsor and Mihaela Mitescu are developing a potential proposal for EERA project funding focused on key questions – what is it to be a network? How might a social media presence be sustainable and understood? A meeting of convenors in November 2020 will discuss this in more detail.
EERA Blog. The first Network 1 blog in the new EERA blog series was published online in September. Written by Ken Jones, its title is “Multi-dimensional professional learning: a leadership perspective” (https://blog.eera-ecer.de/multi-dimensional-professional-learning/). Network 1 convenors have offered to write future blogs in the series.