Register HERE

This year’s SCoTENS annual conference will take place in the beautiful Lough Erne Resort, Enniskillen on 16 and 17 October 2025.  The theme for this year is A New Era for Professionalism: Teacher Identity, Authenticity and Agency

The theme for the 2025 SCoTENS conference, A New Era for Professionalism: Teacher Identity, Authenticity, and Agency, invites researchers to explore the evolving landscape of teacher professionalism, examining how shifts in society, technology, and education policies have prompted a redefinition of what it means to be a professional teacher. Researchers are encouraged to examine the multifaceted influences that shape and define teacher professionalism, emphasising factors such as policy frameworks, curriculum reforms, and societal expectations. This conference aims to uncover both the pressures and possibilities shaping the future of the teaching profession in this new era and to explore the potential impact on pedagogy, collaboration, and teacher autonomy.

In order to address the theme, participants are asked to consider:

• How has the concept of teacher professionalism transformed in recent times?
• What influences, shapes and defines teacher professionalism?
• What sustains teacher identity, authenticity and agency?
• What threatens teacher identity, authenticity and agency?

This year’s SCoTENS conference offers a timely opportunity to critically consider this major theme and examine the questions indicated above.

CALL FOR PAPERS / POSTERS

We welcome proposals for papers that are relevant to teacher education. Because the slots for presentations are limited we propose to give preference to paper presentations that link most directly to the work of SCoTENS and the conference theme.

Please note: Your institution should hold current membership of SCoTENS.  If you have any queries about this, please contact Tricia at tricia.kelly@qub.ac.uk

We look forward to receiving your abstract and thank you for considering the conference as a forum to share your work.   We hope to see you at SCoTENS in 2025.

Click the following link to apply Expressions of Interest Form

Click the following link to apply Poster Form

Please complete and return to Tricia Kelly at tricia.kelly@qub.ac.uk by 4pm Friday 11 July 2025

DOCTORAL WORKSHOP CALL

This Roundtable will bring together doctoral researchers working on topics relating to education and educators in its broadest sense on this island. Participants are invited to share insights from their research, pose questions and challenges they face, engage in critique and deliberations in a supportive context with their peers and experts in the field of education.   

A limited number of accepted contributions will address issues in the general field of educators and education – ideally in light of the concerns of the conference theme as noted here. We, therefore, invite doctoral students interested in these and related issues to apply for a place at the Roundtable. The Roundtable will provide a space for new doctoral researchers to meet and discuss their interests, to showcase their work, and to participate in the SCoTENS Conference more broadly.

This year for the first time, SCoTENS is delighted to announce that the Harry McMahon Award will be awarded to the Doctoral student who submits the best proposal for the Doctoral workshop. The Harry McMahon Award certificate will be presented to the Doctoral student at the conference and further details are available on the Doctoral workshop application form.

Accommodation and meals will be provided, and participants will also have full access to the main conference.  Please submit your proposal on the attached form to tricia.kelly@qub.ac.uk before the deadline of Friday 11 July 2025 at 4.00pm

Doctoral Workshop Application Form

REGISTRATION LINK