Christine Edwards‐Groves
Biographic Data
| ID | 5848342 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Christine Edwards‐Groves |
| GIVEN NAMES | Christine |
| FAMILY NAME | Edwards‐Groves |
| SIGNATURE | GROVES C E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Griffith University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3527-9756 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 33 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
The impact of educational leadership on student learning practices
This article examines the dynamic flow of influence from leading to student’s learning practices in schools, reconceptualising leadership as a multifaceted complex of interrelated and ecologically integrated practices. Rather than privileging any single leadership role, it conceptualises leading as a coordinated social ensemble in which leaders work interdependently to shape the professional and educational conditions that support teaching and le…
A repertoire of middle leading practices
This article presents findings from an Australian study investigating the practices of middle leaders responsible for facilitating school development. Despite middle leaders being increasingly recognised as essential in the development of teaching and learning in schools, middle leadership remains under‐researched and comparatively overlooked within the broader educational leadership field. Framed by the theory of practice architectures, which at…
Classroom creativities
Creativity is a policy and practice objective for schools internationally. However, in recent OECD findings, students do not report a positive experience of creativity in their school learning, especially assessments. Similarly, research reports that teachers continue to struggle with making creativity part of the classroom experience. This article reports on the findings of a qualitative study into discipline specific approaches to creativity wi…
An investigation of the practices of middle leaders in Australian schools
The role of middle leaders in Australian schools as influencers on classroom practice has been the focus of increased attention in recent years. Although there is recognition of the importance of middle leaders, there are gaps in what we understand about their practices and the nuances of practice that occur due to site-based conditions, or practice architectures, within each individual school context. This paper explores the self-reported practi…
Teachers’ use of reported habitual thoughts in research interviews
Use of reported thoughts in research interviews has rarely been examined although research interviews are a major source of data in qualitative research. This paper considers a conversation analytic examination of reported habitual thoughts, produced by twelve teachers during research interviews addressing their participation in a three-year action research study. Data are drawn from a collection of 137 reported thoughts and analysis establishes …
Understanding School Middle-Leading Practices
School systems in Australia, and internationally, are focused on improving classroom teaching and learning to enhance student outcomes. Middle leaders (MLs) are increasingly required to lead school-based development initiatives to improve classroom practices. Informed by previous research on middle-leading and the theory of practice architectures, a survey instrument was created to understand who Australian school MLs are (n = 199) and ascertain …
“But once I did it, it was incredible”
Predominant patterns of classroom interaction are notoriously difficult to change. This article examines teachers’ use of transcription and transcripts as methods for enabling changes to classroom interaction practices over the course of action research projects in primary school classrooms. We employ thematic analysis of interviews with 12 teachers and delineate four themes addressing teachers’ experiences of transcription and developing transcr…
The theory of practice architectures and its discontents
This paper critically examines the theory of practice architectures in response to a call for its reinvigoration towards more politically charged scholarship. While such goals seem acceptable, necessary even, it raises questions about the consequences of strengthening the moral imperatives that already undergird the theory. Drawing on a Foucauldian analytical ‘toolkit’, we explore why Schatzkian philosophy, which is conspicuous in its ongoing usa…
Middle leaders' identity–practice framings
This paper presents an examination of identity in and as practice as it relates to a group of educational practitioners known as middle leaders. Drawing on the theory of practice architectures as a site‐ontological approach for conceptualising educational leading, the paper considers an individual's identity as being informed by, and accomplished amidst, the sayings, doings and relatings of practice. Although theorising the connections between id…
Establishing an evidence-base for supporting middle leadership practice development in schools
Amidst ongoing calls for teaching improvement, there has been growing interest in the work of middle leaders in leading school-based curriculum and professional development. Research and policy initiatives have acknowledged that these leaders in schools are well placed to successfully drive educational change that leads to improved educational outcomes for students. This has led to an increase in development programmes for middle leaders, but the…
Acknowledging, negotiating, and reporting ‘uncomfortable truths’ in action research
Critical action research is a praxis-oriented professional learning practice. Such practice requires a move beyond viewing action research as simply a technical or practical method for teacher development; instead, it strives for critical and participatory research. When action research is reduced to a technicist process for professional learning, there is a tendency for valorising reported findings, so seemingly ‘celebratory’ stories emerge. Yet…
Understanding creativity in primary English, science, and history
The Theory of Practice Architectures
Creativity in Higher Education
Creativity has been identified as an increasingly important graduate attribute for employment in the 21st century. As sites of significant development of disciplinary specialization, universities seem to be the natural place for creativity to be fostered. However, there remain contestations and ambiguities in the ways creativity is theorized, and this translates to difficulties in operationalization, particularly in the higher education context, …
Action Research conceptualised in seven cornerstones as conditions for transforming education
This article traces the philosophical and theoretical roots of Action Research to rescript its promise for site-based educational formation, reformation and transformation. The process of historicising Action Research through an extensive review of the extant literature, enabled us to establish seven cornerstones that captured the essence of the critical conditions: the practices and practice architectures, that give coherence and comprehensibili…
Practising educational leading ‘in’ and ‘from’ the middle
In this paper, a site ontological approach to practice seeks to understand how educational development can be accomplished through the practices of ‘middle leaders’ - educators who exercise their leading ‘between’ the principal and the teaching staff. Analysis of two vignettes of leading in extraordinary circumstances untangles the web of interrelationships, conditions and practices that comprise middle leading in schools. The discussion focuses …
Conceptualising five dimensions of relational trust
Research to date is rich in its claim that practice development in schools, and the leadership and professional learning that it demands, requires relational trust. However, reasonings for, and understandings about, relational trust are described mainly in general terms, leaving its complexity and multidimensionality implicit. Much trust research in schools has focused on principals, neglecting fulsome characterisations of relational trust as it …
Producing and closing down multiple-response sequences during whole-class talk in an early years classroom
The Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF) talk sequence dominates whole-class talk in school lessons but frequently provides limited talk options for students. This article examines a variant of the sequence produced by young children and their teacher in an early years’ classroom. The multiple-response sequences were identified in classroom recordings of literacy lessons where a teacher deliberately sought to increase contributions by students duri…
Pedagogy, Education, and Praxis in Critical Times
Changing Practices, Changing Education
Mentoring of new teachers as a contested practice
Enabling Voice
In this article the perceptions of school experiences by male Aboriginal youth at risk of becoming in contact with the juvenile justice system are presented. These adolescent boys, from inland rural New South Wales, attend Tirkandi Inaburra Cultural and Development Centre (Tirkandi). Tirkandi is a short term residential centre designed to provide at risk boys with an opportunity to participate in strengths-based culturally appropriate educational…
Mentoring of new teachers as a contested practice
Practising educational leading ‘in’ and ‘from’ the middle
In this paper, a site ontological approach to practice seeks to understand how educational development can be accomplished through the practices of ‘middle leaders’ - educators who exercise their leading ‘between’ the principal and the teaching staff. Analysis of two vignettes of leading in extraordinary circumstances untangles the web of interrelationships, conditions and practices that comprise middle leading in schools. The discussion focuses …
The theory of practice architectures and its discontents
This paper critically examines the theory of practice architectures in response to a call for its reinvigoration towards more politically charged scholarship. While such goals seem acceptable, necessary even, it raises questions about the consequences of strengthening the moral imperatives that already undergird the theory. Drawing on a Foucauldian analytical ‘toolkit’, we explore why Schatzkian philosophy, which is conspicuous in its ongoing usa…
Enabling Voice
In this article the perceptions of school experiences by male Aboriginal youth at risk of becoming in contact with the juvenile justice system are presented. These adolescent boys, from inland rural New South Wales, attend Tirkandi Inaburra Cultural and Development Centre (Tirkandi). Tirkandi is a short term residential centre designed to provide at risk boys with an opportunity to participate in strengths-based culturally appropriate educational…
Changing Practices, Changing Education
Mentoring of new teachers as a contested practice
Producing and closing down multiple-response sequences during whole-class talk in an early years classroom
The Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF) talk sequence dominates whole-class talk in school lessons but frequently provides limited talk options for students. This article examines a variant of the sequence produced by young children and their teacher in an early years’ classroom. The multiple-response sequences were identified in classroom recordings of literacy lessons where a teacher deliberately sought to increase contributions by students duri…
Pedagogy, Education, and Praxis in Critical Times
Conceptualising five dimensions of relational trust
Research to date is rich in its claim that practice development in schools, and the leadership and professional learning that it demands, requires relational trust. However, reasonings for, and understandings about, relational trust are described mainly in general terms, leaving its complexity and multidimensionality implicit. Much trust research in schools has focused on principals, neglecting fulsome characterisations of relational trust as it …
Creativity in Higher Education
Creativity has been identified as an increasingly important graduate attribute for employment in the 21st century. As sites of significant development of disciplinary specialization, universities seem to be the natural place for creativity to be fostered. However, there remain contestations and ambiguities in the ways creativity is theorized, and this translates to difficulties in operationalization, particularly in the higher education context, …
Action Research conceptualised in seven cornerstones as conditions for transforming education
This article traces the philosophical and theoretical roots of Action Research to rescript its promise for site-based educational formation, reformation and transformation. The process of historicising Action Research through an extensive review of the extant literature, enabled us to establish seven cornerstones that captured the essence of the critical conditions: the practices and practice architectures, that give coherence and comprehensibili…
Practising educational leading ‘in’ and ‘from’ the middle
In this paper, a site ontological approach to practice seeks to understand how educational development can be accomplished through the practices of ‘middle leaders’ - educators who exercise their leading ‘between’ the principal and the teaching staff. Analysis of two vignettes of leading in extraordinary circumstances untangles the web of interrelationships, conditions and practices that comprise middle leading in schools. The discussion focuses …
Establishing an evidence-base for supporting middle leadership practice development in schools
Amidst ongoing calls for teaching improvement, there has been growing interest in the work of middle leaders in leading school-based curriculum and professional development. Research and policy initiatives have acknowledged that these leaders in schools are well placed to successfully drive educational change that leads to improved educational outcomes for students. This has led to an increase in development programmes for middle leaders, but the…
Acknowledging, negotiating, and reporting ‘uncomfortable truths’ in action research
Critical action research is a praxis-oriented professional learning practice. Such practice requires a move beyond viewing action research as simply a technical or practical method for teacher development; instead, it strives for critical and participatory research. When action research is reduced to a technicist process for professional learning, there is a tendency for valorising reported findings, so seemingly ‘celebratory’ stories emerge. Yet…
Understanding creativity in primary English, science, and history
The Theory of Practice Architectures
Understanding School Middle-Leading Practices
School systems in Australia, and internationally, are focused on improving classroom teaching and learning to enhance student outcomes. Middle leaders (MLs) are increasingly required to lead school-based development initiatives to improve classroom practices. Informed by previous research on middle-leading and the theory of practice architectures, a survey instrument was created to understand who Australian school MLs are (n = 199) and ascertain …
“But once I did it, it was incredible”
Predominant patterns of classroom interaction are notoriously difficult to change. This article examines teachers’ use of transcription and transcripts as methods for enabling changes to classroom interaction practices over the course of action research projects in primary school classrooms. We employ thematic analysis of interviews with 12 teachers and delineate four themes addressing teachers’ experiences of transcription and developing transcr…
The theory of practice architectures and its discontents
This paper critically examines the theory of practice architectures in response to a call for its reinvigoration towards more politically charged scholarship. While such goals seem acceptable, necessary even, it raises questions about the consequences of strengthening the moral imperatives that already undergird the theory. Drawing on a Foucauldian analytical ‘toolkit’, we explore why Schatzkian philosophy, which is conspicuous in its ongoing usa…
Middle leaders' identity–practice framings
This paper presents an examination of identity in and as practice as it relates to a group of educational practitioners known as middle leaders. Drawing on the theory of practice architectures as a site‐ontological approach for conceptualising educational leading, the paper considers an individual's identity as being informed by, and accomplished amidst, the sayings, doings and relatings of practice. Although theorising the connections between id…
Classroom creativities
Creativity is a policy and practice objective for schools internationally. However, in recent OECD findings, students do not report a positive experience of creativity in their school learning, especially assessments. Similarly, research reports that teachers continue to struggle with making creativity part of the classroom experience. This article reports on the findings of a qualitative study into discipline specific approaches to creativity wi…
An investigation of the practices of middle leaders in Australian schools
The role of middle leaders in Australian schools as influencers on classroom practice has been the focus of increased attention in recent years. Although there is recognition of the importance of middle leaders, there are gaps in what we understand about their practices and the nuances of practice that occur due to site-based conditions, or practice architectures, within each individual school context. This paper explores the self-reported practi…
Teachers’ use of reported habitual thoughts in research interviews
Use of reported thoughts in research interviews has rarely been examined although research interviews are a major source of data in qualitative research. This paper considers a conversation analytic examination of reported habitual thoughts, produced by twelve teachers during research interviews addressing their participation in a three-year action research study. Data are drawn from a collection of 137 reported thoughts and analysis establishes …
The impact of educational leadership on student learning practices
This article examines the dynamic flow of influence from leading to student’s learning practices in schools, reconceptualising leadership as a multifaceted complex of interrelated and ecologically integrated practices. Rather than privileging any single leadership role, it conceptualises leading as a coordinated social ensemble in which leaders work interdependently to shape the professional and educational conditions that support teaching and le…
A repertoire of middle leading practices
This article presents findings from an Australian study investigating the practices of middle leaders responsible for facilitating school development. Despite middle leaders being increasingly recognised as essential in the development of teaching and learning in schools, middle leadership remains under‐researched and comparatively overlooked within the broader educational leadership field. Framed by the theory of practice architectures, which at…
Pedagogy (15 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Psychology (11 works) · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies (11 works) · Political science (9 works) · Epistemology (8 works) · Social science (8 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · Mathematics education (7 works) · Innovative Education and Learning Practices (6 works)