The integration of Supported Open Learning (SOL) and Praxis, in cycles of theoretically-informed action and reflection.

In relation to technology-enhanced professional development programmes, where digital devices provide access to educational resources for professional development, we theorise this as a particular form of supported open learning (Farrow et al., 2023; Bell and Lane, 1998) focused on encouraging and enabling teachers’ participation in praxis.

As shown in the figure, we see all three aspects of such professional learning:

• Open learning, through access to professional development resources,
• Supported learning, through peer-support, the actions of school leaders, and the activities of coaches, mentors, or facilitators, and
• Practical learning, or praxis, through cycles of action and reflection to improve teaching and learning,

...not as discrete activities or ‘pots’ into which the professional development content or activities can be divided, but as part of a coherent and integral whole—intertwined and inseparable. In the figure, we represent this approach to professional learning as a trefoil—an ancient symbol (4000 BCE) of a three-cornered knot in which the three corners are all part of a single continuous line. The inter-dependencies between the three aspects of professional learning can be understood when we consider how open learning, support, and practical learning are woven together in cycles of collaborative action and reflection.

For example, when the primary purpose of open learning resources is to guide teachers (and those who support their professional development) through experiential learning cycles (Kolb, 1984, 2015)—in which teachers, possibly on their own, preferably with the support of others:

• see new ideas and approaches for teaching within the open learning resources,
• practice and plan how they can use or adapt those in their own teaching,
• do the suggested activities in lessons with their learners,
• then reflect upon and share their experiences with other teachers

...it is not possible to consider the open learning, supported learning, or practical learning as distinct entities separate from each other. Each aspect guides and supports teachers’ participation in the other two. At the same time, each aspect is dependent upon the other two for meaning and coherence. All three aspects are integral to teachers’ professional learning experience and no single aspect is properly understood except in relation to the other two. All are intentionally focussed on enabling teachers to transform learning through their development of, and participation in, improved teaching and learning practices.