Mapping primary teachers’ peer relationships across a career

This symposium brings together a panel of researchers from the Social Psychology of Education (SPoE) Research Group.
SPoE members are interested in the importance of social and learning interactions, relationships and identities across all phases of education, in both formal and informal settings. More specifically, we examine how adults and children identify and inter-relate within educational contexts, as well as how socio-cognition interacts with everyday social and learning situations. This provides crucial insights which not only contribute to knowledge generation within the academic community, but also informs policy and practice relating to the effectiveness and retention of practitioners, and the quality of children’s school experiences. These three papers are connected by a focus on the nature, quality and dynamics of teachers’ peer relationships, how they are characterised in the early, mid, and late-career phases, and what this means for
the commitment and retention of teachers.