Assessing the value of SCOTENS as a cross-border professional learning network in Ireland using the Wenger–Trayner value-creation framework

Abstract

SCoTENS (the Standing Conference on Teacher Education North and South) is a unique network of teacher educators from north and south of the Irish border. Funded by government departments and membership institutions across the island, it is facing a range of potential uncertainties. This study is an attempt to map the values and impacts of a complex boundary object. A framework designed by Wenger–Trayner was adapted to create a bespoke research tool. This was deployed to collect data in semi-structured conversations (cross-border pairs of respondents) and in monologues from individual contributors. The study permitted researchers to access both the breadth (from a range of stakeholders) and depth (from immediate to transformative) of significances and to capture the unique flavours and forms of perceived values across this terrain. Sustaining this vulnerable and valuable network in an uncertain future will be usefully informed by these findings.