Curriculum, Pedagogy and Professional Learning (CPPL), is an interdisciplinary group of researchers and research-engaged practitioners with an interest and passion for research in curriculum, pedagogy, professional practice and professional learning.

We aim to sustain our strong research community, build research capacity, and to work collaboratively to further understanding, knowledge, debate and practice around our four core research themes: curriculum, pedagogy, learning and professionalisation. The research group consists of an overall organizational unit (Curriculum, Pedagogy and Professional Learning) and specialist sub-groups such as Mathematics Education Research Group (MERG) and the Science Education Research Group (STRG), Primary education and teacher education. By working together we provide a critical, collaborative and engaged community and space within which we can further our understanding through debate about what we know about learning and teaching, deepening our understanding of the relationship between practice and research.

We recognise that learning is complex and teaching even more so. Access to high quality teaching and learning are issues of equity and social justice. Our experiences of learning and of teaching are deeply personal, entwined with our professional and personal identities. CPPL recognises that both learning and teaching are informed by a range of knowledges and expertise that can stem from practice, research, and theory. We also recognize the importance of subject and phase-specific knowledge and identities, as has already been established in the STEM disciplines, where it is widely regarded that subject specificity and teacher identity interact heavily in the process of teacher learning and practice. Precision matters in how we talk about all aspects of learning and teaching, but also in the authority we attribute to what we can claim to know.

Curriculum, Pedagogy and Professional Learning supports research in relation to the learning, development and identity of students and professionals in different contexts, subjects and phases. This includes the following:

• The range of knowledges and expertise stemming from practice, research and theory, that inform teaching and learning.
• Professional learning, growth and development, particularly for initial teacher education
• What we know about teaching and learning and what are our claims to knowledge.
• The complexity of learning and teaching in a variety of contexts
• High quality teaching and learning particularly in specific curriculum areas and contexts
• Strategies to enhance equity and social justice within educational settings.
• Theoretical perspectives of/informing professional learning
• Professional and personal identities of teachers, educational professionals and learners.

Methodologically and conceptually, we recognise the contribution of different forms of knowledge creation, and the complexities of practice. Our work encompasses educators in school settings, and beyond, but many of us have a particular interest in (beginning) teachers and teacher educators: how they learn, how they practice, how teaching practice impacts on students' learning, and a respect for the often-hidden intellectual work that connects all three. Our ultimate objective is to improve the quality and quantity of research in the areas of curriculum, pedagogy and professional learning across the Faculty, and to support colleagues as they contribute to important national and international debates in these areas.