Personal, Purposeful, Practical, Political Matters in the Teachmeet Phenomenon: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

TeachMeet is a recent phenomenon in which informal gatherings are arranged by teachers to share and discuss practice with peers in a convivial setting. Our overarching research aim was to explore the essence, nature and niche of TeachMeet events. Review of literature in the domains of professional development, leaderless organisations, and TeachMeet led to research questions seeking the perspectives of experienced participants. Our sensemaking methodological approach included an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) of semi-structured interviews with individuals (n = 15) experienced the practice of TeachMeet, to shed light on what gives life to the TeachMeet phenomenon and reveal what matters most to participants. The IPA carried out on the interview transcripts generated personal and group experiential themes which reveal the TeachMeet phenomenon to be of personal, purposeful, practical, and political importance for participants, and that what matters most is to maintain the open, non-hierarchical, and social dynamic that is vital for TeachMeet events.