Utilizing the Theory of Practice Architectures in research on mentoring and professional development

Researching mentoring and professional development is a complex practice. In the past decade, the Theory of Practice Architectures (TPA) (Kemmis, Wilkinson et al. 2014) has received increased attention from researchers, particularly within the field of education. Utilizing TPA can provide understandings of complex practices by focusing on the elements constituting a practice, interaction between practices and the structures that surround them. By using Self-Study Research Design, this paper aims to highlight challenges that researchers may experience when utilizing TPA in their studies of practice. More specifically, we examine the challenges related to the use of TPA in our own research practices. Utilizing the application of TPA when scrutinizing practice in our investigation of challenges related to use of TPA (Kemmis et al., 2013; Variyan & Edwards-Groves, 2024), we intend to contribute to knowledge on mentoring and professional development research practices and consider implications for our future use of TPA.