Leading Change in Teacher Education: Balancing on the Wobbly Bridge of School-University Partnership

Abstract

Initial teacher education (ITE) programmes have been critiqued widely for failing to connect educational theory with everyday practices in schools. More meaningful collaborations between schools and teacher education providers have featured prominently among key recommendations addressing the traditional theory-practice divide. This paper traces and critically analyses one 'simplex' story of initiating and leading a large-scale school-university partnership (SUP) network in the Republic of Ireland. Using a narrative approach, the protagonists and researchers of this SUP story bring their 'simplex' journey of doing and shaping SUP to life. Analysis of the Irish case study emphasizes the authentic transformation of teacher educators' institutional identities as a powerful enabler of meaningful collaboration while also highlighting ethical dilemmas that arose for university tutors in the context of deeper relational engagement in the school-university cross-boundary space. Constrained in their ITE praxis by power relations and a disequilibrium of responsibilities, tutors' doubts, discomfort and, at times, disillusionment led them to readjust their expectations with regard to SUP while also refocusing their energy and hopes in student teachers as collaborative future change agents.

The School–University Nexus and Degrees of Partnership in Initial Teacher Education

“…Teacher education programmes in the Irish context have historically worked hard to bridge the theory/practice divide (Harford and MacRuairc 2008;Heinz and Fleming 2019;la Velle 2019;McGarr, O'Grady, and Guilfoyle 2017) and promote 'inquiry as a stance' (Cochran-Smith and Lytle 2009), yet their efforts will only succeed if this is a joint endeavour through 'democratic pedagogical partnership' (Farrell 2021) with schools. However, in the Irish context, these agreements are dominated by HEIs and state agencies and the democratic involvement of the practice field in framing such agreements is often conspicuously absent.…”

Reconceptualising relatedness in education in ‘Distanced’ Times

“…Teacher education, which suffers from a 'status problem' (Labaree 2008) in universities relative to other disciplines, occupies a somewhat liminal space in HE. It is governed by and must work within the requirements of managerialist performativity, and yet, like other professionally-oriented disciplines, connections to and relationships with the community (in ITE's case, with schools, teachers, and students) are fundamental to its ethos and practice (Heinz and Fleming 2019). As student teachers establish and develop their professional identities during ITE, they are faced with a myriad of contexts and experiences, all of which have a lasting impact on how they engage in their practice (Flores and Day 2006).…”

“…They have also highlighted the need to develop a new set of orienting principles for our teacher education programmes. The realisation of globally informed and responsible teacher education programmes will require a transformation of our teacher educator identities, regular confrontation with new dilemmas and a significant expansion of our role (Heinz and Fleming 2019). Of course, these are grand, even idealistic, statements that we will need to flesh out further at the level of practice.…”

Creation of Clusters and Tools for Improving the Professional Competence of Future Educators

“…It is possible to include this research in the general scientific achievements on the problem of introduction of educational clusters in education and professional training of teachers in such aspects as: theoretical principles of creation and functioning of educational clusters (Chernyshova, 2012;Molnar, 2015;Mphahlele & Rampa, 2014;Piatnytska, 2016;), educational policy (Aitbayeva et al, 2016;Edwards Jr., & Mbatia, 2013); methodology of professional pedagogical training (professional advancement) (Adeyanju, 2016;Chekaleva et al, 2016;Heinz & Fleming, 2019;Mphahlele & Rampa, 2014;Rizvi & Nagy, 2015).…”