School–university partnership in teacher education for inclusive education

Abstract

This paper presents an initiative at the University of Iceland – School of Education aimed at developing school and university partnerships. The discussion addresses whether and how this reform could support inclusive teacher education. Teacher education in Iceland is currently under reconstruction because of new legislation, requiring a master's degree for teachers at all levels. As a part of this reconstruction, the School of Education is attempting to develop closer ties with Icelandic schools at different levels and with other stakeholders, both in regard to policy and practice. The partnership is underpinned by mutual commitment and responsibility. The main aims are to bridge the gap between theory and practice in student teacher learning and to encourage cooperation that might lead to school development as well as improvements in the teacher education programme. The project principally concerns four themes: teacher student learning; the associated schools; the university faculty and the content of courses; and finally, the partnership itself. The project is still in its initial stages though data are being collected along the way. To date, some preliminary data are available from two pilot studies.

Teachers’ professional development through the education practicum: A proposal for university-school collaboration

“…On the other hand, the results of the study carried out by Sigurðardóttir (2010) reveal that intersubjectivity is one of the central themes in the experiences of the participants who appear in the study of the development of the Practicum. We must consider this intersubjectivity as the possibility of listening to teachers and feeling that you are heard, trying to learn from errors and disagreements and understand the opinions of others, as well as obtaining their approval.…”

Broadening borders to build better schools

“…Teams of teachers from similar disciplines working collaboratively in a PLCs have been linked to improved student achievement (Sigurdardottir, 2010). Rural schools have been slow to connect teacher collaboration and improved student achievement; however, rural schools have led the way in distance learning opportunities for teachers and students (Barrett et al , 2015; Ullman, 2010).…”

The Universal Value of Teacher Education for Inclusive Education

“…To this end, some promising examples have been described in the literature. For example, in Iceland, research has focused on university-school partnerships in teacher education and professional learning and how these partnerships might develop to support inclusive teacher education (Sigurdardóttir 2010). A paper from Cyprus (Symeonidou/Phtiaka 2009) describes how practicing teachers' prior knowledge could be used to develop relevant university courses for teachers interested in developing inclusive practice.…”