Power and perspective: the discourse of professional development school literature

This paper reports on the results of a study in which the discourse within 75 professional development school (PDS)-related publications was examined to determine where the power, influence, and representation lies in PDS partnerships, as indicated by how those partnerships are described in writing. The results found that while university faculty overwhelmingly wrote the articles, their perspectives and experiences were under-represented in the literature and, moreover, their influence within the partnerships appeared to be negligible. School and university administrators were similarly absent in PDS writing. Significantly, university authors and researchers represented themselves in a way that was highly deferential to practitioners and denigrated the role of theory and research in PDS work. In contrast to the traditional image of university dominance of partnerships, this research suggests that the real power and influence in PDS partnerships are the classroom teachers. The paper concludes with suggestions for creating a new, shared PDS discourse that tries to blur the artificial lines between theory and practice.     

Providing school-based learning in elementary school mathematics: the case of a professional development school partnership

Abstract

School–university partnerships also known as professional development school (PDS) partnerships provide potential for universities and schools to establish partnerships that can benefit university faculty, school teachers, university students, and school students. This study examines the impact of a PDS partnership in which the author served as a school-based mathematics coach for two years in a high-need elementary school. Data sources included interviews, surveys, and field notes from classroom observations. Inductive qualitative analyses which were situated in a multi-level framework for researching professional development found that teachers posed more cognitively demanding mathematical tasks and high-level questions in year two compared to year one of this project. Further, student achievement was noted on both state-wide and district-created assessments. Also teachers reported that the school-based approach to professional development led to some teachers taking on more informal leadership roles to support their colleagues’ mathematics instruction. Implications for school-based learning opportunities across the world include the need to establish specific university–school partnerships, and carefully designing research studies to examine the impact of these learning opportunities.     

The Challenges Never Stop! Two Decades of Reaching for the Best in Clinical Practice

The University of South Carolina Professional Development School (USC PDS) Network has been engaged in designing and redesigning school–university partnerships for more than 20 years with a focus on ensuring that school-based practice lies at the heart of candidate preparation. In 2012–2013, the USC PDS Network once again reexamined their program design to identify and build upon those elements that have proven successful. This article shares the journey and lessons learned in the evolution of the USC PDS Network, including the results of the most recent reexamination. The focus is on challenges inherent in the creation of effective school–university collaboration and insights into key components of success, including relationship building, leadership and administrative support, sense of purpose, organizational structures, and adaptability to change.     

Multilevel Boundary Crossing in a Professional Development School Partnership

This study aims to understand the recurrent challenges of professional development school (PDS) partnerships experienced by many countries. It does so by conceptualizing PDS partnerships as endeavors to cross institutionally and epistemologically developed boundaries between teacher education, schooling, and academic research. After introducing what we call a multilevel boundary crossing approach, we look at the startup years of one academic PDS partnership, scrutinizing the successive learning mechanisms that were evoked at the institutional, interpersonal, and intrapersonal levels. The case study narrative illustrates the multilevel nature of boundary crossing and reveals different learning mechanisms in different phases and at different levels. For example, whereas coordination initially occurred at all levels, transformation occurred in later years mainly at the intrapersonal level. The study sheds specific light on the intrapersonal level by showing the significant and challenging role of various brokers in establishing both horizontal and vertical connections across and within the organizations involved. Despite being important leaders of the partnerships’ activities, we observed how brokers prevented others from becoming more involved. We propose that partnerships should carefully consider the sort of learning processes they aspire to and can realistically expect at different levels and moments in time and accordingly consider how they want to position the various actors.     

PDS Collaboration as Third Space: An analysis of the quality of learning experiences in a PDS partnership

This article documents the self-study processes and findings of a collaborative research group that examined a professional development school (PDS) partnership. Drawing on the scholarship of self-study of teacher education practices and theoretical perspectives consistent with third space, we conceived our collaborative study group as a learning community aimed at uncovering the complexities of school–university partnerships while seeking new directions for an effective partnership. Data were collected from a variety of sources. Themes were developed based on some identified areas of focus consistent with the group's objectives, which included deciphering the state of our PDS collaboration, our preservice teachers' learning experiences, and insight into faculty as learners in professional relationship. The study revealed that experiential disparity existed within and among faculty and students in various PDS sites as a result of poor communication as well as divergent models of collaboration and philosophical goals between faculty and mentor teachers. Disparity in the learning experiences among the preservice teachers was attributed to the quality and scope of the partnership. This study resulted in better understanding of our roles as hybrid educators and recognition of mentor teachers as critical bridges in a PDS partnership.     

Preservice teachers’ inquiry in a professional development school context: Implications for the practicum

Professional development school (PDS) contexts are increasingly being viewed as powerful sites for the preparation of future teachers in the USA. One of their documented strengths is in the fostering of preservice teachers’ inquiry within collaborative frameworks that result from the partnerships between university teacher education programmes and schools. This article focuses on one inquiry-based PDS programme, describes five inquiry projects carried out by interns in the programme, and presents interns’ perceptions on engaging in inquiry during their yearlong internship. The discussion that follows explores the potential of the inquiry approach in PDS contexts to reform the teacher education practicum.     

美国教师教育的新模式及其对我国的启示

美国专业发展学校（PDS）是一种新的教师培养模式,是通过强化中小学和大学的合作伙伴关系,共同培养教师、开展合作研究而建立起来的,其在促进教师专业发展方面取得了可喜成果,对我国教师教育有重要的启示。结合我国教师教育改革与发展的趋势特点,我们应该在实践与理论上借鉴PDS的经验,这既符合国际教师教育改革的趋势,也是我国教师教育发展的大方向。     

Early Childhood Teacher Learning Through a Professional Development School Program in Hong Kong

Emphasis on continuing professional development is seen as an important aspect of educational reform at all levels of education. In recent years, a number of colleges and universities have established partnerships for the professional development of teachers at the elementary and secondary levels. However, there have been few partnerships within the Professional Development School Program (PDS) established in early childhood settings. Thus, this paper explores the growth and development of two kindergarten teachers after their school participated in a PDS in Hong Kong.     

Teacher identity construction in school–university partnerships: Discourse and practice

This article reports on a qualitative case study that explored the experiences of two groups of secondary school English language teachers as they participated in school–university partnerships in Hong Kong. Drawing upon theories of identity construction and using in-depth interviews, the case studies highlight how teacher identity formation shaped and was shaped by participation in a school–university partnership. Implications for developing a critical perspective on school–university partnerships and for future research are discussed.     

The construction of university-community partnerships: entangled perspectives

The development of meaningful partnerships with communities is a shared concern of many higher education institutions. However, the building of significant partnerships between universities and communities is still a complex task, which generates multiple tensions. Based on a qualitative study that examined the lived experiences of participants in an innovative university-community partnership in Israel, the article analyzes the concept of partnership from a social constructivist theoretical perspective. The study focused on four research areas: the experience of partnership; the perception of partnership; the barriers to partnership-building, and the impact of participation on participants. Findings challenge essentialist views of partnership and highlight the constructed and discursive nature of the concept. The article found several crucial factors to be acknowledged in the process of partnership management: role perspectives, group affiliation, institutional context, power relations, the organizational culture of the partnership, and the societal perceptions of social problems addressed by the partnership. It concludes with some recommendations for the management of more meaningful university-community partnerships.     

Title I and School--Family--Community Partnerships: Using Research to Realize the Potential

Title I's requirements for parent and community involvement in both schoolwide programs and targeted assistance schools, along with requirements for funding such involvement, challenge Title I schools to think seriously about and to plan for involvement that will help make a difference in children's learning. In this article, we (a) review the requirements and how they may be interpreted (especially the requirement for school-parent contracts); (b) briefly summarize recent research on the effects of school-family partnerships on students, teachers, and parents; and (c) discuss two major research-based comprehensive programs for building school-family-community partnerships that provide a foundation upon which Title I schools could develop, in conjunction with parents, their own comprehensive and effective programs.     

教师专业发展学校的构建

教师专业发展学校是以中小学为基地,由大学或教育科研机构和中小学合作建立的旨在促进教师专业发展的教学研究共同体。本文在分析教师专业发展学校特征的基础上,对构建教师专业发展学校的整体架构以及教师专业发展学校的运作载体与策略进行了初步探索,以期能对我国构建教师专业发展学校有所裨益。     

国际视野中的合作伙伴教师教育:理念、模式与启示

大学与中小学建立合作伙伴关系是世界教师教育改革的重要策略,基于伙伴的教师教育强调职前教师培养、在职教师专业发展和学校改进。合作伙伴涉及到机构之间的合作和人员之间的合作,基本模式有PDS模式、咨询合作模式、结对合作模式和团队合作模式。影响合作伙伴效果的因素包括文化因素、组织因素、心理因素、情境因素、协作因素、制度因素等。基于合作伙伴的教师教育改革致力于大学与中小学的共同发展。     

Touching the void: arts education research in Australia

This article is an overview of arts education research in Australia. The authors argue that there is an urgent need for key arts organisations to form strategic partnerships with arts educators to provide stronger research in the area of arts education. This research base would enhance the ability of policymakers, arts administrators and arts educators to argue for a stronger presence for arts education in schools. Many arts educators and researchers believe that engagement with the arts has value beyond the specific arts subjects themselves. International studies have indicated that important cognitive and social processes and capabilities are developed in arts-enriched experiences, which can be particularly significant for students who are at risk, disengaged and/or underachieving. While this realisation has stimulated action in other countries such as China, Singapore and Japan, arts education researchers in Australia currently make do with small-scale and often ad hoc research in an attempt to argue their case. The conclusions and recommendations of this article call for a series of strategic partnerships to touch or even fill the current void in arts education research in Australia.     

Distilling wisdom from practice: Finding meaning in PDS stories

Much of what has been written about the Professional Development School (PDS) experience consists of recounting personal experiences. However, these accounts often offer little to readers since they are neither good research nor good storytelling. In this article I draw on mythology, folklore, psychology and literature to suggest that effective storytelling can serve the same function in nurturing PDS culture as it does in the maintenance of culture in general. After identifying potential story elements in the PDS experience, I propose ways in which to borrow from various literary genres to create PDS stories that are more engaging and meaningful.     

Where policy meets the pavement: Stages of public involvement in the prevention of school violence

Based on qualitative research on school and city violence, this article examines three forms of partnerships between community organizations and schools, including youth interventions by social services; community activism; and school liaisons with the police. The article examines how violence-prevention strategies are conceived within a context that includes the formation of policy directed at communities, youths, and schools; social science theories of delinquency; public rhetoric about youth and families; and efforts on the part of community residents, city departments, and social services. The underlying theory-base behind the research can be associated with cultural studies, since it combines cultural and structural interpretations of the topic and analyzes policies according to their processes, in light of their constructions, and in connection with the theories that guide them. It becomes obvious by the end of the article that community-based violence-prevention organizations collaborating with schools are sometimes blocked from doing good work by poor funding, power struggles, and a deficit model of youth. While the partnerships can, at times, help to initiate positive involvement of disenfranchised people, they can also become instruments of city power structures. For their positive and productive work to come out, the interagency and school collaborations must solve the problems that are discussed in the article.     

Cultivating community: detailing school and community engagement under complex conditions

This article reveals the nature of actions, discussions and relationships which helped forge school-community partnerships for engaged student learning and wider community participation for students and families living under difficult socio-economic circumstances. Specifically, the article draws upon interviews with key personnel and staff involved in the establishment and enactment of a ‘Community Partnerships’ programme to help improve the opportunities for students attending a primary school serving a low socio-economic urban community in south-east Queensland, Australia. Drawing upon the notion of educational practice as a product of ongoing interactions between particular actions (doings), discussions (sayings) and relationships (relatings), which both constitute and are responsive to particular conditions or ‘architectures’ for practice, the article reveals how the conceptualisation, establishment and consolidation of the community partnerships programme was dependent upon specific ‘relatings’ between key district and school personnel, the actions/‘doings’ of these personnel and ongoing ‘sayings’/dialogue about their work. Collectively, these ‘doings’, ‘sayings’ and ‘relatings’ all helped to stimulate new conditions – ‘practice architectures’ – for improved opportunities for students and their families. Teacher education informed by such theorising of community partnerships as the product of specific actions, dialogue and relationship-building is vital for developing improved understandings of such interactions and partnerships over time.     

Creating Impactful Student Learning in a Business Analytics Program through Leveraging Scholar‐Practitioner Engagement

Industry demand for talented analytics professionals has created a significant increase in degree programs (e.g., MS in Analytics) around the globe. Many of these programs incorporate experiential learning in the curriculum to foster a deeper understanding. This article focuses on the value and challenges in implementing experiential learning in an analytics‐focused degree program by incorporating and scaffolding multiple organizational analytics projects throughout the curriculum. In addition, this article focuses on the manner in which these organizational analytics projects can create value for scholars, beyond student learning. Scholar‐practitioner partnerships have the potential to advance not only the field of academic research but also the rigor of actual practice. We report our experiences and best practices in creating and leveraging scholar‐practitioner partnerships in the context of project‐based experiential learning in a Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program. We provide motivation for creating such partnerships for teaching analytics, document student and organizational success, offer illustrations of exemplary experiential learning projects, and discuss the challenges that need to be managed.     

Strengthening Community Schools Through University Partnerships

Given the mounting call for academic achievement gains in America's public schools—particularly urban schools labeled “failing”—the need for community engagement to tackle a host of underlying social challenges warrants the resources of the nation's colleges and universities (Harkavy & Hartley, 2009). Because colleges and universities are often underutilized anchors of resources in communities, coordinated alignment of K-12 and higher education goals can create a seamless pipeline of educational attainment for communities challenged to produce high academic achievement. Higher education's engagement with community schools further helps to address the whole child and their families in K-12 education by expanding the opportunities for the students and community to access necessary support services. Drawing upon experiences of Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and collaboration with its adjacent neighborhoods, this article illustrates the transformative and relevant impact of university and community engagement, as well as new pedagogical approaches to teaching, learning, and training. This article reflects upon the experiences of IUPUI and nearby George Washington Community High School as it can uniquely serve as a roadmap for other school community/university partnerships that are interested in embarking upon a similar education reform path.