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.     

Motivations,barriers, & understandings: how students at four universities perceive student–faculty partnership programs

ABSTRACT

Extracurricular student–staff partnership activities are increasingly common in higher education institutions, but concerns have been expressed about their relative inclusivity. In order to contribute to understanding of why students do and do not take part in such initiatives, this study draws on data from a survey of students at four institutions, in three different countries, with established extracurricular partnership programs. Though the findings indicate some preliminary differences between participants at the four institutions, they also demonstrate a number of shared perceptions, including similar understandings of key features of partnership and shared perceptions of barriers to participation. Implications for partnership practice and research are discussed.     

The Boston College-Allston/Brighton Partnership: Description and Challenges

Over the last decade, universities have increasingly begun to recognize their responsibility to address the issues and problems confronting society. Many universities are responding to this challenge by developing formal partnerships with communities. This article describes a specific partnership between Boston College and its local contiguous community. It outlines the development of the partnership from a simple school-university engagement between a school principal and a school of education faculty member to a complex set of relationships involving (a) multiple disciplines and professions; (b) a set of complicated projects; (c) multiple funders; (d) a large number of faculty, students, practitioners, and community members; (e) multiple institutions interacting at multiple levels; and (f) many kinds and levels of outcomes. The centrality of the processes of colearning and interprofessional collaboration is highlighted. The factors contributing to the success of the partnership, as well as the ongoing challenges it faces, are examined. The partnership has led to a deepened understanding on the part of both the university and community regarding the research-practice relation.     

Difficulties in promoting inquiry in teacher education partnerships: English and Canadian perspectives

This comparative study of two pre‐service teacher education programmes in England and in Canada focuses on the relationship between inquiry and the partnership structures within which the universities and schools work together. Despite the very different jurisdictions and cultures of the two systems, the two universities seem to experience similar difficulties in relation to their commitment to inquiry and to working in partnership with schools. At both the Canadian and the English sites, definitions of inquiry varied within institutions as well as between universities and schools, and inquiry was a university rather than a school priority. These differences between the schools' and the universities' views on inquiry are significant for the partnerships in which the programmes operate. It is these differences and difficulties—which often seem context‐related but which, through the authors' comparative work, have come to seem more systemic—that are explored in this article.     

Challenging assumptions about values,interests and power in further and higher education partnerships

This article raises questions that challenge assumptions about values, interests and power in further and higher education partnerships. These topics were explored in a series of semi-structured interviews with a sample of principals and senior higher education partnership managers of colleges spread across a single region in England. The data suggest that common assumptions evident in the literature and professional discourse about the hegemony of higher education institutions in partnerships with further education and sixth form colleges may be misplaced. Questions are also raised about an exclusive focus upon shared values in educational partnerships, and it is suggested that greater clarity about the focus of educational partnerships can explain how successful partnerships can negotiate which values and interests are shared and which are not – an approach that can be a useful modus operandi in the increasingly competitive educational markets in which universities and colleges operate.     

School–University Partnerships: Reflections and Opportunities

Universities and schools have a long history of partnering with one another to achieve a range of educational goals in America's schools. For many years, the needs of the universities were the primary impetus for partnership. Universities needed practicum sites for student teachers and other educational professionals, as well as participants for the research of university social science faculty. In more recent years, the balance has begun to shift dramatically so that the needs of schools are increasingly driving the formation of school–university partnerships. This article briefly describes the recent history, development, and major foci of school–university partnerships. After identifying a relatively neglected area of school–university partnerships, the article describes an existing partnership that addresses this area in order to illustrate the potential and opportunities for partnership. Finally, this article closes with a discussion of the challenges and potential benefits of school–university partnerships.     

Why Do Chinese Universities Seek Foreign University Partners: An Investigation of the Motivating Factors Behind a Significant Area of Alliance Activity

ABSTRACT

Considerable research has been undertaken into the issue of Sino foreign strategic alliances in the area of higher education, particularly since the late 1990s, when universities in China signed an increasing large number of alliance agreements with foreign universities (Willis 2000, 2005a). Although there has been considerable research regarding various aspects of these alliances, including the types of activities undertaken, and the levels of alliances formed in this sector (Hayhoe 1989, 1996; Willis 2000), there has been less evaluation of the factors which have motivated the majority of Chinese universities to actively seek suitable foreign partners for collaboration particularly in regard to the delivery of activities and programs within China. This research identifies a range of factors driving the Chinese desire to form alliances with foreign universities. These in general relate to the special and somewhat idiosyncratic role of universities as agents of social and economic change in China. To effect this change they have often sought foreign partners who are able to assist China to develop a market economy. Universities within the Chinese top 100 university system have become increasingly selective in their choice of foreign universities and are requiring far higher levels of commitment than hitherto. It is now not unusual for foreign universities to deliver degree programs in China, and not just via study abroad and distance means. Gradually, over time, Chinese universities have become more discerning, particular and careful in the selection of foreign university partners. To this end, this paper identifies three distinct phases of Chinese university selection of foreign partners, dating back to 1978. The current phase, which emerged around 2000–2001 underscores the growing desire on the part of Chinese universities to select better quality, more committed and longer-term foreign partners–partly an issue of signing agreements with fewer, but better universities than in the past when a more “scattergun” approach was utilised.     

A Quest for Equity? Measuring the Effect of QuestBridge on Economic Diversity at Selective Institutions

In response to growing income stratification in higher education, President Obama convened a White House Summit in 2014 where over 100 selective institutions committed to increasing the number of low-income students on their campus. One way colleges proposed to do so is through partnerships with college access organizations like QuestBridge, a nonprofit organization that aims to increase the percentage of low-income students at elite universities. While institutions purport that QuestBridge improved socioeconomic diversity, empirical research has not confirmed these claims. In this study, we estimate the effect of QuestBridge on overall access of Pell eligible students at partner institutions using quasi-experimental methods. We find no increase in the economic diversity of colleges after establishing a partnership with QuestBridge, except for colleges simultaneously partnering with QuestBridge and enacting no-loan financial aid policies. We also consider whether participation in QuestBridge increases institutional status through larger application volumes and increased selectivity, and discuss implications for research and practice in the area of stratification.     

International brand alliances and co-branding: antecedents of cognitive dissonance and student satisfaction with co-branded higher education programs

The study investigates how in international partnerships the brand credibility of each partner, student-institution identification with each partner, and perceived service quality relate to student satisfaction. A structured survey questionnaire was completed by 528 students taking a co-branded higher education program in Hong Kong or Sri Lanka. The results indicate that the brand credibility of a foreign institution is a stronger influencer on student identification with the foreign institution as compared to the relationship between credibility and identification with the local partner. The negative relationship between organizational identification and cognitive dissonance for each institution in the partnership is also stronger for the foreign institution. As the popularity of international partnerships and co-branded higher education programs continues to grow, the importance and dominance of foreign brand credibility and student identification with foreign institutions is recognized.     

The internationalization of in-service teacher training in Québec cégeps and their foreign partners: An institutional perspective

Through a case study of Québec??s general and vocational colleges (cégeps), this article analyzes the role that institutions play in internationalizing the in-service training they provide to their teachers, and explains how partnerships with educational institutions in developing countries contribute to this process. Data from a questionnaire completed by 39 cégeps show that cégeps sustain internationalized in-service teacher training through teacher mobility, international cooperation, and training activities. Teacher mobility and international cooperation support efforts to establish partnerships with foreign institutions. The relationships that cégeps have with developing countries are changing: international cooperation, associated with a ??selling?? relationship, is decreasing, while teacher mobility, associated with a ??gelling?? approach, is increasing. Finally, the consistency between cégep activities and the government??s strategies is explained by considering the community of interest composed of cégeps, the government of Québec, and Cégep International.     

Leading through partnership: enhancing the Teach First Leadership Programme

Teach First works in partnership with government, business organisations, higher education institutions (providers of Initial Teacher Training, ITT) and schools to offer a two-year integrated Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) Leadership Development Programme; the first cohort of students were accepted in 2003. Its delivery of an integrated QTS/leadership programme, recruitment of top graduates who would not otherwise consider teaching, focus on teaching in challenging schools and joint business–Higher Education Institution delivery, set Teach First within a unique position amongst ITT partnerships in England. In 2008, building on its success, Teach First sought to enhance its Leadership Development Programme, relevant to teachers and leaders in all fields, including the development of an optional Masters route. This paper considers the development of the enhanced programme within the Teach First partnership model and explores the merits of the programme in developing teachers. Evidence suggests that the core values, focus on mission and strong ethos have been major contributory factors to its success.     

“Spitting in the wind?”: the demise of a school–business partnership

This paper begins from the premise that school–business partnerships are part of marketization and privatization trends within education and the broader public sphere in several western industrialized countries. In contrast to a dominant construction of partnerships as necessary, benevolent, and unproblematic, I consider the idea that they represent a potential threat to democratic participation. I do this through a case analysis of a partnership between a high school and corporation in Alberta, Canada that was dissolved in 1996. Through interviews, I reconstruct some of the events leading to the dissolution and provide insights into the social processes that are revealed in the case. I conclude by arguing that while the case highlights the problematic aspects of this particular partnership, it also raises more general questions about the goal congruence of private and public institutions and about the implications of such generally lop-sided relationships for schools as public institutions.     

Greater engagement in and responsibility for learning: what happens when students cross the threshold of student–faculty partnership

The importance of student engagement in higher education is increasingly recognised. As a result, questions have arisen regarding how best to inspire and support students in taking greater interest in and more active responsibility for their learning. Student–faculty partnerships that position students as consultants in explorations of pedagogical practice inspire and support engagement and responsibility that carry over from those partnerships into students' classroom participation. However, such partnership constitutes for many students a ‘threshold concept’. Because partnering with faculty in analyses and revisions of teaching and learning both requires and inspires students to redefine their roles, responsibilities and sense of themselves, student–faculty partnership proves troublesome, transformative, discursive, irreversible and integrative. In a case study of one partnership programme at a liberal arts institution in the Northeastern USA, we discuss how crossing the threshold constituted by student–faculty partnership in pedagogical exploration fosters in students greater engagement in, and responsibility for, learning. Implications for higher education include the potential of reconceptualising our classrooms as more democratic spaces and the work of teaching and learning as more of a shared responsibility.     

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.     

Ideologies,strategies and higher education development: a comparison of China’s university partnerships with the Soviet Union and Africa over space and time

University partnerships have been a key dimension of higher education development. Based on documentary analysis and empirical data, this study compares two distinctive models of university partnership experienced by China, first as a recipient with the Soviet Union in the 1950s and later as a provider with African countries in the 2000s. The different modalities of China’s university partnerships are analysed in the changing contexts of a shift from the political ideology of socialism to the current global context of neo-liberalism. The article looks critically at how Chinese universities have utilised their earlier experience of development under Soviet influence in their current approach to internationalisation, taking China’s on-going 20?+?20 University Partnership Scheme with less developed countries in Africa since 2010 as an example. The intention of this article is to reflect deeply on the policy implications of China’s experience in transforming its position from a recipient into a provider of university partnerships. Finally, the article also looks at the Confucian mission of the Chinese University 3.0 and the possibility of fostering multilateral university partnerships for international development in the context of globalisation.     

Universities and Teacher Education

There have been momentous changes in the organisation and funding of initial teacher training which threaten the traditional role of universities. However, the critics of these changes fail to see that the changes reflect radical developments in higher education more generally as a result of widening participation, greater accountability and more diverse missions. This makes it necessary for each higher education institution to ask what its distinctive contribution could be to the various partnerships – in the case of educational studies, to the partnership with schools.     

Reframing Service-Learning as Learning and Participation With Urban Youth

This article describes a critical service-learning project that resulted from an educational partnership among a national teachers' union, a local teachers' union, and a major research university. The partnership—funded by a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service, Learn and Serve program—focused on professional development opportunities for K–12 educators across subject areas throughout an urban school district. Teachers enrolled in a university-level graduate course where they learned about critical service-learning, engaged in community-based activities, developed partnerships with local organizations, and facilitated critical service-learning projects in local schools and communities. Here, we highlight one of the many projects that emerged from this partnership as we attempt to connect theory with practice by reframing service-learning as learning and participation. We ask: How can a reframing of service-learning as learning and participation impact how we understand the educative and social engagements of four urban youth?     

Forging School–Scientist Partnerships: A Case of Easier Said than Done?

Since the early 1980s, a number of initiatives have been undertaken worldwide which have involved scientists and teachers working together in projects designed to support the science learning of students. Many of these have attempted to establish school–scientist partnerships. In these, scientists, teachers, and students formed teams engaged in mutually beneficial science-based activities founded on principles such as equal recognition and input, and shared vision, responsibility and risk. This article uses two partnership programmes run by a New Zealand Science Research Institute, to illustrate the challenges faced by scientists and teachers as they attempted to forge meaningful and effective partnerships. It argues that achieving the theorised position of a shared partnership space at the intersection of the worlds of scientists and teachers is problematic, and that scientists must instead be prepared to penetrate deeply into the world of the classroom when undertaking any such interactions. Findings indicate epistemological differences, curriculum and school systems and issues, and teacher efficacy and science knowledge significantly affect the process of partnership formation. Furthermore, it is argued that a re-thinking of partnerships is needed to reflect present economic and education environments, which are very different to those in which they were originally conceived nearly 30 years ago. It suggests that technology has an important role to play in future partnership interactions.     

Crossing Borders, Breaking Boundaries: Collaboration Among Higher Education Institutions

Partnerships and collaboration have become popular in higher education; and partnerships with community agencies, K-12 schools, and businesses are common. However, formal and sustained partnerships among institutions of higher education are not nearly as widespread. This article presents a model for collaboration in higher education focused on a partnership among teacher preparation programs at three institutions. The article provides an overview of theoretical underpinnings for collaboration, the process and practices used, and lessons learned by Valley Partnership, as well as the stages of partnership development, the governance model, and key elements related to sustaining the partnership.