Effective partnership? Perceptions of PGCE student teacher supervision

In England and Wales, Initial Teacher Education depends upon a legal and contractual partnership between schools and higher education institutions in which teacher mentors are often trained to support student teacher development. This paper investigates the much less formal kind of partnership model that has evolved in Scotland, using one university's PGCE (Secondary) programme as a case study. Our research shows that the partnership is based on goodwill and relationships built up over time between university and school staff. However, school staff generally have only a weak understanding of the overall direction of the PGCE programme and they are uncertain about how best to fulfil their role in placement supervision. Partly in consequence, students find it hard to integrate school and university experiences and the quality of placement is very uneven. We identify scope for the development of mentoring skills among teachers and argue that current developments in Scottish education mean that this is a propitious time to begin to strengthen the links between school and university components of PGCE programmes.

En Angleterre et au Pays de Galle, la formation initiale des professeurs repose sur un partenariat contractuel et juridique entre les écoles et les Instituts de formation, c'est‐à‐dire que des professeurs sont formés en tant que mentors pour veiller au bon développement des étudiants. Dans cet exposé nous allons étudier un modèle de partenariat beaucoup moins formel qui s'est développé en Ecosse, en nous basant sur le cas d'étude du programme du PGCE (professeurs du secondaire) d'une université. Nos recherches montrent que le partenariat est basé sur de la bonne volonté et sur des relations bâties au cours des années entre l'université et les enseignants en collège. Cependant en général ces derniers n'ont pas une vision très claire de la direction globale du programme du PGCE et ne savent pas quelle est la meilleure manière de remplir leur rôle de superviseur durant les stages. En partie pour cette raison, les étudiants ont des difficultés à faire le lien entre leur expérience au collège et leur expérience à l'université et la qualité des stages est donc très inégale. Nous constatons donc qu'il faut que les professeurs soient mieux formés à leur rôle de mentor et que—en raison des développements qui ont lieu à l'heure actuelle dans le domaine de l'éducation en Ecosse—le moment est propice pour commencer à créer des liens plus étroits entre les composants universitaires et les stages en collège des programmes du PGCE.

En Inglaterra y Gales, la Educación Inicial del Profesor depende de la asociación legal y contractual entre los colegios y los institutos de educación superior, por donde enseñan a los mentores de profesores a apoyar el desarrollo del profesor en prácticas. Este artículo examina el modelo de asociación mucho menos convencional que ha desarrollado en Escocia, utilizando el programa de PGCE (secundario) de una universidad como estudio de casos. Nuestras investigaciones demuestran que la asociación se funda en la buena voluntad y las buenas amistades que se hace durante cierto tiempo entre la universidad y el personal docente del colegio. Sin embargo, el personal docente del colegio tiene solamente una comprensión floja de la dirección global del programa PGCE, y no está seguro de lo que podría hacer por lo bueno para desempeñar su papel durante la supervisión de la colocación. En cierto modo por consiguiente, los estudiantes tienen dificultades para integrarse en las experiencias del colegio y de la universidad, y la calidad de la colocación es muy desigual. Identificamos el campo de aplicación para el desarrollo de destrezas de mentores entre los profesores, y sostenemos que el desarrollo actual en la educación escocesa significa que ahora es un período propicio para empezar a consolidar las conexiones que hay entre los componentes del colegio y de la universidad en el programa de PGCE.

In England und im Wales, Ausgangslehrerausbildung hängt nach einer zugelassenen und Vertragsteilhaberschaft zwischen Schulen und Ausbildunganstalten ab, in denen Lehrermentors häufig ausgebildet werden, um Kursteilnehmerlehrerentwicklung zu stützen. Dieses Papier forscht die viel weniger formale Art des Partnerschaftssmodells, das sich in Schottland entwickelt hat mit dem PGCE (Sekundär) Programm von einer Universität als Fallstudie. Unsere Forschung zeigt, daß diese Partnerschaft auf dem Wohlwollen und Verhältnissen basiert, die Überzeit zwischen Universität und Schulestab aufgebaut werden. Jedoch hat Schulestab im Allgemeinen nur ein schwaches Verständnis der gesamten Richtung des PGCE‐Programms und sie sind unsicher über, wie man gut ihre Rolle in der Plazierungsüberwachung erfüllt. Teils infolgedessen, finden Kursteilnehmer es hart, Schule zu integrieren und Hochschulerfahrungen und die Qualität der Plazierung ist‐sehr ungleich. Wir kennzeichnen Bereiche für die Entwicklung von mentoring Fähigkeiten unter Lehrern und argumentieren daß gegenwärtige Entwicklungen im schottischen Ausbildungsmittel, daß dieses eine günstige Zeit ist anzufangen, die Verbindungen zwischen Schule und Hochschulbestandteilen der PGCE‐Programme zu verstärken.     

Competing views of teaching in a school–university partnership

This case study examines how differing views on the teacher's role in school reform affected the work of a school–university partnership. The school district and the university had a history of partnerships and shared common general goals. Yet, as the partnership progressed, conflicting perspectives about teaching and the purpose of professional development became evident and created dilemmas that influenced the nature of the work. We provide background information about each partner, describe the two views, and examine how the differing perspectives influenced the goals and activities of the partnership. This study highlights the complex issues embedded in school–university collaboration.     

Contesting the neoliberalisation of higher education through student–faculty partnership

Student–faculty partnership has been researched by contemporary academic developers, particularly its outcomes and challenges. However, theoretical discussions linking it with larger social–educational–political discourses are still lacking. This reflection aims to help fill the gap by analysing how student–faculty partnership might contest the neoliberalisation of higher education. It argues that, by positioning partnership as the basis for learning, student–faculty partnership provides an alternative discourse to contest the marketisation and corporatisation of higher education, the (re)production of learners as competitive and self-interested, and the standardisation and mechanisation of learning.     

The role of school-based research champions in a school–university partnership

The value of teachers’ engagement in and with research is long recognised and it is acknowledged that school–university research partnerships are one way of enabling such engagement. But we know little about how research-based knowledge is negotiated into school practices. Here we draw on data from nine ‘research champions’, who are teachers in schools which are part of the Oxford Education Deanery, a research partnership with a university department. Taking a cultural/historical approach, the study examined the strategic intentions and actions in the activities of the champions as they negotiated research-based knowledge into their schools. Data comprised 59 completed templates that described what they did and why. Findings revealed differences between those with close links with senior leaders—who could take a whole-school approach—and those whose reach was restricted by their position in school practices. Nonetheless, all the champions carefully selected and targeted research in ways that reflected their knowledge of local contexts. The findings point to the need to incorporate the champion role into school systems and for universities to value the role as they develop their own research agenda.     

Academic effectiveness of private,public and private–public partnership schools in Pakistan

In recent years, there has been major growth in low-cost or affordable private schooling in South Asia. This has applied in both urban and rural areas. In Pakistan, some 25%–33% of all children now attend private schools. Further, there has been substantial, consistent, developing country evidence that students of affordable private schools outperform academically their counterparts in government schools. This seems to remain true even after account is taken of intellectual ability, home and family characteristics.In this paper we use 2011 data collected by Pakistan's Annual Status of Education Report (ASER, 2012) to address three questions:

• (a)Do Pakistan's rural private school students outperform their public school counterparts?
• (b)Do Pakistan's public–private partnership (PPP) school students outperform their public school counterparts?
• (c)Are higher private school fees associated with higher student achievement?

Our results show that:

• •private school students in Pakistan, do outperform their government colleagues. This effect persists even after account is taken of other variables (child, household and school).
• •PPP students also outperform their government counterparts but this effect disappears when account is taken of private tuition.
• •students from the lowest-fee private schools outperform students from government schools and higher fee school students generally outperform the lowest fee schools but this latter difference seems attributable to factors other than solely the higher fee level itself.

     

What underlies the shift to a modality of partnership in educational development cooperation?

This paper situates the philosophy and politics of partnership in educational development cooperation in the context of wider epistemological and axiological shifts in contemporary social theory. Partnerships in development cooperation are also considered in the light of the alleged failure of international development assistance, a claim that has received much attention with the publication of, among others, William Easterly’s The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s efforts to aid the rest have done so much ill and so little good (2006) and of Dambisa Moyo’s Dead Aid: Why aid is not working and how there is another way for Africa (2008). Partnership as a development strategy offers one response to these claims, but if shared development objectives and policies, shared ownership, shared decisions about where aid is targeted, shared rights, shared responsibilities, and shared implementation strategies still leave the education development community facing challenges as big as ever, it might be time, the paper concludes, to consider whether the concept of partnership has not been expanded too far as a modality in development cooperation.     

Making death,compassion and partnership ‘part of life’ in school communities

Death can be considered a social taboo, a common source of fear and public avoidance. School communities are not immune to this, as the topic of death is constantly avoided. It is vital to understand how we can socially and culturally cultivate a positive regard for death, dying and bereavement in our school communities. Community members need to discuss these difficult issues and use strategies to enhance compassion, connectedness and support. In this literature review we reason that death is specifically not ‘part of life’ in school communities. Due to the dearth of school community-based literature on this issue and the progressive literature residing in palliative care, we aim to coalesce palliative care and school-based research, evaluate it and highlight compassion and partnership as a way forward for school communities. Essentially, our societal attitudes about death and dying have been profoundly altered and our community ownership of these normal life events has largely disappeared. This is demonstrated for example, by palliative care moving from the social grass roots ‘modern hospice movement’ formed in the 1960s and being reintegrated into the mainstream health care system by the end of the 1990s, resulting in an overall medicalised morphing of death, dying and bereavement issues. Therefore, we recommend that further research be conducted in how to develop compassionate schools to inform us how death may be continually made ‘part of life’ in school communities, for the benefit of students, teachers and families alike.     

Mothering and intellectual disability: partnership rhetoric?

This paper is about mothering an intellectually disabled child identified with special educational needs. It specifically looks at the parent partnership rhetoric that has dominated UK government policy and directives for nearly three decades and yet research suggests parents and more often mothers have to battle to be recognised as legitimate experts. This paper engages with sociological analysis as it highlights via qualitative narratives that mothers are weighed down by the sheer number of professionals involved in their day-to-day life. Moreover, mothers whose children are not identified in the early years are often blamed in the first instance for playing a part in their child’s difficult behaviour. This research ultimately suggests that partnership work is important and necessary for practice within health, education and social work professions, not least of all because the emotional roller-coaster that mothers experience during the assessment and statementing process is disabling.     

Professional learning during a schools–university partnership Master of Education course: teachers’ perspectives of their learning experiences

An extensive body of research has indicated the benefits of collaborative, contextualised and enquiry-based learning for teachers’ professional development and school improvement. Yet professional learning is also known to be constrained by a number of factors, including the organisational limitations of schools, conflicting cultural practices and wider political demands. Schools–university partnerships have been developed to overcome some of these difficulties by transcending particular school contexts and offering alternative theoretical and practical perspectives. The complex combination of motivations, backgrounds and working contexts in such partnership work calls for attention to the individual and collective learning experiences of those involved, including the ways in which school and university contexts are, or could be, effectively bridged. This paper focuses on understanding the learning experienced by a cohort of teachers and school leaders involved in a two-year schools–university partnership Master of Education (M.Ed.) course in England. A mixed group of 15 experienced primary and secondary teachers and school leaders reflected on their learning at five points of time during and shortly after completing their M.Ed. course. Qualitative analysis of the group’s interview responses and reflective writing led to the identification of six related aspects of personal and professional learning experience: being a learner; learning as part of professional practice; widening repertoire; changing as a learner; personal growth; and critically adaptive practice. The identification and visual representation of these aspects of experience emerging within the group offers useful insight into teachers’ perspectives on learning in school and university contexts and their experiences of progression over time. We conclude that more explicit and central attention to the professional and personal learning elements of schools–university partnerships can help to resolve some of the binary ‘theory–practice’ tensions that have been extensively discussed in relation to partnership programmes and teacher professional development. There is a need to acknowledge variation in teachers’ learning experiences within schools–university partnerships, bearing in mind the ongoing nature of this reflective process with each new group of school and university colleagues. Analysis of participants’ learning experiences in school and university contexts also draws attention to the wider structures, values and cultures that influence, and are influenced by, schools–university partnership work.     

Gerontological activism: an example of an intergenerational academic course within a university–community partnership

This article describes and discusses a novel academic course founded by the Faculty of Welfare and Health Studies at the University of Haifa, Israel, which tried to establish an alternative interaction between graduate students and older persons as part of its graduate academic program. The course “Social Activism and Old Age: From Exclusion to Inclusion” brought together senior citizens from the neighborhoods of the northern city of Haifa and graduate students at the Faculty of Welfare and Health Studies at the University of Haifa. Now in its fourth year, this course has shown that academic education and training in the field of gerontology and aging studies can be shaped in ways which provide meaningful intergenerational learning and that old age activism can be achieved within a broader context of university–community partnership (UCP).     

“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.     

Helping students make meaning of authentic investigations: findings from a student–teacher–scientist partnership

As student–teacher–scientist partnerships become more widespread, there is a need for research to understand the roles assumed by scientists and teachers as they interact with students in general and in inquiry learning environments in particular. Although teacher roles during inquiry learning have been studied, there is a paucity of research about the roles that scientists assume in their interactions with students. Socio-cultural perspectives on learning emphasize social interaction as a means for students to make meaning of scientific ideas. Thus, this naturalistic study of classroom discourse aims to explore the ways scientists and teachers help high school students make meaning during authentic inquiry investigations. Conversational analysis is conducted of video recordings of discussions between students and teachers and students and scientists from two instances of a student–teacher–scientist partnership program. A social semiotic analytic framework is used to interpret the actions of scientists and teachers. The results indicate a range of common and distinct roles for scientists and teachers with respect to the conceptual, social, pedagogical, and epistemological aspects of meaning making. While scientists provided conceptual and epistemological support related to their scientific expertise, such as explaining scientific phenomena or aspects of the nature of science, teachers played a critical role in ensuring students’ access to this knowledge. The results have implications for managing the division of labor between scientists and teachers in partnership programs.     

Parents’ perceptions of e-learning in school education: implications for the partnership between schools and parents

This study aimed to investigate parents’ understanding of, support for and concerns about e-learning and proposed a school–parent partnership distributing responsibilities to parents and schools based on the results of the study. A total of 61 parents from 21 schools in an e-learning pilot scheme in Hong Kong responded to a questionnaire survey and focus group interviews. Results indicated that there was a high correlation between parental understanding and support for e-learning although parents demonstrated only a basic level of understanding. Four types of parental support and six major areas of parental concern were identified. These results shed light on the school–parent partnership whereby parents should implement a proactive e-learning policy at home to monitor, support and inspire e-learning. Schools should formulate a holistic policy to address parents’ concerns responsively and proactively to gain support. Schools can enhance parents’ pedagogical understanding of e-learning and address parental concerns through school–parent communication and peer support among parents.     

An evaluation of Learning Contracts within the context of partnership in school‐based training: implications for school based mentoring

This paper explores parents' expectations and perceptions of effective induction and formative partnership with their child's school during the transition to full‐time statutory education.

Based on fifty case study children from two schools of similar size and catchment area but with different induction practices, it looks at a range of issues including parents' perceptions of home visiting, pre‐entry visits to school and pre‐entry profiles, as well as parents' knowledge about school and their notions of partner ship.

The paper outlines the implications for schools' partnerships with parents, exploring: ways in which schools and parents can begin to understand one another; how schools can help parents to support their children's learning; and ways in which effective schools can create opportunities for parental involvement.     

Discipline‐based academic development through a tripartite partnership

Abstract

This paper describes a discipline‐based academic development project based upon a tripartite relationship between departmental staff, work‐based practitioners and the central academic development unit which took place over one academic year within the Department of Physiotherapy, Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh. The purpose of the project was to discuss and debate the concept of the ‘reflective practitioner’, to develop strategies for enabling undergraduate students to be reflective, and to devise a framework for assessment of reflective practice in clinical work‐based learning. The outcomes of the project, most important of which was a change in the learning experience for students, demonstrate that academic development can be valuable and productive when undertaken as a partnership and placed in a disciplinary context. The authors identify key elements important to the success of the academic development process which should be applicable in similar situations and which could serve as guidelines for the planning and delivery of staff development through similar kinds of partnerships.     

Impacts of a university–school partnership on middle school students' fractional knowledge: A quasiexperimental study

In this quasiexperimental study, the authors investigated the effects of university within school partnership model, within which faculty members acted as teacher-researchers to improve fractional knowledge among middle school (Grades 5–8) students. Students in nine Grade 6 mathematics classes from two public middle schools in Turkey were assigned to two conditions: University within school model instruction and traditional instruction. Pre- and posttest data showed that the students exposed to instruction through the university within school partnership model significantly outperformed their traditional instruction peers on the fractions test. Results indicated that students made significant gains in fractional knowledge in the experimental classrooms and in different subgroup populations. It was suggested that a substantial amount of mathematical infusion through partnership could have a positive impact on middle school students' fractional knowledge. The educational implications of the study were also discussed.     

Unravelling the social dynamics of an industry–school partnership: social capital as perspective for co-creation

Increasingly, innovative collaboration between industry and schools is being exploited as a way of improving the quality and relevance of education. Even though these innovations appear to have substantial benefits, often the impact proves to fade away after their implementation. A better understanding of how to sustain complex innovations seems important. Unfortunately, only a limited amount of research investigates the ‘inside’ of complex innovations. This article reports on a three-year, large-scale industry–school programme in the Dutch Leisure sector. The research, from start to finish, adopted a qualitative case study methodology with a mixed-methods approach, drawing upon social capital theory as lens to understand the dynamics of processes and effect on outcomes. Findings indicate that the social capital theory helps to unravel crucial factors of processes and outcomes. The researched innovation process depended not so much on formal project plans and objectives but largely built on the quality of social relationships at all levels. Sustaining this social capital proved crucial, while managing according to a planned change strategy appeared to be counterproductive. The outcomes show to be twofold, in terms of new knowledge and products for the organisations and of sustainable benefits for the professionals, in terms of new abilities.     

Community building of (student) teachers and a teacher educator in a school–university partnership

School?Cuniversity partnerships (SUPs) are considered a way of improving teacher education. For the successful implementation of such partnerships, cooperation between the different stakeholders is of crucial importance. Therefore, most partnerships are organised in short- and long-term teams, which are usually composed of teachers, student teachers and representatives of the university faculty. This study focused on the collaboration process of a team of modern language teachers who work and learn together in a teacher community. The aim of this study was to investigate how to design a learning environment that stimulates community development in these teams, applying the cooperative learning model of Johnson and Johnson in Learning together and alone: cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning. Allyn and Bacon, Boston, (1999). Based on this model, design principles were developed to stimulate community development in this group. Community development was measured through observations of the meetings of the group, using the community model of Admiraal, Lockhorst and van der Pol described in this issue. The five principles found relevant in this SUP team were profiling the group as an identity, equivalent cooperation, rotating the chairperson, reflecting on the collaboration and giving feedback on the products made in the group.     

Intercultural communication in the context of a Canada−China Sister School partnership: The experience of one New Basic Education school

This paper presents the case of one Sister School in the Canada–China Reciprocal Learning Project based on a belief that practice has significant value for the development of teachers’ intercultural awareness and schools’ intercultural communication experience. This paper focuses on one Shanghai school’s reciprocal learning experience, highlighting the content of intercultural communication, the areas of collaboration, the characteristics of collaboration, and the attitudes towards collaboration in the intercultural context. Against the backdrop of New Basic Education reform in China, I try to depict how a Sister School partnership guided by the principle of reciprocal learning motivates Chinese and Canadian teachers to work together across cultural differences in order to learn and develop in terms of theory and practice. I also discuss difficulties and challenges that have occurred in the process of intercultural communication. In the process, reciprocal learning is re-conceptualized and relived as part of our research endeavor.