School and university in partnership: a shared enquiry into teachers’ collaborative practices

Abstract

Although partnership working has been a feature of educational practice for some time, some recent reforms and developments have refocused educators’ attention on this phenomenon. Whilst there are many versions and interpretations of partnerships in education, the most common understanding of partnerships between school and university is as the arrangement to facilitate, support and assess student teachers in practical teaching experience. The aim of this paper is to critically examine the concept of partnership between school and university. We offer a critique of partnership as it is presented in literature at a macro and meso level, and we report on a collaborative enquiry between school and university staff in a (micro-level) secondary school setting. The project was structured around a series of workshops in the school setting to support and facilitate Learning Rounds. Using data from this project including field notes and semi-structured interviews, we will give voice to the often unheard testimony of the teacher in their lived experiences of partnership, and make a contribution to the ongoing debate around partnerships by highlighting some of the difficulties and tensions arising from partnership in practice.