Leading Change in Teacher Education: Balancing on the Wobbly Bridge of School-University Partnership
Initial teacher education (ITE) programmes have been critiqued widely for failing to connect educational theory with everyday practices in schools. Mo.
- Pub. date: October 15, 2019
- Pages: 1295-1306
- 407 Downloads
- 548 Views
- 18 Citations
Initial teacher education (ITE) programmes have been critiqued widely for failing to connect educational theory with everyday practices in schools. More meaningful collaborations between schools and teacher education providers have featured prominently among key recommendations addressing the traditional theory-practice divide. This paper traces and critically analyses one ‘simplex’ story of initiating and leading a large-scale school-university partnership (SUP) network in the Republic of Ireland. Using a narrative approach, the protagonists and researchers of this SUP story bring their ‘simplex’ journey of doing and shaping SUP to life. Analysis of the Irish case study emphasizes the authentic transformation of teacher educators’ institutional identities as a powerful enabler of meaningful collaboration while also highlighting ethical dilemmas that arose for university tutors in the context of deeper relational engagement in the school-university cross-boundary space. Constrained in their ITE praxis by power relations and a disequilibrium of responsibilities, tutors’ doubts, discomfort and, at times, disillusionment led them to readjust their expectations with regard to SUP while also refocusing their energy and hopes in student teachers as collaborative future change agents.
Keywords: Initial teacher education, school-university partnership, teacher education policy, school placement, mentoring.
References
Anyon, Y., & Fernandez, M. A. (2007). Realizing the potential of community-university partnerships. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 39(6), 40-45.
Chalies, S., Ria, L., Bertone, S., Trohel, J., & Durand, M. (2004). Interactions between preservice and cooperating teachers and knowledge construction during post- lesson interviews. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(8), 765-781.
Chan, C., & Clarke, M. (2014). The politics of collaboration: discourse, identities, and power in a school–university partnership in Hong Kong. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 42(3), 291-304.
Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (2000). Narrative inquiry. San Francisco, CA: Jossey- Bass.
Colville, I., Brown, A. D., & Pye, A. (2012). Simplexity: Sensemaking, organizing and storytelling for our time. Human Relations, 65(1), 5-15.
Connelly, F. M., & Clandinin, D. J. (1990). Stories of experience and narrative inquiry. Educational researcher, 19(5), 2-14.
Conway, P., Murphy, R., Rath, A., & Hall, K. (2009). Learning to teach and its implications for the continuum of teacher education: A nine-country cross-national study. Report commissioned by the Teaching Council, University College, Cork, Ireland.
Conway, P. F., & Clark, C. M. (2003). The journey inward and outward: a re-examination of Fuller's concerns-based model of teacher development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 19(5), 465-482.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2012). Powerful teacher education: Lessons from exemplary programs. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.
Donaldson, G. (2011). Teaching Scotland’s future: a review of teacher education in Scotland. Edinburgh, Scotland: Scottish Government.
Duffy, M. & Heinz, M. (2019). Developing critical thinking, justification and generalisation skills in mathematics through Socratic questioning. Journal of Teacher Action Research, 5(3), 85-98.
Fleming, M., Heinz, M., Higgins, A. & McCauley, V. (2012). Building school-university partnership to enhance student teachers’ learning experience. Research Seminar Series. School of Education NUI Galway, 14 May.
Fletcher, S. (2000). Mentoring in schools: A handbook of good practice. New York, New York: Psychology Press.
Furlong, J., Barton, L., Miles, S., Whiting, C., & Whitty, G. (2000). Teacher education in transition: Reforming professionalism. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Furlong J. & Maynard, T. (1995) Mentoring student teachers: the growth of professional knowledge. London: Routledge
Gu, Q., Rea, S., Smethem, L., Dunford, J., Varley, M., & Sammnons, P. (2016). Teaching schools evaluation: Final report. London, UK: National College for Teaching and Leadership.
Heinz, M. (2011a). Improving teaching practice experiences in Initial Teacher Education – the voices of student teachers. Reimagining Initial Teacher Education: Perspectives on Transformation. St. Patrick’s College Dublin, 30 June-2 July.
Heinz, M. (2011b, April). Moving from informal school-university collaboration to partnerships in initial teacher education in Ireland? An examination of perspectives, expectations and possible ways ahead. Paper presented at the Educational Studies Association of Ireland (ESAI) Annual Conference, Church of Ireland School of Education, Dublin, Ireland.
Heinz, M. (2013a). Why choose teaching in the republic of Ireland?–student teachers’ motivations and perceptions of teaching as a career and their evaluations of Irish second-level education’. European Journal of Educational Studies, 5(1), 1-17.
Heinz, M. (2013b, June). School-University Partnership Initiative at NUI Galway. Paper presented at the Teaching Council School Placement Guidelines Stakeholder Meeting, Enfield, London, UK.
Heinz, M. (2014). Initial Teacher Education in Ireland: Structure, policy developments and implications for practice. In N. Popov, C. Wolhuter, K. S. Ermenc, G. Hilton, J. Ogunleye & O. Chigisheva (Eds.), Education’s Role in Preparing Globally Competent Citizens (pp.178-184). Sofia, Bulgaria: Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES).
Heinz, M., Keane, E., & Foley, C. (2017). Career motivations of student teachers in the Republic of Ireland: continuity and change during educational reform and 'Boom to Bust' economic times. In H.M.G. Watt, P.W. Richardson & K. Smith (Eds.), Global perspectives on teacher motivation (pp. 1-21). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Higgins, A., Heinz, M., McCauley, V., & Fleming, M. (2013). Creating the future of teacher education together: The role of emotionality in university-school partnership. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 93, 1110-1115.
Jones, M., Hobbs, L., Kenny, J., Campbell, C., Chittleborough, G., Gilbert, A., Herbert, S. & Redman, C. (2016). Successful university-school partnerships: An interpretive framework to inform partnership practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 60, 108-120.
Keane, G. & Heinz, M. (2019). Differentiated homework: Impact on student engagement, Journal of Practitioner Research. 4(2), Article 1.
Kim, J.-H. (2015). Understanding narrative inquiry: The crafting and analysis of stories as research. Singapore, Singapore: SAGE Publications.
Korthagen, F., Loughran, J., & Russell, T. (2006). Developing fundamental principles for teacher education programs and practices. Teaching and teacher education, 22(8), 1020-1041.
Lefever-Davis, S., Johnson, C., & Pearman, C. (2007). Two sides of a partnership: Egalitarianism and empowerment in school-university partnerships. The Journal of Educational Research, 100(4), 204-210.
Leydon & Judge (2011). Joint Response from Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland and (ASTI) and Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI). Incidental inspections in Post-Primary Schools FEEDBACK FORM – Consultation with Education Partners.
Lortie, D. (1975). School teacher: A sociological perspective. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago.
Loughran, J & Hamilton M. L. (Eds.) (2016). International handbook of teacher education: Volume 1. Singapore, Singapore: Springer.
Martin, S. D., Snow, J. L., & Torrez, C. A. F. (2011). Navigating the terrain of third space: Tensions with/in relationships in school-university partnerships. Journal of teacher education, 62(3), 299-311.
Mason, M. (2008). What is complexity theory and what are its implications for educational change? Educational Philosophy and Theory, 40(1), 35-49.
McWilliams, S., P. Cannon, M. Farrar, B. Tubbert, C. Connolly, & F. McSorley. (2006). Comparison and Evaluation of Aspects of Teacher Education in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. European Journal of Teacher Education, 29(1), 67–79.
Mercille, J., & Murphy, E. (2017). The neoliberalization of Irish higher education under austerity. Critical Sociology, 43(3), 371-387.
Murray, J. (2014). Teacher educators’ constructions of professionalism: A case study. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 42(1), 7-21.
Mishler, E. G. (1986). Research interviewing, context and narrative. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Mitchell, J., Hayes, D., & Mills, M. (2010). Crossing school and university boundaries to reshape professional learning and research practices. Professional Development in Education, 36(3), 491-509.
Moran, A., Abbott, L., & Clarke, L. (2009). Re-conceptualizing partnerships across the teacher education continuum. Teaching and Teacher Education, 23, 951-958.
Mtika, P., Robson, D., & Fitzpatrick, R. (2014). Joint observation of student teaching and related tripartite dialogue during field experience: Partner perspectives. Teaching and Teacher Education, 39, 66-76.
O' Mahoney, K. & Heinz, M. (2016). Using comment only marking in a mathematics classroom in the Republic of Ireland: experience and learning of a student teacher. Journal of Teacher Action Research, 2(2), 58-69.
O'Sullivan, D. (1992). Cultural Strangers and Educational Change: The OECD Report Investment in Education and Irish Educational Policy. Journal of Education Policy, 7(5), 445-469.
Ramsey, G. (2000). Quality Matters: Revitalising teaching, critical times, critical choices. Report of the Review of Teacher Education, New South Wales. Sydney: NSW Department of Education and Training.
Sim, C. (2010). Sustaining productive collaboration between faculties and schools. Australian Journal of Teacher Education (Online), 35(5), 18.
Smith, I., Brisard, E., & Menter, I. (2006). Models of partnership development in initial teacher education in the four components of the United Kingdom: recent trends and current challenges. Journal of Education for Teaching, 32(2), 147-164.
Spendlove, D., Howes, A., & Wake, G. (2010). Partnerships in pedagogy: Refocusing of classroom lenses. European Journal of Teacher Education, 33(1), 65-77.
Teaching Council (2011a). Policy on the Continuum of Teacher Education. Retrieved from: https://www.teachingcouncil.ie/en/Publications/Teacher-Education/Policy-on-the-Continuum-of-Teacher-Education.pdf.
Teaching Council (2011b). Criteria and Guidelines for Initial Teacher Education Providers.
Teaching Council (2013): Guidelines on School Placement. Retrieved from: http://www.teachingcouncil.ie/en/Publications/Teacher-Education/Guidelines-for-School-Placement-.pdf
Tsui, A. B., Edwards, G., Lopez-Real, F., Kwan, T., Law, D., Stimpson, P., & Wong, A. (2008). Learning in school-university partnership: Sociocultural perspectives. New York, NY: Routledge.
Valencia, S. W., Martin, S. D., Place, N. A., & Grossman, P. (2009). Complex interactions in student teaching lost opportunities for learning. Journal of Teacher Education, 60(3), 304-322.
Walker, W. (1999). Collaboration: “The faint of heart need not apply”. Peabody Journal of Education, 74(3), 300–305.
Wenger, E. (2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization, 7(2), 225-246.
Young, A. M., & MacPhail, A. (2016). Cultivating relationships with school placement stakeholders: the perspective of the cooperating teacher. European Journal of Teacher Education, 39(3), 287-301.
Young, A. M., O'Neill, A., & Mooney Simmie, G. (2015). Partnership in learning between university and school: Evidence from a researcher-in-residence. Irish Educational Studies, 34(1), 25-42.
Zeichner, K. (2010). Rethinking the connections between campus courses and field experiences in college-and university-based teacher education. Journal of teacher education, 61(1-2), 89-99.