Community development of (student) teachers in school-institute partnerships

Introduction The last few decades, numerous shifts have occurred in the teacher education reform agenda. Teachers in secondary education are expected to increasingly collaborate and collaboratively learn in communities. Additionally, the education of student teachers is shifting from a university-based programme to a school-university partnership. In these partnerships the teachers will benefit from increased expertise, collegial interaction and leadership skills (Sandholtz & Merseth, 1992). Student teachers will benefit from the experience of the teachers and the increased theory-practice link (Dodd, 1996). A community of student teachers, teachers, and educators can strengthen these benefits. In this project, the community model of Lockhorst, van der Pol, and Admiraal (2008) is used, in which a community is defined according to the three dimensions of group identity, interactional repertoire and shared domain. This presentation focuses on the question how design principles, derived from the community model, contribute to community development of student teachers, experienced teachers, educators and supervisors in school-institute partnerships. Method Based on the community model of Lockhorst et al. (2008) and the results of a previous design round, design principles were developed and implemented in four groups. These four groups consisted of 3 to 15 students and one educator who met every two weeks. The groups discussed topics such as reflection on teaching practice, assignments, and action research. The implementation of the design principles was measured through observation and interviews with the group members. The level of community development was measured through observations and a questionnaire. Results The results show that only some of the design principles were implemented as intended. Three factors were found to be influencing the implementation process: the perception of the different stakeholders of school-institute partnerships, the role of the educator and the hierarchical position of each group member. For example, there was no uniform view on the goal of the school-institute partnership, so some educators focussed exclusively on the education of student teachers, while others focused on the professional development of all group members. This has consequences for the implementation and effect of the design principle of egalitarian collaboration of group members. When the goal is to educate student teachers, it can be questioned whether it is possible and desirable to implement egalitarian collaboration. In this respect, we will further elaborate on the use of the community model of Lockhorst et al. (2008) in the context of school-institute partnerships. Significance This study shows the complexity of the collaboration between student teachers, teachers and educators in school-institute partnerships. The perceptions of the different stakeholders, the role of the educator and the hierarchical position of the group members which influence the collaboration process are thought of as inherent to these partnerships and should be taken into account in establishing school-institute partnerships. Additionally, in designing the collaboration process we have to avoid generalization of school-institute partnerships as one concept. The educational or developmental focus of the partnerships has a significant influence on the effect of the design principles.