Relationship Matters: Negotiating and Maintaining Partnerships in a Unique Teacher Education Program

Overview & Synopsis

Teacher education has evolved into a cooperative responsibility shared by universities and schools. Given the recent emphasis on educational reform, the impetus has been to dismantle conventional and insular approaches to teacher preparation and so establish school-university partnerships. This article explores the relationship development, maintenance, and relational intricacies of a Canadian school-university partnership--specifically, how the Faculty of Education at Brock University has built a conceptual bridge between the university, the partner districts, and the individual schools. The article also examines the concepts of leadership in teacher education, learning groups, ethics of care within community, and the nature of individual contributions to the learning group. Collectively, the partnership and the resulting preparation program within this collaborative venture provide an alternative model with important considerations for other universities and school systems that are interested in fostering effective partnerships. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)