Advancing Partnership Research: A Spatial Analysis of a Jointly-Planned Teacher Education Partnership

Abstract

This chapter addresses the critical and often divisive international issue of how to create high quality teacher education. It does this through an investigation of a teacher education partnership designed to meet the goals of the university and school partners as well as sector leadership. Basing its analysis on a view of teacher education as taking place in the boundary zone where teacher educators, teachers and pre-service teachers (PSTs) can jointly construct professional knowledge, the study explores the partnership in terms of its vision (conceived space), its particular program and approach (perceived space) and the experience of participants (lived space). Using a case study methodology to explore a partnership that aimed to develop teachers well-qualified to work in a particular context, the study finds that the creation of successful teacher education partnerships is a process in which participants must demonstrate an ability to respond to others, their needs, standpoints and understandings in order to develop PST capacity.