Building bridges between universities and middle schools: A teacher-centred collaboration

Abstract

This paper describes the process involved in a five-year longitudinal study concerning five North American suburban schools where university researchers partnered with middle-school teachers, as co-researchers, studied school climate. Over 2,600 students and 180 teachers participated over the course of the study. If school reform efforts are to change the culture and climate of schools, they must be undertaken with sensitivity to the specific setting of each school and must fully engage the constituents in the process. In order to foster a mutually beneficial and trusting relationship between school staff and university researchers, both teachers and professors assisted in the design and implementation of this research. The research design utilised multiple quantitative and qualitative methodologies that included an overarching longitudinal design with matched comparison groups, as well as ethnographic and participatory action research. This paper will focus not on the results of the research per se but it will discuss practical implications for using a community psychology paradigm in state-supported schools. Information regarding how a community psychology approach was used to engage school principals, local school boards, teachers and students will be described. We will connect this research to overarching community psychology approaches to engagement and empowerment. Strengths, challenges and resistances within each school, and on the part of university researchers, will also be addressed.