Rehearsing professional roles in community: teacher identity development in a school–university partnership

Abstract

In this article, the authors describe a school–university relationship which aims to sustain dialogue between educators who are positioned differently in relation to pre‐service teacher growth. The authors distinguish an ‘intentional partnership’ model from other approaches to school–university collaboration, providing a rationale for their focus on identity development and dialogue. These two areas have particular salience for beginning teachers in the American context of accountability reform, where increasingly teachers are positioned as implementers of curriculum and learning is often defined through narrow numerical scores. Using their experience with an elementary school partnership, the authors examine discourse patterns at meetings and participant feedback to explore ways in which teacher identities are rehearsed and how identity positions are taken up in relation to such issues as district‐mandated curricula. They conclude with implications for teacher educators regarding teacher identity development and school–university partnerships practices.