Title:
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Partnership in practice : a study of ITE at the Universities of Sussex and Brighton and their partner secondary schools.
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Throughout the 1980s increasing attention was paid to the quality of teacher
education by the government, culminating in the publication of Circular 9/92
(DFE 1992). It decreed that schools were to play a larger and much more
active role than before, as the practical side of the training was to be
enhanced at the expense of the educational theory provided by the HEIs. The
government believed that encouraging more practical training through a
partnership of equals between the HEIs and the schools would improve the
professional competence of the NQTs and eventually raise standards in the
classroom.
An aura of co-operation and consensus pervades the notion of partnership, but
this research suggests that the concept is imprecise and open to many different
interpretations. It also supports the view that there is a significant difference
between the image of partnership projected by the government and the
intentions, values and practices of those immediately involved in initial teacher
education. The resulting disparity between the rhetoric of policy and the reality
of partnership is pinpointed and explained by a critique of the Universities of
Sussex and Brighton and twelve of their respective partner secondary schools.
This investigation adopts a case study approach. Evidence collected through
surveys, interviews and observation of participants within the partnership - such
as university tutors, trainees, mentors and professional tutors, together with a
review of the contextual literature, are used to illuminate the problems
experienced by the practitioners.
The evidence presented shows that the success of the partnership and its
continued existence in its present form is dependent upon a variety of factors:
adequate communication, effective mentorships, clearly-defined assessment and
standardisation procedures and the development of a professional ethos to avoid
undue reliance on good-will. Major restrictions are also placed upon the
delivery of effective initial teacher education by inadequate funds and the
shortage of time. More importantly however, the straightforward perception of
partnership promoted by the government is in itself seen to be flawed, because
there are inherent tensions between the HEIs and the schools. This results in
conflicting expectations over key issues, which if unresolved will continue to
jeopardise the development of partnership and affect the quality of initial
teacher education.
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