www.le.ac.uk

The Power of Partnership: Schools, Universities and

Teacher Education

Presentation to UCET

8 November 2012

www.le.ac.uk

Professor Sir Robert BurgessVice-Chancellor, University of LeicesterChair, UUK/GuildHE Teacher Education Advisory Group

What is Partnership?• Oxford English Dictionary Definition

– noun • 1 [mass noun] the state of being a partner or

partners: we should go on working together in partnership

• 2an association of two or more people as partners: an increase in partnerships with housing associations

• a business or firm owned and run by two or more partners: the partnership now owns 22 department stores

• a position as one of the partners in a business or firm: she will be eligible for a partnership after a few years

• ITT Partnership– Key Principles but no prescriptive formula

• Partners coming together and drawing upon research evidence and ‘best practice’ to determine what works in their specific context

• Partnership between Schools and Universities not new– Personally know this from 1960s

Sections Planned for this Presentation

• White Paper of 2010

• Responses from Secretary of State and the Government

Friday 2 November

• Arrival of Student Number Allocations

• Challenge to the Rhetoric?

A Key Question:

• Should we be concerned about the allocations?

• Is this an obvious reaction by HEIs?

What Criteria are used?

• Outstanding OFSTED Inspection

• High Quality Recruitment

• School Direct

But do these Criteria Distort?

• Allocations to Core lead to ask are numbers viable?

• Can School Direct be Supported by HEIs?

• What is High Quality?• What are the Roles and

Responsibilities?

• Will some Providers– give back numbers– come out of ITT

• Not be available – when demographic trends move into

secondary schools

A Key Question

• For those who remain:

• What form can Partnership take?

Partnership - key issues• Requirements

– Common Principles– No Prescriptive Formula– Top-Down Models not helpful

• Genuine Partnership– Working together– Drawing upon research evidence and

best practice– Determine what works best in context

• Local alliances develop according to needs and capacity of partners

• Different alliances work separately on teacher development activities and come together to form meta-alliances

• Principles for relationship– Shared interests and values– Collegial collaboration– Dynamic model– Rejects false dichotomy between theory and

practice

Some Developments

• Many successful collaborative ITE partnerships between universities and schools– Regional ITE provider networks– Masters in Teaching and Learning– Teach First collaborations

• Successful but expensive• Hybrid model• Sees teaching as an elite career

The Past Decade and Partnerships• Greater will/capacity to contribute to

ITE• Greater recognition from HEIs of

distinctive contribution schools/teachers can make to ITE

• More attention to CPD• More emphasis on reflective practice• Development of joint research

activities• Greater levels of employability

Explanations for Trends in Partnership Development• Growing confidence of schools to

make a greater contribution• Government policy focusing on CPD• Growth of professional Masters/

Doctorates• Emergence of Masters PGCE• Role of UCET in building relationships

between ITE and the then TDA

Coalition Government Policy• ITT Implementation Strategy

–Emphasis on schools leading provision

–Teaching Schools

–School Direct

A Productive Engagement• Emergence from natural development

of existing partnerships• Largely driven by collegiality and

shared vision• New relationships can be more

difficult• Most successful with professional

dialogue• Market-driven interests are a

challenge

A Shift in Emphasis to School-led ITE: some problems

• Maintaining Capacity in HE Sector–Uncertainty in allocation model–Loss of capacity with diversion to

schools–Schools could reduce ITE if too

much pressure–Existing partnership models could

be difficult to sustain

Developing Professionally Relevant R&D through Partnerships• Practical and professionally relevant

to schools/teachers• Jointly carried out• Enables focus on

challenges/questions around teaching and leadership

• Opportunity for improvement

Some Key Questions• How do I help my students learn how

to divide fractions?• How do I build in thinking skills into

my classroom teaching?• How can I take into account the

backgrounds, knowledge and experience of the Bangladeshi girls in my class?

• How can participation in student voice initiatives be increased?

Benefits of using R&D

• Schools develop their own bespoke solutions

• Developed by teachers and leaders through R&D

• Form the basis for a powerful and practically useful knowledge base

Expanding Research and Development Links

• Teaching School Alliance Partners• Supported successful funding bids

from NCSL• Develop Lesson Study approaches for

specific learning problems

Examples of Good R&D Practice

• Enhancing student engagement in Year 10 through collaborative learning practices

• Improving students’ inference and analytic skills in Humanities

• Developing expertise of non-specialist science teachers

• Raising aspirations for white British boys

• Promoting independent learning

Further Partnership - the MA in Education: Leadership and Learning• Support for school leadership and

CPD• Collaboration with Teaching School

Partners• Leadership and learning at the centre

of individual and organisational change and improvement

• Identify and enhance potential

• Focus on individual learning and school improvement priorities

• Enquiry-oriented leadership capacity• Developing ideas and practices• Enhancing learning and promoting

spread and uptake

A Future for Partnership

• New Models• Established Values• Better Teaching• BUT allocation of students needed to

keep HEI providers if we are to have a professional training for a new group of future teachers