Learning from Stories about the Practice of Teacher Educators in Partnerships between Schools and Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

This research investigated the experiences of teacher educators working in school-based practice within partnerships between schools and higher education institutions. A narrative approach was used to collect stories about challenges or dilemmas in practice from school-based teacher educators and institute-based teacher educators in the Netherlands and England. These stories about practice were developed into ‘tools’ that can be used for the professional learning and development of teacher educators, to foster reflection on practice, provoke discussion and enhance collaboration within and between partnerships. The tools were used with teacher educators in workshops in England and the Netherlands and at international conferences, in order to consider ways in which they can enable boundary crossing, and to evaluate their usefulness for professional learning and development. Early observations of the impact of using these tools revealed that teacher educators found them especially helpful when used in mixed groups of school- and institute-based teacher educators. This research-based initiative designed to improve the work of teacher educators and the collaboration between institute- and school-based teacher educators will be further developed to provide (web-based) resources in English and Dutch for the international teacher educator community.