Bridging the Theory-Practice Gap: Lessons Learned From Scaling Up

• In Event: Lessons Learned From Urban Teacher Residencies

Abstract

In 2001, National Louis University and the Academy for Urban School Leadership partnered to create the country’s first urban teacher residency program. At its inception, the UTR comprised of one culturally and linguistically diverse “training academy,” a small pool of university faculty who met on-site at training academies to deliver coursework, and 32 teacher candidates (called “residents”). In 2011, the UTR consisted of of six elementary and three secondary training academies, university faculty spanning six departments who held classes on campus, and 112 residents. In contrast to a decade previously, by this time university faculty rarely spent time in training academies, where residents spent four days per week.

As our UTR expanded, we observed—and residents’ program exit data affirmed—an increasing disconnect between their university coursework and their experiences in their training academies, reflecting a perennial problem in teacher education (Darling-Hammond, 2006; Zeichner, 2010). Additionally, university faculty increasingly reported a lack of knowledge about the teaching practices enacted in the training academies—a frequently occurring problem, even in the context of school-university partnerships (Bullough & Kauchak, 1997; Zeichner, 2010). Problematically, this gap not only inhibits residents’ learning, but also fails to capitalize on the field-intensive program.

The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze the impact of three interventions designed to bridge the theory-practice gap and inform other developing or expanding UTRs. The interventions include: 1) monthly leadership meetings, 2) faculty research residencies to situate university faculty in high need schools for the dual purpose of engaged research and curricular revision, and 3) faculty liaisons as an alternative to traditional supervision.

Proponents of field-intensive learning, such as UTRs, argue the necessity of establishing stronger connections between theory and practice (Darling-Hammond, 2010; Hammerness et al, 2005; Wang et al., 2010). In his critique of the disconnect between campus-based and school-based components of teacher education, Goldring and Sims’ (2005) research on effective school-university collaboration provides a nuanced lens to understand the multiple levels of collaboration from “top level founders” to “bridging” collaborators who are viewed as having an integral role in both organizations.

Data were gathered between 2011-13 and include surveys, interviews, participant observation and UTR documents. Results indicate that each intervention resulted in improved policies and practices (leadership meetings and faculty liaison), curricular change (faculty research residencies and faculty liaison), and fostered theory-practice integration. However, the faculty liaison role best reflected the bridge leader attributes of spanning boundaries and enhancing collaboration (Goldring & Sims, 2005), and appeared to render the greatest impact (enhanced collaboration and bridging the theory practice gap). Results further indicate that each intervention required significant time commitments.

Research on partnerships indicates that even when the collaboration starts strong, maintaining program coherence over time is difficult, and requires intentionality and commitment (Goodlad, 2004). As UTRs continue to grow and expand, partnering institutions need to invest in roles and relationships to ensure that UTRs maximize resident learning.

Authors

• Wendy L. Gardiner, National Louis University

• Shaunti Knauth, National Louis University

• Diane E. Salmon, National-Louis University