Experiences and Engagement: Teachers' Perspectives on a School-University Partnership

• In Event: Considering Professional Development School Structures: What PDS Partners Do and How They Do It

Abstract

Drawing on the perspective of research as social practice we consider how the structural influence and demands of both the university and the public school intersect with one another and how that intersection influences the practices and components of our school-university partnership. Given this perspective, we surveyed the entire school faculty of a large urban middle school to document the challenges and successes the school faculty expressed about the work of a school-university partnership as well as their perceptions of the partnership’s influence on their own work as classroom teachers. Findings indicate that levels of engagement and experience do not necessarily influence the perception of the teachers in the school.

Author

• Penny B. Howell, University of Louisville