Mutually beneficial? Middle school educators’ perceptions about the benefits and challenges of a school–university partnership

Abstract

Purpose – The paper identifies and explores the perspectives of middle school educators regarding the benefits and challenges of an ongoing, emerging school–university partnership. Over five years, professors at one comprehensive, Midwestern university, formed a partnership with a local middle school. While progress has been made to develop the partnership, the authors recognized a lack of shared governance (Essential 7). In particular, they were unsure the partnership was mutually beneficial. The authors interviewed teachers, the principal, assistant principals, guidance counselors, the instructional coach and the youth service center director to gain their perspectives on the partnership. Design/methodology/approach – The authors used an intrinsic, evaluative case study to examine educators perceptions of the benefits and challenges of the partnership (Guba & Lincoln, 1981; Patton, 2002). This approach was used because within this bounded system the authors have an interest in obtaining information to help improve the program and partnership. Findings – Results suggest the partnership was beneficial in a number of ways including hiring of and offering fresh ideas to teachers. Educators also felt there were many benefits for university candidates. Challenges included scheduling, technology access and candidate disposition. Implications are discussed. Research limitations/implications – Inherent within the research methodology, researchers’ inclusion in the data collection process may affect participants responses. Practical implications – Researchers discuss the implications of this work, including the role of hiring candidates and clear articulation of a mission for the partnership. Originality/value – This work adds to research on school site stakeholders’ perspectives on the value of school–university partnerships and includes teachers and the schools’ entire leadership team.

Keywords

• Educator voices
• Middle school partnership
• Shared governance
• School–university partnership