The promise and the promises: Partnerships from a university perspective

Abstract

This study describes issues related to the genesis of two university and middle‐school partnerships as experienced and related by the university faculty members who have participated in the process.

Benefits and tensions have surfaced from these partnerships. Some of the benefits included a broader community of professional colleagues, opportunities to collaborate on research, and firsthand experiences with school reform. The tensions involved conflicts with the university's reward system, the length of time it takes to build trust, the difficulties in establishing collaborative research agendas and balancing two worlds, and feelings of detachment from university colleagues and activities.

Although promises have been made that the university's reward system will change to give priority to work in schools, this is a major concern for non‐tenured faculty. In spite of this, there is great potential in these partnerships to affect change in teacher education.