Leading Partnerships in Teacher Education: Institutional Practices Through the Lens of Boundary Work

Partnerships in teacher education (TE) refer to long-term and sustainable initiatives to forge closer connections between TE institutions and schools. The intention is to provide a more relevant and practice-based TE for teacher students and to support the schools in facilitating more research-based practice in classrooms. This article addresses partnership from the leadership perspective, where the responsibilities are given to existing TE leadership levels. The purpose of the study is to provide insight into how to unite two different institutions with different goals and objectives, and what enables and hinders this process. The data material consists of a group interview with leaders in a TE institution, and observations of the leaders in partnership seminars. The analysis reveals the tailor-made approach as a pervasive finding in the leaders’ attempt to blur the boundaries between the collaborating partners; however, this approach challenges the TE institution’s organisational and epistemic practices, such as recruitment and the type of knowledge that is afforded value. Moreover, traditional expectations from schools, directed at the TE as a deliverer of knowledge, as well as the fact that the schools’ participation is voluntary, pose a challenge to the leaders’ boundary work. This study shows that leading partnerships in TE is a complex process uniting multiple stakeholders with different goals, roles and objectives, and that the leaders are both challenged and supported by institutional practices.