Partnerships in Teacher Education - Going Beyond the Rhetoric, with Reference to the Norwegian Context

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by jay

Teacher education is examined as a shared responsibility requiring collaboration beyond higher-education institutions. The paper defines “partnership,” outlines mutual benefits and challenges when teacher education links with disciplines and organizations outside its programs, and addresses partnerships involving students. It further explores cooperation between teacher education and the practice field using Norwegian examples, presenting three models. The central claim is that partnerships must go beyond rhetoric to enable sustained shared goals, support student preparation, and foster professional development.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Partnerships – a working definition

Mutual benefits and challenges beyond teacher education programs

Partnerships with students

Teacher education and the practice field (Norway)

Three models of school-university partnerships

Partnerships in Teacher Education – Going Beyond the Rhetoric, with Reference to the Norwegian Context Kari Smith1 • Teacher education plays a central role in education and relates to various stakeholders of education. Currently, teacher education is not perceived as the sole responsibility of higher education institutions, and they are expected to work closely together with other partners. In this paper, the concept of ‘partnership’ is defined and mutual benefits and challenges in partnerships with disciplines and institutions beyond teacher education programs are briefly discussed. Issues related to partnerships with students are addressed, and the last part of the paper discusses the partnership between teacher education and the practice field with examples from Norway. Three models illustrating such partnerships are described. The central argument of the paper is that partnerships in teacher education need to go beyond rhetoric. Keywords: partnership, partnership with students, school-university collaboration, the third space 1 Norwegian University of Science and Technology; [kari.smith@plu.ntnu.no](kari.smith@plu.ntnu.no). Partnerstva v izobraževanju učiteljev – onkraj retorike, s poudarkom na norveškem kontekstu Kari Smith • Izobraževanje učiteljev v izobraževanju igra osrednjo vlogo in senanaša na različne akterje. Trenutno je izobraževanje učiteljev dojeto kot odgovornost visokošolskih ustanov; od njih se pričakuje, da tesnosodelujejo z drugimi partnerji. V tem prispevku je definiran koncept »partnerstva« . Prav tako na kratko razpravljamo o skupnih prednostih in izzivih partnerstva z disciplinami in ustanovami onkraj programov za izobraževanje učiteljev. Naslavljamo tudi vprašanja partnerstva s študenti, v zadnjem delu prispevka pa razpravljamo o partnerstvu medizobraževanjem učiteljev in prakso na norveških primerih. Opisani so trije takšni modeli. Osrednji argument prispevka je, da morajo partnerstva v izobraževanju učiteljev iti onkraj retorike. Ključne besede: partnerstvo, partnerstvo s študenti, sodelovanje šoluniverz, tretji prostor Coming together is a beginning, Keeping together is progress, working together is success. (Henry Ford) Introduction Teachers matter (OECD, 2005), teacher education matters (EU Commission, 2013), and school matters (Donaldson 2011, 2015) . Education matters, so that the children of today and of tomorrow are well prepared to develop our respective nations and the global society to serve as constructive contexts for humanity. The responsibility for education lies with various stakeholders, policy makers, researchers and teacher educators, teachers, and parents. Teacher education is placed in the middle of the many complex relationships among the various stakeholders, as it is the agent for executing decisions made by policymakers in preparing teachers, who again prepare the citizens of future generations. Thus, teacher education carries an enormous responsibility, and it cannot do so alone. Teacher education needs more than relations with the many stakeholders in education: it needs partners, to come together with them, to keep together, and to work together. Teacher education should aim at establishing partnerships with other stakeholders in education, an argument supported by the Council of the European Union: Teacher education programmes should draw on teachers’ own experience and seek to foster cross-disciplinary and collaborative approaches, so that education institutions and teachers regard it as part of their task to work in cooperation with relevant stakeholders such as colleagues, parents and employers (The Council of the European Union, 2014/C 183/05). In the following, partnership, as understood in this paper, will first be presented, followed by mutual benefits and challenges in partnerships with disciplines and institutions beyond the context of teacher education programs. Next, the sensitive subject of forming partnerships with students will be

FAQs

How does the paper define “partnership” in teacher education?

It defines partnership as an agreement between teacher education institutions and education stakeholders working toward a shared goal to improve education at all levels.

What challenges does the paper discuss for partnerships?

It argues that challenges are multiple when partners truly work together toward a shared goal, and it emphasizes the need for basic conditions to be in place.

What is the paper’s main argument about teacher education partnerships?

Partnerships in teacher education need to go beyond rhetoric to create meaningful spaces where practice and theory meet and to support both student preparation and professional development.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by jay