Partnerships with Cultural Organisations: A Case for Partnerships Developed by Teacher Educators for Teacher Education

Oct 15, 2026

New ways of working in teacher education are highlighted, especially partnerships as a work model. One underused form is collaboration with cultural organisations. The paper reports two projects in which teacher educators partnered with pre-service teachers through a wildlife sanctuary and a national gallery. Shared project elements examined the value of professional engagement and ongoing development.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Partnerships with cultural organisations in teacher education

Purpose and focus of the two case narratives

Projects and partnership development model

Collaborative techniques and educator–student–partner roles

Ongoing sustainability across cohorts

Australian Journal of Teacher Education | Volume 40 | Issue 12 | Article 4 | | --- | --- | 2015 Partnerships with Cultural Organisations: A Case for Partnerships Developed by Teacher Educators for Teacher Education Narelle Lemon La Trobe University, [N.Lemon@latrobe.edu.au](N.Lemon@latrobe.edu.au) Jacolyn Weller La Trobe University, [j.weller@latrobe.edu.au](j.weller@latrobe.edu.au) Recommended Citation Lemon, N., & Weller, J. (2015). Partnerships with Cultural Organisations: A Case for Partnerships Developed by Teacher Educators for Teacher Education. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40 (12). [http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2015v40n12.4](http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2015v40n12.4) This Journal Article is posted at Research Online. [http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol40/iss12/4](http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol40/iss12/4) Partnerships with Cultural Organisations: A Case for Partnerships Developed by Teacher Educators for Teacher Education Narelle Lemon Jacolyn Weller La Trobe University Abstract: New ways of working in teacher education are currently being highlighted, especially in relation to partnerships. One type of partnership that is under utilised is that with cultural organisations. This paper reports on two projects where the authors work with pre service teachers in partnership with a wildlife sanctuary and a national gallery. Common project elements included research into the value for pre-service teachers in professional engagement of their own teaching and insight into ongoing professional development. The data showed that ownership, empowerment, and meaning can be experienced by stakeholders. The research not only challenges new ways of working with partnerships in teacher education, that extend past traditional notions of professional experience requirements, but contributes to the development of a holistic view of learning and teaching. When positioned within a subject this archetype offers unique opportunities to collaborate over time and across sites cultural organisation, university and eventually, primary schools. Introduction Partnerships with cultural organisations have been under utilised by teacher education (Eckhoff, 2011; Lemon & Garvis, 2014a; Mathewson Mitchell, 2015; Nichols, 2014; Ryan, 2013) . With changing expectations within the teacher education context, pressure is now rising to consider new ways of working with partners (Eckhoff, 2011; Nichols, 2014) . One approach is for teacher education to develop arrangements with cultural organisations that can enhance teaching and learning with an advantage present for all participants (Victorian State Education, 2015) . This paper presents two innovative cases as narratives situated in the Australian context. The narratives represent how to form meaningful partnerships with cultural organisations within core subjects to support the development of pre-service teachers’ holistic and outward looking capacity as educators. Particularly, we focus on the disciplines of visual arts and science to evaluate current practice, reflect on the connection between theory and practice, and then, design F-6 curriculum. The partnerships support future capacity and shift the teaching ideology of pre-service teachers. When teachers are active participants collaborating with cultural organisations they become aware of the value for professional engagement in their own teaching and for ongoing professional development. Most importantly, the cases remind us that partnerships do not have to be positioned solely in professional practice days, that they can go beyond current application of teacher registration requirements and establish a model for future teaching practice. This is an emerging way of thinking and designing teacher education curriculum. This paper presents two original projects in separate narratives. It contains parallel chronicles that exemplify the establishment of collaborative techniques

FAQs

What partnership type is discussed as underutilised in teacher education?

Partnership with cultural organisations is identified as underused within teacher education contexts.

Which two cultural partners are used in the reported projects?

The paper reports projects with a wildlife sanctuary and a national gallery.

How do the cases describe the value gained by pre-service teachers?

Pre-service teachers gain professional engagement value and ongoing development as they actively participate, contributing as future educators.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by 4398046744996