Partnerships in pedagogy: refocusing of classroom lenses

Current models of initial teacher training (ITT) in England include substantial elements of school-based experience developed in collaborative partnerships with local schools involving university tutors working with experienced classroom teachers. Balance in such partnerships has been characterised as trainees focusing on day-to-day pragmatics of working in classrooms whilst engaged in school experience, while their higher education institution (HEI) elements provide theoretical bases to underpin school based activities. Within such partnership arrangements, development of pedagogic beliefs and expertise is achieved by a complex network of experiences. Within the context of this paper this element of pedagogic development is shown to be less well supported than other aspects of trainee teachers' professional preparation. This paper, using cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), focuses on a small-scale research project in which mentor and trainee dialogue is examined. The paper concludes that CHAT analysis makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of how to resolve some of these issues within teacher training partnerships.