From placement to partnership: agency, equity and sustainable school–university relationships in employment-based initial teacher education

Purpose This article examines how employment-based initial teacher education programs can serve as a sustainable model for school–university partnerships by analysing agency redistribution as the mechanism through which more equitable and sustainable partnership conditions are produced. Drawing on the Master of Teaching Secondary Internship (MTSI) program at the University of Melbourne, Australia, it argues that locating selection authority with schools and professional choice with intern candidates restructures the foundational dynamics of school–university collaboration. Design/methodology/approach The article employs a conceptual and descriptive case study drawing on program-level enrolment, completion and retention data; de-identified analytics from its UniConnected partnership platform (ethics approval HREC 27923); documentary materials and reflective accounts from program leaders writing as insider practitioners. Findings Devolving intern selection to school principals repositions schools as active agents and candidates as visible emerging professionals. This redistribution functions as an equity mechanism, reducing mismatches that allocation-based models generate in under-resourced schools. Equity-centred design in turn supports sustainability: the MTSI program has achieved a 94% completion rate against a national postgraduate Initial Teacher Education (ITE) benchmark of 74%. Practical implications The article offers a replicable framework built on three principles: formal vesting of selection authority in schools, enabling infrastructure designed for mutual discovery rather than administrative allocation and university oversight repositioned as quality assurance rather than gatekeeping. Originality/value The article proposes that the transition from placement to partnership restructures agency dynamics and demonstrates empirically that equity and sustainability are mutually reinforcing rather than competing design priorities.