Partnership in Work Integrated Learning: The Efficacy of a Partnership Model in Facilitating School Placement Based Learning and Assessment

Abstract

Work integrated learning (WIL) is an educational approach that integrates learning with practical work experiences. Within the structure of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in the Republic of Ireland, WIL is facilitated through School Placement (SP). SP is widely recognised as sitting at the fulcrum of ITE. It is primarily valued by partners in education as the opportunity to put learnt pedagogy and foundational knowledge into practice within a school setting and as such is a form of authentic assessment. Moreover, it is an opportunity for student teachers (STs) to become socialised into the profession as active partners in educational practice. The Teaching Council, as the regulator of the teaching profession in the Republic of Ireland, has emphasised the role of the ST as researcher and pedagogical collaborator, moving the focus of SP away from a singular consideration of practice within the classroom and towards a whole school and system wide approach. This expands the potential scope of SP towards a reciprocal relationship whereby the ST has agency to impact on the actions of the site of practice by sharing new and emerging practice and pedagogy from their research and studies. However, beyond these lofty ideals, SP is a formative assessment and determines the success of STs in obtaining their professional qualifications. Given the centrality of SP to ITE, the prevailing lack of consistency and clarity around the partnership model, the roles of partners and the future of SP, are worthy of exploration. This paper presents current doctoral research and preliminary results on the impact of the partnership model on the efficacy of SP as a robust form of assessment and proposes the introduction of a new SP partnership framework