Teacher professional development : a partnership approach

This chapter focuses on the importance of the partnership approach to supporting the in-schools component of a teacher education course. In particular it outlines a professional learning project which focused on building a common language between the university, teachers and students for talking about pedagogy and learning design. It describes a professional development project which was undertaken by university staff to provide the mentor teachers with specific knowledge about the “Dimensions of Learning” to support their practice and the work of their tertiary students. In particular the project focused on working with the mentor teachers of second year students who were engaged in planning and implementing units of work. The case study relates the findings of the project and issues that were uncovered. It provides recommendations to readers about ways to approach the implementation of the “Dimensions of Learning” in schools.