Abstract:

The paper discusses the design and implementation of a research investigation into a schools-university partnership model from 2012 to current in two metropolitan state schools in Western Australia. The research is longitudinal and tracks educational change as experienced by undergraduate pre-service teachers, and early childhood practising teachers. A case study method is adopted to generate insights into a schools-university partnership model. The research explores the development of partnerships at macro- and micro- levels. The paper also discusses the sharing of pedagogical and technological knowledge between undergraduate pre-service teachers and practising teachers.

Pre-service teachers and academics from a University, and practising teachers, school leaders and parents and carers from two primary schools formed schools-university partnerships. Practising teachers attended segments of the unit Transforming learning through ICT (the ICT unit) which is run by the University. The ICT unit provides pre-service teachers in the second year of the early childhood and care teaching degree with a variety of opportunities to transform learning and teaching experiences and explores pedagogical approaches towards ICT implementation. The practising teachers worked with pre-service teachers on targeted lessons using mLearning technologies (authentic groups). These pre-service teachers, in groups of 2 or 3, then facilitated ICT-rich lessons at the appropriate school site using mLearning technologies and received feedback from the practising teachers. The synergy between the pre-service and practising teachers during these lessons is investigated as one of the factors in gauging the usefulness of a schools-university partnership model in the adoption of mLearning in early childhood education. At the same time, a group of pre-service teachers practiced facilitating ICT-rich lessons to peers at the University (the peer group). This form of guided practice is the way in which the ICT unit has been delivered since its inception just over a decade ago.

Findings from the research have indicated that school-university partnerships can provide pre-service and practising teachers with the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of effective ways of using mLearning. There is still much debate around the utility of using ICT for learning, particularly in the early years of development; including arguments for (e.g. Li & Atkins, 2004; Voogt & McKenney, 2008) and against (DeLoache et al., 2010; Rogow, 2007). This research brought together perspectives of practising teachers, school leaders, undergraduate pre-service teachers, parents and academics. By developing a partnership approach to confronting the issue of harnessing mLearning technologies in early childhood, the potential for all participants to learn from each other eventuated. The localised schools-university partnership approach is proving to be effective in generating shared knowledge of complex issues and will facilitate an important contribution to future debate. The chain model has proven to be a useful framework in which to conceive of sustainable educational partnerships between schools and universities. Each link of the model requires planning and ongoing nurturing to both strengthen the link and help protect it against possible destabilisation.

Keywords:

Technology, early childhood classroom.