Why this special issue?

Citation

Calabrese, R.L. (2006), "Why this special issue?", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 20 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijem.2006.06020caa.001

Why this special issue?

The theme of this special issue of the International Journal of Educational Management focuses on the critical issues of partnerships between higher education and public schools as a means of improving the administration, teaching, and learning capacities of public schools. There is growing awareness that school improvement is not the sole province of schools or educators; nor is research the sole province of higher education. The formation of short- and long-term partnerships between public school organizations and the private sector, universities, parents, and community groups are essential because partnerships offer numerous assets that are collectively available yet unavailable individually such as human capital, financial capital, enhanced knowledge base, and considerable public legitimacy (Wohlstetter et al., 2005).

Because of the advantages of partnerships, many different types of public partnerships involving schools have evolved over the past decade throughout the world. In the USA, the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Nova Scotia, and the UK, for example, private and public partnerships have been piloted to help in offsetting the costs for construction of schools (Utt, 1999). Moreover, there is increasing awareness that best practices are discovered and shared through collaborative research partnerships between higher education and public schools and that these partnerships are critical to the advancement of public education (Ginsberg and Rhodes, 2003). In these collaborative partnerships, the needs of practitioners are addressed and traditional research boundaries are transformed into mutually beneficial research partnerships (Paugh, 2004).

Mutually beneficial research partnerships between higher education and public schools exist throughout the world. They are increasing exponentially through the use of technology assisted collaborative efforts that allow researchers in the USA to work with schools in Brazil; or, researchers in Great Britain to work with educators serving the aboriginal population in Australia. There is no one model that stands out as an exemplar for an effective partnership – each is determined by its context. Because it is contextual, the partnership has a relevance that may not exist otherwise since the membership of the research partnership determines the research questions (Weber and Wolfe, 2002).

In the body of literature related to educational partnerships there is ample evidence that the road toward the creation of successful higher education and school partnerships has not been smooth; as much evidence as there is for successful partnerships, there is evidence of failed efforts at forming and sustaining partnerships. Underlying this special issue is the belief that in spite of the difficulties in forming enduring partnerships that are based in mutuality, the end result is worth the effort and within partnerships there is the hope of bringing people together in a common purpose whether it be locally, regionally, or globally.

This special issue provides examples of how these partnerships can operate in a mutually beneficial way to address the needs of scholars and practitioners; moreover, it addresses how these partnerships can evolve in a way that is ecologically beneficial, creating enduring partnerships infused with the value of mutuality. The papers in this special issue give specific evidence of how higher education faculty worked with practitioners to collaborate on research to improve administrative practices, instructional practices, or student learning.

Dr Sally J. Zepeda, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA, contributes to the theme by demonstrating how a higher education and school partnership resulted in research that can be used to improve administrative practice. Dr Zepeda used a case study “to record and summarize the tensions and problems experienced by a high school administrative team as they attempted to change supervision alongside instruction in a transition to a new block schedule.” Dr Zepeda collected rich and detailed data over an extended period using qualitative research methods. Dr Zepeda documents how supervisory practices can isolate and divide members of the school organization, all of whom are seeking to improve school practices.

Dr A. William Place, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA and Dr Jane Clark Lindle, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA write on the partnership of scholars and practitioners and the persisting tension over the relative importance of theory and practice. The co-authors’ research indicated the existing divisions between the cultural norms commonly in place between scholars and school practitioners. Drs Place and Lindle are university professors who decided to temporarily leave their positions in higher education and serve as public school administrators to gain a fresh understanding related to administrative practice. In their paper, they share their experience related to the transition from higher education to school leadership practice. Their findings highlighted the different ways that scholars and practitioners view the school context. As a result, the authors stress the importance of scholars and practitioners forming a partnership to respect and inform each other.

Professor Raymond L. Calabrese of Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, USA, discusses a case study of a partnership between an inner-city high school and university doctoral action research team. Dr Calabrese viewed this working partnership in terms of mutuality, social capital, and appreciative inquiry. The appreciative inquiry theoretical research perspective provided an opportunity for partnership members to set aside defensive routines so they could more effectively collaborate to identify teacher traits and attitudes that positively influenced student retention and graduation rates. The study’s findings indicate, “School and university partnerships hold the potential for the creation of collaborative transformative learning environments that are mutually beneficial. Social capital is at the heart of these partnerships as well as its attributes of bonding, bridging, and linking. Approaching school-university partnerships through an appreciative inquiry theoretical perspective, creates an environment for building trust, sharing knowledge, and increasing bridging capital.”

Professor Linda A. Catelli of Dowling College, Oakdale, New York, USA addressed the critical issue of creating partnerships focused on closing the achievement gap for minority students and poor students. Dr Catelli frames this issue in an ethical perspective by addressing three central purposes:

1. 1.

   It describes the historical phases of the school-university partnership movement and its potential for closing the achievement gap.

2. 2.

   It demonstrates how higher education institutions and schools can recognize their ethical obligation to act as partners to address the achievement gap for minority and poor students.

3. 3.

   It promotes a comprehensive approach to partnerships that includes higher education programs and faculty as important contributors to the partnership. Moreover, Dr Catelli describes the five phases through which educational partnerships have evolved. In the newly evolving fifth phase, self-interest of the partners is subordinated for the common good.

Dr Kathleen D. Shinners, Educational Consultant, Newport, RI, USA, describes the structuring of a higher education – school partnership based on the partners’ level of involvement and the emergence of leadership roles. Moreover, Dr Shinners demonstrates the importance of how successful partnerships require a carefully constructed definition of partnership efforts. Dr Shinners’ paper follows a higher education and public school partnership over a four-year period and explains in rich detail, how a government grant funded project served as the stimulus to link higher education, public school faculty, and graduate students in a project designed to increase specific subject area teacher competence. The author analyzes the partnership by taking into account mutuality characteristics, the level of partner involvement, as well as the influence of leadership on the project’s success. More importantly, this paper highlights the critical need for effective leadership for a higher education – public school partnership to succeed.

Professor Judith Slater of Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA, provides the theoretical underpinnings for higher education and public school partnerships. Dr Slater makes the case that the movement from isolation to community involves a high degree of change and at the heart of successful change is intense, participatory, and fully collaborative efforts at planning at the macro and micro levels. Dr Slater applies Lewin’s change theory to work required to move organizations from operating in isolation to entry into community and suggests how isolationist beliefs can be “unfrozen”, the type of “re-education” necessary to move toward community, and the nature of “refreezing” to make change permanent. At the heart of planning, according to Dr Slater, is effective transactional leadership where leaders make effective quality transactional decisions leading to transformational organizations.

This special isue is possible because of the visionary leadership Dr Brian Roberts provides as Editor to IJEM. Dr Roberts encouraged and supported the Guest Editor and authors of the papers. He values the message of working together in goodwill and a common cause as critical to education as well as to all other segments of our global society.

Raymond L. CalabreseGuest Editor