University school connections

This paper draws on data from a preliminary study of the literature for a larger research project, the focus of which was university-school connections (USCs) involving preservice teacher education and Australian primary schools. There is no scarcity of data or research effort on USCs with the majority of studies indicating the value of USCs to stakeholders (pre-service students, teachers, schools, academics and systems operating within the profession). There is a tendency for the education profession to sustain the conversations surrounding USCs many of which are concerned with the same issues studied over time since Dewey in 1904. This sustainability of interest is coupled with, at times, an urgent call for increased connections to be made between the university system and schools. The focus of this paper is three-fold. Firstly, it explores the terminology used by researchers when describing USCs and argues that use of the word partnership is not the most appropriate choice, secondly, it gives an historical perspective of the progression of USCs and thirdly, it moves forward to more recent developments in USCs. It concludes with a number of research questions that the author is currently working on that have emerged during the review of the literature and argues that closer attention to the endurance of USCs and how this is articulated is required.