School-University partnerships in support of equitable primary science education

This presentation explores a school-university partnership that supports in-service primary teachers to engage in science education in ways that are responsive to diverse students' and teachers' needs. We present an overarching case study of a team of five researchers and seven collaborating teachers, working together in a school-university partnership to explore how different initiatives have emerged from - and responded to - primary science professional development needs. An interpretive analytic lens reveals a multilayered process of building of communities of practice, the possibilities of shifting toward open-ended teaching approaches and reflections on tensions within a rapidly changing context. Participatory research (considering field notes, reflection papers and focus groups) reveals the team's dynamics towards an endeavor to support transformative science education. The (blinded) Project uses a structure of collaboration built upon reflect / dialogue /-act, which enables an analytical
framework on power and agency, while spotlighting: i. the need for building sustainable partnerships; ii. The contradictions faced in building school-university partnerships, based on trust and awareness; and iii. the reflection on one's own identity and professional change. Grounded in participatory processes, views of long-term sustainable school-university partnerships illuminate the need for ongoing dialogue and the critical need for building trusting relationships.