Leading professional learning in an Australian secondary school through school-university partnerships

As the limitations of one-off and disconnected professional learning programs for teachers are recognised, there is widespread interest in building learning communities and professional learning teams within schools. When considering how to build local learning communities, school and university partnerships are seen as offering rich possibilities for transformative professional action. Set in the context of the international agenda of Education For All (UNESCO, 2005) a model of sustained on-going professional learning, developed in one large secondary school in Australia, is analysed. The social practices that generate action and participation for partnership members are then scrutinised for the legitimacy of school-university partnerships and the contribution to enhancing teacher learning.