2018 NNER Annual Conference

A benefit of professional development school (PDS) partnerships is that such partnerships serve as fertile ground for the development of reflective practitioners who conduct scholarship and research. The idea, proposed by major scholars in the field of teacher education, that increased competence as a teacher is the result of engaging in and reflecting on practice (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009; Darling-Hammond, 2006; Zeichner & Liston, 2014) demands that teachers be trained within a practical, clinically-intensive, context.

A PDS partnership supports teacher candidates, current practitioners, and University partners. It allows teacher candidates to be trained as reflective practitioner-scholars, allows University partners to support current practitioners in developing their own reflective practices and work together to develop, conduct, interpret, and make use of scholarship and research.

In this session, Dr. Melissa Baker and Dr. Rachelle Curcio will begin the session by discussing the difference between scholarship and research and how both hold vital spaces in PDS partnerships. Dr. Cindy Van Buren, Assistant Dean for Professional Partnerships, will share how she supports scholarship and research in PDS partnerships. In closing, Dr. Baker and Fulmer Middle School Principal, Mrs. Megan Carrero, will share how they built their partnership and have begun to conduct both scholarship and research with the overarching goal to better meet the needs of their students and middle school faculty.

Participant Outcomes: Participants will leave knowing the difference between scholarship and research, ways to conduct both in partnerships, and a personalized call to adventure and action related to scholarship and/or research.

Connection to What are Schools For?: Our schools can serve as sandboxes where partners work together to conduct scholarship and research that will help us better meet the academic and emotional needs of our students and faculty in our local community.