Supporting the re-balancing of initial teacher education within university and school partnerships.

The change in emphasis in the leadership of initial teacher education (ITE) within school-Higher Education Institution (HEI) partnerships means that experienced teachers in schools are taking on increasingly more responsibility for educating teachers in many countries (Whitty, 2014). Our research encompasses school-based and institute-based teacher educators and the student-teachers who worked with them in a school-HEI partnership in England. A phenomenological approach was employed, seeking to identify the meanings being constructed by the participants through use of a questionnaire, semi-structured interviews and a focus group. Findings suggest that the participants recognised the unique contribution made by both school- and institute-based teacher educators and of the value of working collaboratively in teacher education.