Sometimes when you enter into a partnership, you know it’ll be great and that everyone will learn and grow in amazing ways. Sometimes you know it will be good for you, but you’re a little worried. Sometimes you have no idea what will happen, but you just go for it and take a leap of faith. What we know is that transformation through partnership is possible.
With the passing of Nelson Mandela, I was reminded of the word and the concept of “ubuntu” As you know, it’s South African word from the Nguni Bantu language. It is one of those words that can’t be translated into a single word in English. Ubuntu expresses recognition that we are all bound together in our humanity in ways that are not always self-evident, that we can be our best selves by sharing ourselves with others and caring for those around us. Ubuntu if often understood to mean that each of can be who we are because of who we all are, as a unified community.
I feel a sense of Ubuntu through our partnerships. In partnership spaces, I see we are learning about and nurturing the best in all of us. We’re becoming who we are, we’re transforming, because of who we are in partnership.
In partnerships of all sorts, we are persisting through misunderstandings and believing and trusting each other, under assumptions that we are all acting with the best of intentions, despite challenges. We’re doing it for our teacher candidates, for our own growth and we’re especially doing it for Minnesota students and their families.
As you will see from our introductory panel, partnership relationships mean a lot more than merely placing teacher candidates in practicum experiences.
Teacher education programs, like other institutions that are part of the education ecosystem, have the responsibility to respond to immediate challenges and prepare for future needs. Now school partnerships are an inextricable piece of this ecosystem. For example, demographic changes in P-12 schools far outpace changes in the educator workforce. There is widespread under-education of students in mathematics, science and wholesale under-education of students with disabilities and English learners. Furthermore, we need teachers with sufficient training in college and career ready standards and who can use technology to promote engagement and learning. We can remedy these issues through partnership.
Respectful reciprocity based on mutual need is how partnerships in life and in teacher education enable us to change and grow. With the best intentions, the will to see each others’ strengths, move beyond assumptions about who we are, we learn and grow and develop relationships within formal partnerships. It is in through these experiences that partnerships are transformative.
Submitted by Dr. Martha Bigelow, Interim Executive Director of the Educator Development and Research Center