University-School Partnerships: Professional Development of Teachers and School-Family Interactions in a Brazilian Context

This chapter examines the potentialities and limitations of the adoption of a constructive-collaborative university-school partnership with a focus on strengthening the school-family relations, seeking to promote the professional development of teachers. It reports a set of three projects carried out by researchers from a Brazilian public university (Federal University of Sao Carlos) and teachers from public elementary schools situated in low-income communities in a medium-sized city in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The research and intervention model adopted involved learning about the reality in which teachers work, identifying what they think about students and their families, understanding school-family interactions, and why teachers do what they do. The results are analyzed from the students’ families and teachers’ points of view about the school and school-family interactions; the observed teacher professional development processes and university-school collaboration aspects. Finally, specific recommendations regarding the university-school partnership are provided for future research.