A School/university Partnership: Insights on Effective Collaboration

This article presents reflections on an experimental project in which a South Texas school district and university partnered to open a child development center on the university campus. While exploring individual human behavior and underlying group principles, the authors offer insights and suggestions for those who desire to work effectively in collaborative joint ventures. In 1996, a small group of dedicated professionals, including the two authors, embarked on a major project with the aim of re-envisioning public education at the elementary level. After 10 years in the planning, the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) opened its "School of the Future," a partnership venture between a South Texas regional university and a neighboring public school district. The venture's planners conceptualized the ECDC as a force for early academic and social intervention, a hub for research in best practices in education and dual language instruction, and a training facility for students of education, nursing, and counseling. Partially because the South Texas region suffered from high rates of teenage pregnancy, early school drop out, gang violence, and high numbers of working poor, the planners envisioned a working model of integrated services for children and families that could be replicated in other classrooms, districts, and regions of the country. Located on the university's campus, the new $8 million ECDC housed a Teacher Resource Center; a dual language school for 88 students between the ages of three and six years; seven school district employees; 10 university faculty members in kinesiology, bilingual education, early childhood development, reading, and counseling from the College of Education; and one faculty member in nursing from the College of Science and Technology. The University furnished a full-time Research Coordinator and allotted course releases for faculty work performed in the Center. The school administrator came from the doctoral program in Educational Leadership. For its part, the school district chose the school's students by lottery to reflect its demographic make-up. The school district paid for student bus transportation to and from school; brought breakfast and lunch to the school each day; and supplied salaries for four teachers, two paraprofessionals, and the school administrator. By pulling together a wealth of talent, resources, and expertise, the ECDC planners hoped to devise and demonstrate innovative and enduring solutions to the complex problems facing children and families today. The term "collaboration" thus became part of the group's everyday speech and an integral component of the mission. The plan emphasized the respective roles of the school district and the university, the educational philosophies of university faculty vis-a-vis the elementary and early childhood teachers, and the establishment of inter-disciplinary research projects using undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, the plan considered the necessity for various levels of instruction, responsibility, and supervision; expectations for family involvement in the Center; the need for continual consultation and communication; and, the importance of appreciating and accommodating diverse perspectives on discipline, learning, and human growth and development. As members of the team, the two authors, both counselor educators, sought to participate fully in establishing a working model of integrated services within the Center and to observe and reflect on the larger processes of the organization. A counseling orientation imbued them with an understanding of systems, knowledge of the differences between content and process, and the belief that parties could come together for honest, open discussion of differences. On the other hand, the partners disagreed among themselves as they proclaimed their distinct points of view, pedagogical biases, and personal desires. Many days the authors questioned whether or not they could respect and validate divergent viewpoints and still move forward with the organizational goals. …