In 2001 the School of Education at Edith Cowan University (ECU) and the Joondalup Education District established a teacher education partnership (Compact). The broad aim of the ECU/Joondalup Compact was to develop quality teacher education opportunities for pre-service and in-service teachers, school and district administrators, and ECU teacher educators. As part of the ongoing collaboration in the Compact, a group of university and district personnel conducted a study tour from 29 September to 12 October 2002 to the USA and Canada. The general purpose of the tour was to strengthen the Compact's capacity to offer quality teacher education opportunities by engaging with other educators involved in innovative university-school partnerships.
This paper reports the activities, observations, and perceptions of the five participants of the ECU/Joondalup Compact study tour. Key international university-school partnerships that may be of interest to those involved in school-university partnerships are described. Included are a set of recommendations that aim to stimulate discussion and possible actions to support the continuing development of the Compact and inform other teacher education partnerships.
