Negotiating between practicum partnership spaces in ITE: experiences from Scotland

The ‘practicum’ is a critical component of Initial Teacher Education (ITE), where student teachers develop their professional competence and identity in schools alongside experienced educators. This paper presents findings from a survey of Scottish ITE partnership actors, involving three universities and six local authorities, highlighting common elements that can hinder the effectiveness of placement ecosystems. The partnership is an important enquiry context as international systems question how to ensure high quality ITE experiences for all novice teachers through different governance models. The success of the practicum in fostering meaningful early professional development depends on how expectations are communicated, and how key practices are defined and enacted at macro- (national agency), meso- (university and school) and micro- (individual) levels. Student teachers are not located simply ‘at school’ or ‘at university’ but in constructed and negotiated spaces in between, shedding new light on professional relationships within the field of teacher education.