Chapter 14: When Innovative Practices and Boundary-Spanning Collide

The two lead authors, middle grades and elementary university-based teacher educators respectively, sought to span boundaries within and across institutions to reduce the siloing of their teacher education programs. The results of these boundary-spanning partnerships with the programs and centers represented by the remaining authors of this chapter are detailed. Partnering with a local environmental education center, teaching candidates completed workshops and became certified in three different curricula; the center forged new connections with university students, many of whom would become future local teachers. Connecting with an arts integration professional development program, the candidates engaged in workshops to effectively leverage fine arts as a vehicle for implementing state science learning standards; this partnership resulted in increased arts integration in local schools and scholarship between the university and arts integration program. Candidates took a field trip to a local space science center and learned about the value of experiential learning and hands-on learning in the sciences. Working with a math professional learning center, teaching candidates accessed expertise and resources and were challenged to refine their teaching practices towards fostering students’ conceptual understanding of mathematics. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the outcomes of this boundary-spanning work and benefits for teaching candidates and local stakeholders.