Boundary-spanning in school–university partnerships and its related definitions

Purpose The overarching purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of “boundary-spanning” roles, terms and structures in order to move closer to a foundational definition of boundary-spanning in school–university partnerships (SUPs) and Professional Development Schools (PDSs). Design/methodology/approach This conceptual context study analyzed 27 chapters from an edited book on boundary-spanning in SUPs and PDSs in an attempt to synthesize the roles, terms, structures and benefits of boundary-spanning in practice. Findings Our study offered an emerging definition of the “boundary-spanner,” an analysis of seven terms common to boundary-spanning and an exploration of three necessary boundary-spanning structures. Finally, we identified common challenges and benefits to boundary-spanning within SUPs and PDSs. Research limitations/implications Although the data for this analysis were drawn only from one manuscript, the chapters represent a comprehensive collection of cases of boundary-spanning in practice, and the analysis of these chapters revealed persistent variance in definitions and conceptualizations indicating that even within one collection, the practice remains ill-defined. Practical implications While attempting to formally delineate the difference between “common” partnerships and “true” boundary-spanning could become an act of pedantry, we believe our analysis of these 27 cases might move the field of teacher education toward a more common understanding of the concept and its related practice. And the result might be that we all become better boundary-spanners within our own contexts and communities. Originality/value Decades of theoretical frameworks and foundational literature have laid the groundwork for boundary-spanning in theory, but the majority of the chapters collected in the volume that served as our data set were empirical. By analyzing these chapters as examples of boundary-spanning in practice, we began to identify themes of boundary-spanning in practice – beyond theory – across multiple educational contexts even outside of traditional PDSs and SUPs.