Understanding partnership principles: Seeking meaning through metaphor analysis

The purpose of this study is to understand how school, early childhood, and community partners understand the nature of a set of Partnership Principles on which university-school partnerships were founded. Ten university partners (principals, teachers, and a student) were interviewed to elicit their understanding of the principles for partnership: authentic, reciprocal, equitable, enduring, and innovative. Interviews were coded using metaphor analysis, identifying orientational, structural, and ontological metaphors used by participants to describe both the individual principles and their general understanding of the partnership endeavours. Results show that the partners use a robust set of metaphors to describe each of the partnership principles, with the exception of the principle of equitable. This principle was identified primarily as the central “space” of the partnership work and as a necessary direction “forward” for the work. The greatest divergence between the university and partnership language was around the principle of innovation. Partners expressed more urgency in wanting faster-paced and action-oriented work related to this principle. Overall, metaphorical language centred on three key themes: a common purpose of working equitably in order to reach equal educational outcomes for children and students; the importance of people and relationships as what make a partnership sustainable and enduring; and the necessity for action toward change. The ontological metaphors used by both Māori and non-Māori partners drew on Māori world views to a great extent. This affirms practices of indigenising university-based education and provides insight into how to further engage in equity-focused education in this New Zealand context.