Beyond traditional partnerships: Multiple brokering practices in university-school collaborations for initial teacher education

• Collaborative self-study methodology was used to explore university-school partnerships. • Authors employed Communities of Practice and Landscape of Practice as theoretical lenses. • Multiple brokering practices can produce sustainable partnerships. The collaboration between universities and schools to address teacher shortages in under-resourced communities is a pressing yet underexplored area. In Australia and globally, the shortage of qualified teachers has been identified as a critical challenge, particularly in regional, remote, and poorly resourced urban areas. While Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers have traditionally focused on preparing pre-service teachers (PSTs) for these challenging environments, such preparation often occurs in isolation from the actual school contexts where these teachers wilZl eventually work. This disconnection between university preparation and school reality has led to increasing calls for innovative partnerships that bridge the theory-practice divide in ITE. Taking this imperative into account, this paper explores effective knowledge-building and exchange practices that support the sustainability of university-school partnerships. Grounded in the conceptual frameworks of Landscape of Practice and third space, this collaborative self-study explores how university teams partner with PST networks and school communities to build and exchange knowledge in a non-hierarchical manner. This study has wider implications for how university ITE providers can engage in brokering practices to create enduring solutions for these schools with better prepared graduating teachers.