Rethinking the Learning Partnership between Museums and Initial Teacher Training

Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Institutions have been at the centre of museums’ attention since they share common professional grounding and an interest in pedagogy, research and learning. Collaboration between ITT and museums has been also promoted via recent governmental initiatives that view the museum space as an alternative platform for student teachers to broaden their professional practice and experiences in places beyond the traditional classroom. This paper, based on the findings of an empirical study, attempts to explore the issues that might emerge from such partnerships. It suggests that tensions might emerge between ITT and museums when pedagogy is interpreted in a mechanistic sense. The discussion focuses on the potential of museum experiences to offer possibilities for deep learning and the need for both institutions to create a dialogic space that explores possibilities for meaningful partnerships beyond ticking boxes exercises.