NN41, December 2008
The New Politics of Partnership: Peril or Promise?
Partnership In Early Childhood Education?
By Lyabwene Mtahabwa, University of Dodoma, Tanzania
Email: lrwr2003@yahoo.co.ukKeywords
Partnership in education
Summary
This article examines the concept of partnership in education, noting that it can mean several things to different individuals and different cultural contexts. It poses the question: How far are partnerships in education really partnerships?
The discourse of partnership in education has recently gained prominence in educational circles. Its use goes beyond involvement which tends to demean roles played by one side of the participating parties. Currently, there is an enormous orchestration of the use of partnership in conducting research between individuals in the North and those in the South or among researchers in the South. Virtually all stakeholders in education across a myriad of cultures speak of partnership as a key ingredient for quality practices. For example, in early childhood education, partnership is believed to be one of the indicators of quality programmes in many countries such as the US, Italy and the UK. One major problem with the use of the concept of partnership is that it can mean several things to different individuals and different cultural contexts. Its use is always prone to misuse. First, in any educational venture, who decides the elements that constitute partnerships? Second, when does the idea of partnership become shared among interested parties: at the conception stage of the project, middle or towards completion of it? Third, who initiates that idea and why? Fourth, what differences ? economic and educational ? exist among parties and how are these differences facilitative or inhibitive of the partnership agenda? Fifth, how are gains ? immediate and future ? shared among parties?
These questions suggest that the discourse of partnership must be approached carefully and skeptically. I find it to be one of the most challenging aspects in education. Even if a succinct delineation of the elements that make up partnership in education was attempted, one would still expect some hidden agenda among parties. Not all the so called partnerships in education are genuine. For example, a government may advocate partnerships with other stakeholders such as parents but a critical analysis may reveal that such partnership is intended to provide the government an opportunity to escape its obligation ? that of responsibly delivering quality services to its citizens. The Harambee philosophy in Kenya (see Kipkorir, 1993) and the call for parents? participation in pre-primary education in Tanzania (see Mtahabwa, 2007) are closely related to this stance. Genuine partnership is difficult to achieve and educators may need to rethink its use. How far are partnerships in education really partnerships?
References
Kipkorir, L. (1993) Kenya. In M. Cochran (Ed.), International Handbook of Child Care Policies and Programs (pp. 333-352). London: Green Wood Press.
Mtahabwa, L. (2007) Pre-primary Educational Policy and Practice in Tanzania: Observations from Urban and Rural Pre-primary Schools. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Faculty of Education, the University of Hong Kong.
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