| The involvement of an extended community has become an expected part of promoting learning within Canadian schools. School boards, professional and government departments have encouraged increased input from parents, students, teachers, and community members in the learning process. Since the late 1980s, many educational reformers have favoured the strengthening of the linkage and the broader sharing of responsibilities between educators and the community at large.;The pervasiveness of partnerships as a method of reforming education may lead one to assume that a high degree of clarity surrounds the approach, and that a great deal of thought has gone into establishing these partnerships, given the extent to which educational reformers have embraced this idea in Canada. Although many educators and governmental officials promote educational partnerships, the opponents of such partnerships are equally audible. These critics of educational partnerships paint a very picture.;This research study examines the attitudes and opinions of students, teachers and private sector members who participated in the Coop and Enterprise Education partnerships at the high school level in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The study compared the Coop and Enterprise Education partner's responses by conducting a survey to examine their attitudes, practices of shared decision making, the impact reported and their recommendations for future activities.;In general all the participants support these activities and report that these partnerships have a positive impact on the teaching of these courses, on students, and on the communities. When comparing the two partnership programs, it was noted that the participants in the enterprise education courses provide significantly more positive responses towards their partnerships compared to the partners associated with the coop program. The results of this study are examined using a broad framework of the contextual, technical, structural and human factors which impinge on the two school-private sector partnerships. The study has implications for the further refinement of the Coop and Enterprise Education partnerships in high schools. |
