School/university/business partnership: Collaboration in a tripartite partnership

To gain further insight into the collaborative process in educational partnerships, a case study was conducted examining the origins, objectives and organization of the SUNY Purchase Westchester School Partnership. This partnership was chosen because, unlike more common school/business or school/university collaborations, it is tripartite: a school/university/business partnership; an organization created to realize educational goals and objectives common to all three participating groups. The Partnership could be assessed as a joint venture, with emphasis directed to characteristics of collaboration. The study attempted to match theoretical descriptions of the collaborative process with the collaborative process in an existing partnership. The characteristics of bipartite partnerships, notably school/business and school/university, were compared with those of a tripartite organization, and resulted in an expanded list of characteristics essential to educational partnerships and to the collaborative process. An assumption on which this study was predicated is that the ingredients of collaboration found in an educational partnership are reflective of the needs of an Information Society. This assertion is based on several theoretical assumptions, one of which is that there is a recognizable difference in the culture as a result of digitalization and the technological explosion; and a second, that the difference should not only be recognized, but incorporated into research where appropriate. Digitalization is changing our definitions of knowledge and our definitions of work. Therefore, the potential for positive involvement in educational changes and growth that is inherent in partnerships is especially significant to the relationship between the world of learning and the world of work