Study of a partnership between a group of initial teacher training students and a group of gifted and talented pupils developing effective ways to teach business and citizenship.

This paper outlines the nature of a partnership between a cohort of University Initial Teacher Training students and a cohort of ‘gifted and talented’ school pupils. It examines the process of the partnership and subsequent developments. It investigates how the project altered with the input of the participants, in particular the pupils, as evaluations revealed that the priorities of educators were not necessarily the same as those of pupils. Pupil priorities appeared to be just as valid and would possibly lead to better educational outcomes. The narrative follows through the three years of the project in chronological order, with comments, analysis, discussions and conclusions about each year’s project. The analysis and proposals for further development are grounded in qualitative data from pupils who have seen the full three-year cycle of the study through (these pupils
were aged 15 at the time). These comment on what they have both taught and learned and on possible improvements and developments to the programme.
Pupil, student and staff comments are included, along with the researcher’s interpretation of how particular participant groups reacted to the conditions that were imposed.
The paper concludes with implications and future research recommendations.