School administrators and university practicum supervisors as boundary brokers for initial teacher education in Chile

•Expanding the roles of school principals in the practicum to include their work as instructional leaders.•Boundary processes to bridge between schools' and universities' communities of practice.•Placement of teacher candidates in schools involves boundary works for supervisors and school administrators.•Supervision of teacher candidates in school involves boundary work for supervisors and school administrators.

The study examines school administrators' perspectives on a central problem of the school-based component of initial teacher preparation: the distance between schools and universities. Data obtained through in-depth interviews and focus groups with administrators (N = 51) from 36 schools were analyzed using Wenger's (2000) theory of inter-organizational learning. Findings suggest that an expansion of the roles supervisors and school administrators have traditionally played in the practicum may help reduce this gap. As brokers for their respective institutions they can coordinate actions by gaining access to the meanings each community assigns to practices and acknowledging the competence each brings to the practicum.