Teacher collaboration in emerging inclusive schools: facilitators and constraints

Swart, E (Estelle)¹, Struyf, E (Elke)², Vansteenkiste, D (Dries)², Jansen, ZB (Zenda)³, Schreuder, M (Melinda)³, Van Avermaet, P (Piet)⁴, Stofile, S (Sandiswa)^5
1Stellenbosch University
²University of Antwerp, Department of Training and Education Sciences, Antwerp, Belgium
³Stellenbosch University, GG Cillie Building, Ryneveld Street, 7602, Stellenbosch, South Africa
⁴Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
⁵University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa

 

Submission type

Oral only

Scheduled

Room 119, 12-07-2019, 09:00 - 10:30

Keywords

Teachers, collaboration, inclusive education, learning, agency

Summary

Collaboration is increasingly believed to be a critical strategy and collective space for teachers and other professionals to learn how to develop inclusive classrooms and pedagogies. However, the work of teachers is strongly rooted in cultures of individualism, autonomy and segregation. New “repertoires for manoeuvring” (Priestley et al., 2012) that benefit all learners, in particular collaborative agency, must therefore be cultivated. We know that collaboration is required but what it is and how it is practiced is vaguely described in both research literature and policies. To fill this gap, our collaborative project investigated how teachers in emerging inclusive schools understand collaboration, how they conceptualise the nature of collaborative relationships and how they develop their competencies and knowledge about inclusion in the process. We designed a multiple case study and used qualitative methods including semi-structured interviews, observation, reflective diaries and documents to generate data. This paper will focus on the facilitators and constraints for teacher collaboration in emerging inclusive schools. Participants identified personal, group, structural and organisational factors. Insight into these factors can inform school psychologists’ interventions in developing collaborative school cultures and effective collaborative agency of teachers and groups of teachers.

Auteurs