Teachers Supporting Students in Collaborative Ways—An Analysis of Collaborative Work Creating Supportive Learning Environments for Every Student in a School: Cases from Austria, Finland, Lithuania, and Poland

Abstract

Many studies have highlighted the importance of community and cooperation in inclusive education. However, traditionally, teachers are trained to manage their classes alone. Along with the aspirations of inclusive education, there is high pressure to develop school cultures that are more communal and to reorient school personnel’s work, making it more collaborative, in order to meet the diverse needs of all students. In this research, we explored and compared the collaborative ways in which teachers supported their students in four schools in Austria, Finland, Lithuania, and Poland. As a conceptual framework, the research utilized theories of interprofessional teamwork. The researchers applied a theory-led thematic analysis to the research data. The main findings indicate that collaborative action needs to be an essential part of teachers’ work in an inclusive school. The schools and teachers implemented both proactive and reactive ways of constructing an inclusive pedagogy when they supported their students.

[Retracted] On the Professional Development Environment of Young Teachers in the Series of Quality Education in Colleges and Universities

“…Quality education refers to a policy that aims at improving personal quality, focuses on cultivating students' basic spirit and practical quality, and includes science, morality, art, and discipline as the basis to create students' morality, intelligence, physique, and discipline [ 14 ]. From the perspective of pedagogy, education lays more emphasis on basic functions, which refers to the sum of those stable, basic, social evaluation, and other meaningful characteristics, which can have a wide impact on the efficiency of human life and the future development of society [ 15 ].…”

Technology inclusion for students living with disabilities through collaborative online learning during and beyond a pandemic

“…This paper supports other findings in the academic literature on COIL. Lakkala et al's (2021) study explored and compared the collaborative ways in which students in four schools in Austria, Finland, Lithuania and Poland have been supported in their learning. The study concluded that collaborative action should be regarded as significant in creating inclusive http://dx.doi.org/10.18820/2519593X/pie.v40.i1.5 2022: 40(1) spaces to support students.…”

Systemic support for learners with developmental language disorders in Zimbabwe and South Africa

“…Inclusive education is based on commonality and IPC amongst professionals, parents and learners (Lakkala et al, 2021 ). It is a reform that supports diversity amongst all learners (UNESCO, 2001 ).…”

“…Inter-professional collaboration has been recommended as a means by which the needs of learners with additional needs can be met (Gallagher et al, 2020 ). Inter-professional collaboration is a shared expertise, whereby team professionals create strategies together, learning from professionals in other fields (Lakkala et al, 2021 ). Speech–language therapists contribute specialist knowledge and skills regarding learners with DLD; they are specialists trained to diagnose and assist learners in speech–language and communication needs (SLCNs).…”

“…It has been suggested that inter-professional collaboration (IPC) amongst speech–language therapists (SLTs), educational psychologists, audiologists, social workers and teachers is likely to reflect the needs of a learner with DLD (Liu et al, 2018; as cited in McGregor, 2020 ). However, IPC remains scarce in practice (Lakkala et al 2021 ). Thus, there has been a continued concern on the support of learners with special needs such as DLD in the mainstream schools (Dockrell, Rickets, Palikara, & Charman, 2019 ), and the current scholarship is limited on the support of such learners (Joffe, Rixon, & Hulme, 2019 ).…”