Teacher-therapist collaboration in inclusive primary schools: A scoping review

Abstract

Introduction: Inclusive school environments require collaboration between teachers and allied health professionals to promote student access and participation. Collaboration is a complex phenomenon with no universally accepted definition or measurement and with many challenges to effective practice. The purpose of this scoping review is to describe what is known about interprofessional collaboration between teachers and therapists in inclusive primary schools.

Methods: A scoping review of health and education literature was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. Peer-reviewed articles reporting on empirical studies with a focus on collaboration between teachers and school-based occupational therapists or speech and language therapists in inclusive primary schools were included.

Results: Results summarise how collaboration is reported in the literature. Numerical and descriptive summaries describe how collaboration is defined and measured, the challenges to collaborative practice, the structures required to support effective practice, and the outcomes of such practice.

Conclusion: Definitions vary between studies and disciplines but contain common elements. For effective practice, the purpose of the collaboration must be clear, and the intended outcomes of the collaboration are measured. Measurement of collaboration requires further research using tools developed from robust theoretical frameworks and validated within the educational context and with professionals of different disciplines. Consistent measurement tools would allow cross-study comparisons. Barriers to collaborative practice are well documented; thus, future research should be directed to examining effective practice, investigating how professionals circumvent obstacles.

Keywords: collaboration; inclusive education; mainstream schools; occupational therapists; speech language pathologists; speech language therapists; teachers.