‘You know that collaboration works when … ’ identifying the features of successful collaboration on behalf of children with disabilities in early childhood education and care

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to identify features of successful collaboration among professionals and parents involved in supporting children with disabilities in early childhood education and care. The study employed a multiple-case study design comprising 6 cases and 30 adult participants, who were interviewed regarding their collaboration on behalf of 6 children with significant disabilities ranging in age from 3 to 5 years. Applying a system-theoretical approach, analysis led to the development of a framework based on the concepts of ‘internal’ and ‘external’ features of collaboration. Whereas internal aspects refer primarily to the interpersonal interactions of parents and professionals, external features are linked to conditions that occur at a greater ‘distance’ from these interactions, yet nonetheless appear to have a substantial impact on participants’ beliefs about whether the collaboration is successful. We argue that external influences have too often been overlooked in the literature on multidisciplinary collaboration in this context.

KEYWORDS:

• Early childhood
• special education
• disability
• collaboration

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a grant from the Norwegian Research Council under the Programme for Practice-based Research & Development (PraksisFoU). We wish to thank the participants in this study and our colleagues from the project team: Ann Christin Nilsen and Hanne Cecilie Jensen from Agderforskning and Jorunn Midtsundstad from the University of Agder.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

David Lansing Cameron is a professor of special education in the Department of Education, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway, where he researches and teachers in the fields of inclusive, comparative and special education. His most recent work concerns multidisciplinary collaboration, implementation of educational policy, and exploration of the social learning environments of children.

Anne Dorthe Tveit is a professor of special education in the Department of Education, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway, where she teaches in special education, counselling, and research methods. Tveits areas of interest include family-school collaboration, democratic-dialogue, and special eductors' competency and training.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Council of Norway: [Grant Number 189004].