Meaning of language differences between doctors and educators in a collaborative discourse

Abstract

This study of an ethnographic discourse examines the language of professionals – teachers and psychiatrists – working in collaboration in a special education school. The research objectives were examination of the meanings of recurring key words and the role of language in the verbal interaction between educators and doctors in their daily professional life. Data were collected from formal meetings, informal meetings, semi-constructed ethnographic interviews and documents published in the course of the school year. The paper offers two models for analyzing the interprofessional discourse. The first examines how key words reflect the perceptions of the speaker and his/her discipline, looking at the purpose of the communication. The second allows the researcher to examine the transferability of these concepts to the other discipline, focusing on the results of the communication. The findings reveal areas of discontent in the work of staff members with pupils, as well as the process of language transferability between professionals.

Keywords:

• Collaboration
• discourse
• ethnographic
• special education
• key words

Notes

*The findings reported here are part of a broader study.