Exploring collaborative and inclusive practices: the perceptions and experiences of educational staff, educational support staff and district specialists who assist students with complex needs
Subject
Abstract
This research explored notions of collaborative and inclusive practices utilized by educators and District Specialists who assist students with complex needs, within regular classrooms. This research casted the participants as informants which gave local voice and “power to inform the data collection” (Rumrill, 2011, p. 145) as well as providing a descriptive analysis which tells the story from a local view, while also honouring the experiences and perceptions of educators. This study offered a snapshot of a small school district in British Columbia and may act as a baseline and/or needs based assessment. Using a descriptive mixed methods approach that is based on a pragmatist ontology, careful interpretation, integration and open coding of data and descriptive approaches were used to fully answer the research question with the intention of gaining a broader understanding and insider’s perspective. Data was collected through a randomized survey given to both school-based and district staff within one district, followed by a one-on-one interview where a small number of participants were individually selected to answer open-ended questions which was then analyzed for patterns and themes and then reported on. Survey and interview questions provided information regarding various collaborative practices, inclusive practices, understanding of evidence-based practices, Individual Education Plan (IEP) planning, Understanding by Design Learning (UDL), differentiated instruction (DI), Response to Intervention (RTI) and characteristics of students with complex needs. The aim of this research was to illuminate local needs, trends, commonalities, participant perceptions and experiences, and identify the barriers and bridges as they relate to collaborative and inclusive practices that can then be actioned upon.