Experiences of Dutch and Swedish Occupational Therapists and Teachers of Their Context-Based Collaboration in Elementary Education

Abstract

Context-based collaboration between teachers and occupational therapists has shown promise as a strategy to enhance teachers’ capacity to enable the participation of children in elementary schools. In this study, we applied the Canadian Partnering for Change (P4C) model as a collaborative, coaching- and context-based approach in the Netherlands and Sweden. The aim was to gain insight into teachers’ and occupational therapists’ experiences of their collaboration applying P4C within their specific European elementary school context. To this end, we held semi-structured interviews with 4 teachers and 4 occupational therapists and performed a conventional, inductive content analysis of the ensuing interview transcripts. We found that participants’ collaboration in the classroom context was a continuous, multi-stage process that we defined as a unique mastery journey toward collaborative learning and trustful partnership. Participants indicated that they needed time to become familiar with the new collaboration, how they learned from each other, and that they enhanced children’s inclusion by applying strategies collaboratively. The results carry implications for the embedment of collaboration in schools and offer relevant strategies that serve the inclusion of all children. We propose that future studies evaluate the effects of P4C and seek to obtain a holistic picture of collaboratively applied actions.