Cross-professional collaboration and inclusive school development in Denmark

Abstract

ABSTRACT The paper is based on a study of cross-professional collaboration in Denmark and its impact on inclusive school development. The study takes its starting point in the understanding that all kinds of schools constitute a social practice, which is created through inclusion and exclusion processes, and characterised by both individuality and diversity, collectivity and homogeneity. Hence, we argue that inclusion is a right and an obligation for students with and without special needs, and that inclusive education is primarily a matter of supporting all students in learning to be participants in learning activities and social life at school. It is also a matter of transforming the social structure so as to displace the border between inclusion and exclusion to better ensure equity for all students. Based on an analysis of how collaborative processes take place in a school practice, the present study offers a complex and nuanced understanding of cross-professional collaboration, influenced by many different mechanisms and factors that interact and affect each other. The study concludes that collaborative processes do not have any real impact on inclusive school development. The tendency is to focus on the student’s deficits, compensation, and treatment.