4.9. Collaborative work and multidisciplinary tasks

The development of an inclusive school environment for students with special needs is a targeted agenda in compulsory schools.

This ensures that equality of opportunity is warranted by opening and providing access to the regular school system for all students, regardless of their individual characteristics. However, educational stakeholders have to deal not only with the postulate of ‘equal opportunities’, but also with enabling educational justice for all. Therefore, the demand for teachers to create educational spaces that encourage stimulating teaching and learning processes for all students increases.

Finkelstein, Sharma, and Furlonger (2019) outline five observed aspects of inclusive practice that allow teachers to design lessons that dismantle educational barriers for students: (1) collaboration and teamwork, (2) instructional practices, (3) organisational practices, (4) social/emotional/

behavioural practices and (5) determining progress.

• The domain collaboration and teamwork include practices that involve the cooperation of teachers with other stakeholders, (e.g. other teachers, language experts, speech therapists, psychologists, physiotherapists, as well as with family members and students).
• The category instructional practice is concerned with teachers’ creation and organisation of teaching and learning processes. It deals with the question of how didactic content is transmitted to the students (e.g. differentiated instruction, participative teaching and learning).
• Organisational practices include the modification of the learning environment and the setup of the classroom to dismantle learning barriers and enable a stimulating and motivating learning environment for every student.
• The category social/emotional/behavioural practices deals with how teachers encourage a positive classroom environment where students feel socially and emotionally included, one in which their behavioural needs are taken into account (e.g. clear communication of behavioural expectations and rules, constructive feedback, motivation).

The final category, determining progress involves individualised assessment and monitoring of students’ achievements (e.g. different assessment methods, individual education plans).