Cooperation for Inclusion in Educational Transitions

The transition from SEC I (compulsory school) to SEC II (middle and higher schools of general education as well as technical and vocational schools and colleges) or employment entails a great challenge for adolescents with disabilities. Inclusive education and employment processes are especially difficult for adolescents with disabilities from socially and culturally disadvantaged families. The reason for this often lies specifically in a lack of cooperation at the early stage of compulsory school (SEC I) between the school, the pupil with a disability, his or her parents and professionals. Within the discourse in the field of education, participant cooperation is viewed as key for inclusive education. A prerequisite for the success of cooperation between the different actors (school, educational counsellors, support providers) is that it is oriented on the individual needs and situations of the pupils with disabilities and their parents. To date, the Austrian research community has not taken into sufficient consideration the topic of participant cooperation in the transition from SEC I to SEC II and employment of persons with disabilities, especially not the diversity aspect. Neither do the research branches of special needs and inclusive education nor their related branches offer any conclusive answers. The research project at hand employs a longitudinal approach in exploring participant cooperation in the transition planning process from SEC I to SEC II or employment in adolescents with disabilities and belongs in the category of explorative basic research. The central question is: What are the experiences of cooperation with professionals of pupils with disabilities and their parents/families in the period of transition from SEC I to SEC II or employment? Exploration of this question will be based on the methodology of Grounded Theory and by employing qualitative research methods (narrative interviews, participant observation), complemented with an Austria-wide parent survey (N=400). The aim of the research project is to study and reconstruct how pupils with disabilities and their parents experience cooperation with professionals (teachers, educational counsellors, support providers) in the transition planning process from SEC I to SEC II or employment. This will be done through the lens of diversity and with the help of case analyses (20 adolescents, 20 parents). The cooperation in the ITP process will be explored and classified in respect to actions and relationships within the cooperation. Also, the initial reports and recommendations documented in the ITP process will be analysed at individual case level and the educational decisions taken in the transition will be classified and reconstructed. In this way, mechanisms of social inequality in the transition planning process will be identified and used for developing vocational recommendations in relation to existing or missing actions and relationships.

"Cooperation for Inclusion in Educational Transitions" "Cooperation for Inclusion in Educational Transitions" was a five-year research project of the Austrian Science Fund. It explored the experiences of participative cooperation of youths with disabilities and their parents with professionals at transition from lower secondary to higher secondary, vocational training and employment. The project was initiated as a response to research outcomes which stressed the high relevance of cooperation for a transition and support measures that are successful. One crucial aspect of the project was the exploration of participative cooperation of all those involved in transition counselling (youths with disabilities, their parents, professionals). Another crucial aspect was the implementation of participatory cooperation with the study participants as co-researchers in the project. Data collection took place by means of a qualitative longitudinal design following constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz 2014). In a repeated qualitative research circle, interviews were conducted with the youths with disabilities and their parents (intensive interviewing), followed by meetings of so-called reflecting teams (reflecting working groups) which were made up by some of the research participants. The central research topic of experiences of cooperation at vocational transition suggested a participatory project design. By working with reflecting teams, it was possible to involve the participants (youths with disabilities, parents, professionals) as co-researchers in surveying and triangulating the different perspectives. An elaborate field approach with extensive sampling resulted in a final sample of 18 cases: a school sample consisting of 8 cases (first interview conducted in the final phase of lower secondary) and a post-school sample consisting of 10 cases (first interview conducted after lower secondary, that is, during vocational orientation or higher education). By working with these two samples, it was possible to study the experiences of cooperation at transition to higher secondary as well as to vocational training and employment. The analysis of the vast data material suggests that experiences of participative cooperation take place in formalised settings rather than in a spontaneous and unplanned manner. It is noteworthy that positive experiences of cooperation exist above all in post-school contexts (support and counselling institutions). However, in most cases it is not a classical (participative) "triangle" type of cooperation; instead, apart from the youths, their parents and professionals, additional significant family members are also involved. Among the positive aspects of this proceeding are the involvement of more persons, the focus on the strengths of the youths and a pro-active attitude, beyond mere talking, of all those involved. Last but not least, the experiences of cooperation in general are reflected in the methods employed in the research, with cooperation taking place in an individual setting (school context, interview) as well as in a group setting (post-school context, reflecting team).