The Perceived Value of Interprofessional Practice

What is it about?

The more positive one thinks about working together, the more likely it is, that they actually commit to collaboration. This study looked at how classroom teachers, special education teachers and speech-language pathologists in Switzerland view on working together to support students with speech, language, and communication needs. The researchers wanted to see whether these professionals value teamwork in the same way. They focused on four areas: how interesting they find teamwork, the costs or effort involved, the benefits for professionals, and the benefits for students. Over 300 staff members in schools in the Canton of Bern filled out a survey. The results showed that in general the view on working together is positive, but special education teachers had the most positive view of teamwork. Classroom teachers and speech-language pathologists were less positive, especially in secondary schools. Professionals who felt more skilled at working with others also valued teamwork more highly. The study concluded that, even though everyone works under the same official guidelines in Bern, their different backgrounds, job roles and work settings shape how they see the value of collaboration.

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Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash

Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This is the first time that people's views on teamwork was measured using the same instrument with three different groups of professionals working together in education. This way, the results could be compared to see how the groups are different. The professionals were also employed by the same administrations, which allowed to analyze the influence of various conditions.

Perspectives