Barriers To Collaboration: An Analysis Of Systemic Barriers To Collaboration Between Teachers And Speech And Language Therapists

Abstract

A systems approach is used to examine the barriers to collaboration found in the working practices of speech and language therapists and teachers. Functional, structural and systems-environment barriers are found, but few process barriers, which may explain why good collaborative practice can be found in the field. The differences that serve as barriers are listed and discussed, with a view to fostering mutual understanding between teachers and speech and language therapists.

Speech and language therapists and teachers working together: Exploring the issues

“…The concerns from some staff regarding being sent programmes and targets that they have not had input in to is important to consider however. Sending recommendations without discussion may erode the mutual respect and trust believed to be essential to successful collaboration (McCartney, 1998).…”

“…It has been proposed that the differences in teacher and SLT employing organisations present a challenge to collaborative working (McCartney 1998, Miller, 1999.…”

“…The National Curriculum presents challenges for collaboration as teachers have to follow a curriculum-based direction in their work, whereas SLTs have traditionally had more autonomy in their approach and may differ in implementation strategies (McCartney 1998). Hartas (2004) suggests that SLTs are likely to be seen as "visitors" within the school, creating a social barrier affecting the "mutual trust and respect" reported to be crucial for effective joint working, with teachers perceiving that collaboration is hindered by lack of stability and frequent changes in SLT staffing.…”

Teacher and speech-language therapist collaboration: being equal and achieving a common goal?

“…Previous research on interprofessional collaboration (McCartney, 1999) has identi ed four dimensions, namely functions, structures, processes and system environment, in order to outline potential barriers in teacher-SLT interactions. For the purpose of this paper the function and the structure of interprofessional workings will be discussed to provide a theoretical framework regarding the nature of educational and speech and language services and the physical, psychological and social structures that surround the work of teachers and SLTs.…”

“…SLT services are highly prioritizing services in that the need of an individual is balanced against the competing needs of another individual for the same service; thus, SLT services are rationing services where decisions about resource allocation are based upon notions of effectiveness and the overall resources that are needed for an intervention to be effective (McCartney, 1999). These differences are expected to have an effect on the collaborative workings of SLTs who function within this resource and service allocation system.…”