Collaboration Between Speech Therapists and Classroom Teachers: Determinants of Collaborative Work

Abstract

Collaboration between speech therapist and teacher is a fundamental practice for the development of educational inclusion, however, this practice is still poorly developed and is affected by different factors. The objective of this research was to determine the sociodemographic and labor variables that influence the possibility of developing different levels of collaboration between speech therapist and teacher in educational contexts. In this research, an online questionnaire was applied to 108 speech therapists and a descriptive analysis of sociodemographic antecedents, bivariate analysis and binary regression was conducted to determine the variables that could increase or decrease the possibility that speech therapists develop less or more collaboration. 70 % (n= 76) of speech therapists report a high level of collaboration and 30 % (n= 32) a low level of collaboration. The work experience of the speech therapist (or= 1,27, ci= 0,03-0,45), and the frequency of meetings between both professionals (or= 14,5, ci= 0,59-4,76) increase the probability of collaborating and the number of jobs decreases the probability of advancing in collaboration (or= 0,19, ci= -2,78 - -0,45). It was concluded that the majority of speech therapists report a high level of collaboration and that there are variables that impact their development, such as years of experience, the number of jobs of the speech therapist and the frequency of meetings with the teacher. This research could be a contribution to decision-making both at the central and local levels, to favor collaboration in inclusive educational settings. © 2023 Research Center of Universidad Pedagogica Nacional. All rights reserved.