Issues of the collaboration between teachers and teaching assistants in creating an inclusive teaching process

Provođenje obrazovne inkluzije u hrvatskim školama donijelo je promjene u sam školski sustav među kojima se ističe uvođenje pomoćnika u nastavi u redovne razrede koji odnedavno pružaju neposrednu podršku učenicima s teškoćama u razvoju. Uspješna suradnja pomoćnika u nastavi i učitelja može doprinijeti ostvarivanju uspješnog inkluzivnog nastavnog procesa te je stoga cilj ovog rada pobliže istražiti odrednice takve suradnje. Istraživanje je provedeno s ciljem boljeg razumijevanja aspekata suradnje pomoćnika u nastavi i učitelja koji se odnose prvenstveno na njihovu percepciju suradnje, pozitivna i negativna iskustva, odrednice i prepreke suradnji te prijedloge za njeno poboljšanje. Obavljeni su intervjui s četiri pomoćnice u nastavi, četiri učiteljice razredne nastave te dvije koordinatorice programa rada pomoćnika u nastavi iz dvije osnovne škole s područja Varaždinske županije. Prikupljeni podaci su obrađeni metodama tematske analize te su otkrivene tri ključne sastavnice kompleksnog i međusobno isprepletenog sustava čimbenika koji utječu na ispitivane aspekte suradnje pomoćnika u nastavi i učitelja: osposobljenost, komunikacija i odnosi.Introducing inclusive education to Croatian schools brought many changes to the education system, among which the addition of teaching assistants to regular classrooms who work every day with students with special education needs stands out. The successful collaboration of teachers and teaching assistants may contribute to the realization of a successful inclusive instruction process and the aim of this paper is therefore to explore the determinants of such collaboration. A study was conducted to better understand different aspects of the teacher-teaching assistant collaboration which primarily refer to their perception of the collaboration, positive and negative experiences, determinants of and obstacles to a successful collaboration and suggestions for further improvement. In-depth interviews with four teachers, four teaching assistants and two special education coordinators from two elementary schools in the Varaždin County were conducted. The collected data were processed using the thematic analysis methods which revealed three key areas of a complex and mutually interconnected system of factors that influenced the studied aspects of teacher-teaching assistant collaboration: training, communication and relationships