A canadian collaboration on inclusive education: reflections on a six-year partnership

Abstract

This paper examines the experiences of Canadian university researchers and school district staff who engaged in a 6-year collaborative series of research projects investigating school inclusion in the Pembina Hills Regional School Division in, Canada. As a capstone to the research projects, members of the research team engaged in a facilitated inquiry session to explore and articulate lessons learned about inclusion and collaboration throughout the span of the project. The key finding was that collaboration is a critical factor in both inclusive education and university-school district research partnerships. The reflections and experiences of the research team are examined and discussed. Collaboration is illustrated both as prerequisite to and corollary of university-school district research partnerships.