Conference Program

The literature has emphasized the interdependent relationship between professional collaboration and teacher agency in inclusive education (Li & Ruppar, 2020). Teacher agency can be understood as both an individual and collective capacity to create inclusive learning communities based on shared knowledge, skills, and collaboration, reflecting a shift from teaching as a solitary practice to teachers working together (Lyons et al., 2016). In school systems integrating special education, agency is relational, representing the situated capacity to work with others in interpreting problems and co-constructing social practices (Paloniemi et al., 2023).

While professional collaboration generally involves shared responsibility for improving students’ achievement and well-being (Hargreaves, 2019), collaboration between classroom teachers (CTs) and special education teachers (SETs) presents distinctive features. Such collaboration is supported by emotional consonance, mutual recognition and agreement on educational values (Jortveit & Kovač, 2022). Key dimensions include collaborative planning and teaching, encompassing various co-teaching models (Friend et al., 2010). However, research has highlighted the persistence of the “one teach, one assist” model, accompanied by asymmetries in power, responsibility, and professional recognition (Paulsrud & Nilholm, 2023). In the Italian debate, inclusive teaching has increasingly been recognized as the responsibility of the whole school (Cottini, 2017). Nevertheless, studies have documented persistent difficulties in developing co-teaching practices and discrepancies between normative expectations and everyday school practices (Ghedin & Acquario, 2023; Cardinali et al., 2025).

This study investigates how collaboration between CTs and SETs is understood and experienced by Italian teachers and identifies facilitating and hindering factors shaping the construction of inclusive agency. The research questions are: Which features of professional collaboration for inclusion do teachers identify? What factors facilitate or constrain the development of teachers’ inclusive agency?

The study is based on a qualitative content analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with 28 CTs and 31 SETs using a data-driven coding strategy (Schreier, 2012). Participants were selected through purposive sampling from 11 primary and 13 lower secondary school classes in central Italy (Lazio).

Preliminary findings indicate that teachers recognise the importance of co-planning as a lever in developing targeted inclusive interventions and negotiating shared pedagogical responsibilities. At the same time, significant systemic constraints—particularly in lower secondary education—are highlighted. Multiple forms of co-teaching emerge, that move beyond the “one teach, one assist” model and incorporate co-planned pedagogical strategies, such as drama-based activities. Some participants report mutual professional recognition and describe their roles as complementary, suggesting that collaboration can foster the development of collective, inclusive agency.

Nonetheless, relational tensions and professional ambiguities persist. Some teachers report difficulties in being fully recognized in their professional role, while others struggle to perceive colleagues as genuine resources for inclusive practice. These dynamics reveal the fragile and negotiated nature of collaborative processes through which teachers build and renegotiate their agency in inclusive settings.

Overall, the study provides evidence of a gradual shift toward more reciprocal and recognition-based forms of collaboration that may foster the development of individual and collective agency for inclusion. Such developments, however, require sustained institutional and policy support to become structurally embedded within school practice.