Unit rationale, description and aim
Teachers are required to initiate, build, and maintain collaborative partnerships with a range of stakeholders such as families, visiting teachers, teacher aides, community groups, and allied health professionals. They must develop effective ways of working with these stakeholders to support children with disability overcome barriers to learning. For successful partnerships, teachers must value the expertise and experience that stakeholders offer to develop relationships built on mutual trust, respect, empathy, and responsibility.
This unit supports preservice teachers to develop effective collaborative partnerships in special education contexts. It considers the form and nature of collaboration within schools and the broader community with a focus on communication practices. Strategies that support relationship building and conflict management will be covered. Preservice teachers will apply knowledge and skills to develop individual learning plans by drawing on a broad range of personnel and expertise. They will apply critical thinking and judgement to analyse issues related to ethical, legal, and professional responsibilities with emphasis on human dignity and the common good.
This unit aims to equip preservice teachers with the knowledge and skills to initiate, develop, and sustain effective collaborative partnerships that promote equitable access to, and participation in, learning for students with disability.
Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Explain why effective collaboration with a range o...
Learning Outcome 01
Apply knowledge about how partnerships are initiat...
Learning Outcome 02
Analyse contemporary issues related to inclusive p...
Learning Outcome 03
Create individual learning plans through utilising...
Learning Outcome 04
Evaluate why some professional partnerships fail t...
Learning Outcome 05
Content
Topics will include:
- Professional practice and identity formation in special education, including codes of ethics and professional standards for teachers
- Expectations of teachers in policy and practice, including Disability Standards for Education, The Family-Schools Partnership Framework, APST, Australian Curriculum, and NCCD
- Partners and stakeholders in educational contexts and their role specifications and needs, including Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory
- Legal and ethical responsibilities for working with the range of partners and stakeholders
- Fundamentals of communication for successful collaboration, including practical strategies for effective communication
- The work of collaborative partnerships, including service provision and appropriate planning and adjustments
- Evidence-informed strategies and practices for co-designed collaborative partnerships, including initiating, developing, and maintaining successful partnerships
- Barriers to successful collaborative partnerships and strategies for resolving conflicts, challenges and issues
- Working and communicating with families, particularly parents and carers
Assessment strategy and rationale
The assessment tasks are sequenced to support the progressive development of knowledge and skills related to professional collaboration in special education. Assessment tasks use authentic formats that reflect the communication practices required of teachers working with students with disability and their support networks. Generative AI may be used ethically for idea generation, drafting and refinement, where transparently acknowledged and consistent with ACU academic integrity expectations. Scaffolded guidance is provided to support appropriate use.
Task 1 requires preservice teachers to analyse a case study and develop a collaborative planning document that outlines stakeholder roles, communication methods, goals and potential barriers. This task builds preservice teachers' capacity for evidence‑informed decision‑making and practical application of inclusive planning processes. Task 2 requires preservice teachers to prepare a multimodal professional communication presentation that demonstrates principles of effective partnership work and links these to professional standards and ethical expectations.
To pass this unit, preservice are required to submit and pass all assessment tasks, including the hurdle task and achieve a minimum overall passing grade of 50%.
Overview of assessments
Hurdle Task Peer Assessment Use the task ...
Hurdle Task
Peer Assessment
Use the task description and rubric to provide professional judgements and feedback on peer presentations of Task 2. Evidence of engaging in peer assessment processes will be submitted with Task 2.
Complete/
Incomplete
Assessment Task 1 Case Study – Collaborative Pla...
Assessment Task 1
Case Study – Collaborative Planning
Collaboratively in groups, analyse a case study of a student with disability and develop a collaborative plan that identifies stakeholder roles, communication strategies, goals, and potential barriers, with justification based on theory and policy.
50%
Assessment Task 2 Professional Communication Pre...
Assessment Task 2
Professional Communication Presentation
Prepare a multimodal presentation demonstrating principles of effective professional communication and collaboration with stakeholders, drawing on professional ethics and standards for teachers, including the APST, and examples of linear, interactive and transactional communication.
50%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit uses a case‑based and practice‑focused approach designed to support adult learners in applying theoretical knowledge to authentic professional contexts. Preservice build foundational understanding through engagement with academic literature and policy documents, and then extend this learning through collaborative activities, stakeholder role analyses and guided scenario work. This supports deep learning by enabling preservice teachers to integrate conceptual understanding with real-world application.
Active and multimodal learning strategies are employed to support diverse learners, including those with disability. Resources, instructions and exemplars are provided in clear and accessible formats, and activities involving communication practice are scaffolded to ensure psychological safety, equitable participation and structured opportunities for feedback. Collaborative learning enables preservice teachers to develop interpersonal, reflective and communication skills essential for professional partnerships.
The teaching approach emphasises self‑directed and reflective practice, recognising the professional autonomy expected of graduate teachers. Preservice teachers are supported to evaluate their developing capabilities in relation to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and to consider their ongoing professional learning needs.
Representative texts and references
Recommended texts and documents
Australian Government, Department for Education (2022). Family-School Partnerships https://www.education.gov.au/supporting-family-school-community-partnerships-learning/family-school-partnerships
Australian Government. Family-Schools Partnership Framework: https://www.education.gov.au/supporting-family-school-community-partnerships-learning/family-school-partnerships
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (2011). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. https://www.aitsl.edu.au/standards
Recommended references
Baxter, G., & Toe, D. (2023). “Parents don’t need to come to school to be engaged”: Teachers’ use of social media for family engagement. Educational Action Research, 31(2), 306–328. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2021.1930087
Cain, M., Fanshawe, M., & Goodwin, P. (2024). “Come willing to learn”: Experiences of parents advocating for their children with severe vision impairments in Australian mainstream education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 28(7), 1166–1184. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2021.1983879
Fenech, M., & Ribarovski, J. (2020). Professional communication for early childhood educators: Interpersonal and workplace communication in everyday practice. Oxford University Press.
Garcia-Melgar, A., Hyett, N., Bagley, K., McKinstry, C., Spong, J., & Iacono, T. (2022). Collaborative team approaches to supporting inclusion of children with disability in mainstream schools: A co-design study. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 126, 104233–104233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2022.104233
Lalvani, P. 2015. Disability, stigma and otherness: Perspectives of parents and teachers. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education 62 (4): 379–393.
Lohmann, M. J., Hathcote, A. R., & Hogan, K. A. (2018). Addressing the barriers to family-school collaboration: A brief review of the literature and recommendations. International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education, 26–32. https://doi.org/10.20489/intjecse.454424
Ludicke, P., & Kortman, W. (2012). Tensions in home–school partnerships: The different perspectives of teachers and parents of students with learning barriers. Australasian Journal of Special and Inclusive Education, 36(2), 155–171. https://doi.org/10.1017/jse.2012.13
Mann, G., & Gilmore, L. (2023). Barriers to positive parent-teacher partnerships: The views of parents and teachers in an inclusive education context. International Journal of Inclusive Education, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2021.1900426
Mann, G., N. Hodge, K. Runswick-Cole, L. Gilmore, S. Mavropoulou, and K. Fleming (2020). Developing productive partnerships with parents and carers. In Graham, L. (Ed.). Inclusive Education in the 21st Century: Theory, Policy & Practice, 336–357. Allen & Unwin.
Rossetti, Z., Burke, M. M., Hughes, O., Schraml-Block, K., Rivera, J. I., Rios, K., Aleman Tovar, J., & Lee, J. D. (2021). Parent perceptions of the advocacy expectation in special education. Exceptional Children, 87(4), 438–457. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402921994095
Tancredi, H. (2020). Consulting students with disability: A practice guide for educators and other professionals. Centre for Inclusive Education, QUT.
Tancredi, H., Dixon, G., English, L., & Gallagher, J. (2020). Collaborating with colleagues and other professionals. In Graham, Linda J. (Ed.) Inclusive Education for the 21st Century: Theory, policy and practice. Allen & Unwin, Australia, pp. 358-381.
Vlcek, S., Somerton, M., & Rayner, C. (2020). Collaborative teams: Teachers, parents, and allied health professionals supporting students with autism spectrum disorder in mainstream Australian schools. Australasian Journal of Special and Inclusive Education, 44(2), 102–115. https://doi.org/10.1017/jsi.2020.11
Walton, E., Carrington, S., Saggers, B., Edwards, C., & Kimani, W. (2022). What matters in learning communities for inclusive education: A cross-case analysis. Professional Development in Education, 48(1), 134–148. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2019.1689525