Developing a shared approach to support: a support group case study

ABSTRACT This paper reports part of a study aimed at analysing problems and solutions that school support professionals of Seville identified in educational diversity processes. Data collection took place between the months of December 1995 and May 1996. Participants were engaged in a course about School Support and Diversity. They were 180 support professionals, divided into nine different area groups. The course approach was collaborative and based on reflection, involving discussions and activities designed by the participants. The data presented are derived from audio taped records of training sessions held in one of the nine support groups. We used a qualitative methodology to analyse the teachers’ discourse based on Miles and Huberman's Interactive Model. The results of this part of the research are shown grouped in two categories: support problems and solutions to them. The study indicated that this approach provided a useful tool for analysing educational constraints on support and for developing ...