TIPS FOR GROWING: Edition 10- Collaborative Practices of School-Based Occupational Therapy Practitioners with Teachers
04.19.2023
Welcome to the tenth edition of Tips For Growing! These blog posts will focus on important clinical topics that are regularly encountered when working with children. We hope these seeds of information will help with the most important job there is . . . helping children grow.
Today’s "Tips For Growing" will focus on collaboration between teachers and Occupational Therapy Practitioners, practice implications, and strategies to promote this partnership.
As occupational therapy practitioners we understand the importance of collaboration in planning goals and implementing strategies. Collaboration can be defined as “a mutually beneficial and well-defined relationship entered into by two or more organizations to achieve common goals” (Green, Bart & Johnson, 2015). Student performance and client-centered goals improve from interventions that are consistent among team members. School-based occupational therapy practitioners are key contributors within the education team. AOTA (2016) states that we “play a critical role in educating parents, educators, administrators and other staff members.” This role is to provide services along a continuum of prevention, education, and intervention. Occupational therapy practitioners are uniquely positioned to integrate targeted interventions not only with individual students, but also within groups of students, whole class settings or throughout an entire school community.
Laverdure, Cosby, Gaylord, & LeCompte (2017) found that providing collaborative service in school environments resulted in increased student learning, increased satisfaction of those working with students, and increased perception of the value of occupational therapy services. Teachers report an improved satisfaction and understanding of students’ needs when occupational therapy practitioners share knowledge (Case-Smith & Cable, 1996).
Collaboration is a partnership with effective communication, participation in decision-making, and promotion of inclusion with school teams which have been documented to improve outcomes for students. A study by Edick, O’Brien, & Hardman (2022) focused on identifying elementary teachers’ understanding of the value of collaboration with occupational therapists and validating the need for improved occupational therapy supports in the school environment. This study found that the majority of teachers value the role of Occupational Therapy Practitioners in the school setting and reported an understanding of this scope of practice. Overall, 65.79% of teachers agreed that there is a need for more formal collaboration and 84.2% of participants stated they would like to learn more strategies to implement into the classroom. When asked how often they collaborate with occupational therapists, only 36.84% of teachers reported that they collaborate often to address the needs of their students (Edick, O’Brien, & Hardman, 2022).
Although the implementation appears inconsistent, professionals express a desire for collaboration (Kennedy & Stewart, 2021). The literature demonstrates the value of collaboration with teachers, however there is often limited interaction and decreased implementation due to potential barriers including time, limited resources, and unclear roles. There is a need for occupational therapy practitioners to better explain their role in the school setting, which will increase effective collaboration with teachers (Bradley, Hassett, Mazza, & Abraham, 2021). School based occupational therapy practitioners need to find ways to improve their collaborative practices with teachers. Tools to Grow is here to help with this!
Strategies to Promote Collaboration
Strategies to promote collaboration with teachers could include:
- Presentations and training. Educating teachers and staff on the role of occupational therapy that include the scope of practice of school based occupational therapists and classroom strategies.
- Conduct a professional development workshop for educators on a variety of relevant topics. This could include sensory processing, self-regulation strategies, handwriting, fine motor and visual motor development, visual perception, classroom environmental modifications, assistive technology, or executive functioning.
- Push-in services to increase collaboration with teachers and encourage carryover of skills.
- Providing handouts to teachers to support interventions.
- Participating in committees with teachers and educational staff looking to better serve students.
- Creating OT bulletin boards to promote the role of OT and skills addressed.
- Consultation and checking in with teachers. This could include a communication log, emailing, or meeting to discuss current strategies and encourage carryover.
- Scheduled times for staff meetings. Be flexible with meeting locations/times or using technology for virtual video conferencing.
- Defining the role of OT in Tier 1 and Tier 2 supports within the school and to administration.
Don’t know where to start when implementing these strategies? Tools to Grow is here to help!
Tools to Grow offers creative and comprehensive educational resources for use when collaborating with others. These resources will support consultation and collaboration with teachers and paraprofessionals so as to promote developmental, social, and educational gains in children.
Tools to Promote Collaboration with Teachers
Staying true to our mission to provide our members with valuable tools to help with the most important job there is … helping children grow; we are pleased to offer a wide range of comprehensive and effective resources to assist with collaboration.
These tools were developed and created exclusively for our members! Given that time is such a significant barrier in collaboration, we have done the work for you! These resources will provide the opportunity for you to collaborate with teachers without having to spend time preparing the information!
1. Educational Presentations:
Tools to Grow is so excited to share our NEW PowerPoint and Google Slides Presentation resources! These detailed educational presentations are the perfect solution to educate and collaborate with teachers! Studies have shown the desire and need for advocacy through education. Tools to Grow has done all the work for you.
Do you need to provide an in-service for teachers or your school staff and you are completely overwhelmed? We have the tools you need! These presentations were developed exactly for you! All you have to do is schedule the training/in-service and provide your school staff and teachers with these detailed training presentations!
Presentation Topics Include:
(1) Fine Motor Skills: Typical Development & Strategies for Preschool & Kindergarten
Presentation Objectives Include:
- Identify and define fine motor skills.
- Identify and define components of fine motor skills.
- Provide examples of common tasks and activities that require intact fine motor skills.
- Identify the normal chronological progression of skill acquisition.
- Identify activities to reinforce typical development and prevent fine motor delays.
- Provide accommodations/adaptations for children who struggle.
(2) Visual Motor Skills: Typical Development & Strategies for Preschool & Kindergarten
Presentation Objectives Include:
- Identify and define visual motor skills.
- Identify and define components of visual motor skills.
- Provide examples of common tasks and activities that require intact visual motor skills.
- Identify the normal chronological progression of skill acquisition.
- Identify activities to reinforce typical development and prevent delays.
- Provide accommodations/adaptations for children who struggle.
Not a member of our website? You can also find these in our SHOP!
2. Bulletin Board Kits:
Tools to Grow is so excited to share our NEW bulletin board resources!
Bulletin boards and visuals are a fun way to promote the role of OT and skills addressed. When teachers and school personnel have a better understanding of the roles of occupational therapists, they will be more inclined to seek consultation and suggestions for their students.
- Bulletin Board Kit: Skills Addressed in Occupational Therapy
- Bulletin Board Kit: The Sensory Systems
- Bulletin Board Kit: Executive Functions
- Bulletin Board Kit: Mindful Brain Breaks
3. Training & Educational Handouts:
Educating teachers and school staff will open the doors for improved collaborative relationships, which in turn lead to increased student achievement.
** Click the titles below for the tools!
4. RTI Screening & Consultation Tools:
These tools are the perfect solution for consulting and collaborating with teachers!
** Click here for the RTI tools!
- Occupational Therapy Screening Form- for therapists’ use to gather information * click here!
- Response to Intervention for Performance Challenge Checklists- for consulting with teachers; teachers record student’s response
- Response to Intervention Classroom Intervention Suggestions- for OT use. Use this form when meeting and consulting with teachers; teachers implement these suggestions.
- Google Forms- RTI - OT Checklists for Implementing Strategies and Tracking Response = 2 versions
- RTI: Response to Intervention General Information
We hope these seeds of information will help with the most important job there is . . . helping children grow!
References:
AOTA (2016). Fact Sheet: Occupational Therapy’s Role with School Settings.
Bradley, E., Hassett, E., Mazza, A., & Abraham, G. (2021). General Education Teachers' Perspectives on Collaboration with OTs in the School Setting. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 75, Supplement 2.
Case-Smith, J., & Cable, J. (1996). Perceptions of Occupational Therapists Regarding Service Delivery Models in SchoolBased Practices. Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 16, 23-44,
Edick, Jennifer, O’Brien, Shirley & Hardman, Leslie (2022) The Value of Collaboration with Occupational Therapists in School Settings: Elementary Teacher Perspectives, Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention.
Freed, S & Daley, T. (2022). Collaborating with general education teachers. Volume 27, Issue 12, December 2022, pp. 31-33
Green, Bart N, & Claire D Johnson. (2015). “Interprofessional Collaboration in Research, Education, and Clinical Practice: Working Together for a Better Future.” Journal of Chiropractic Education 29, no. 1, 1–10.
Kennedy S, Stewart H. Collaboration between occupational therapists and teachers: definitions, implementation and efficacy. Aust Occup Ther J. 2011 Jun;58(3):209-14.
Related Topics: RTI - Response to Intervention, School Based OT, Tips for Growing
