A new paradigm to inform inter-professional learning for integrating speech and language provision into secondary schools: a socio-cultural activity theory approach

The paper presents a new way of understanding and investigating inter-professional learning across agencies for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) in schools in England. It considers specifically speech and language therapy staff and school staff learning to work together and working to learn together in secondary mainstream provision. Concepts and analysis of learning to work collaboratively are orientated by socio-cultural activity theory. In addition, evidence of learning for risk-taking and resilience are presented which are not readily analysed by the theory. The paper argues for considering collaborative working as organizational learning predicated on collective, rather than individual, engagement.