Abstract:

The term “collaboration” is of high value and quality. A common definition of collaboration is a partnership to achieve a common goal or a set of goals. Home-school collaboration is the key to the successful development of the individual, and it is crucial when the person has a dual identity: being LGBT+ and having a disability at the same time. Both family and school must find ways to work together toward the common goal of the multi-faceted development of young LGBT+ students with disabilities. This study constitutes qualitative research that aims to examine the views of higher education university students on the home-school collaboration in support of LGBT+ students with disabilities. The sample consisted of 30 fourth-year university students of the Department of Primary Education, aged 20–39 years (M=22.73 and s.d.=5.2). Semi-structured interviews were administered to collect data. The analysis was based on a mixed methodology, with qualitative analysis (the inductive content analysis method) and quantitative analysis (descriptive statistics). The findings showed that the key components of home-school collaboration to support LGBT+ youth with disabilities were willingness to collaborate (33.3%), communication (33.3%), mutual respect and mutual support (26.7%), and dialogue (6.7%). The suggestions a family should follow for successful collaboration with a school of LGBT+ youth with disabilities were acceptance of the young LGBT+ youth with disabilities (33.3%), communication (46.7%), sharing feelings and experiences (13.3%), and mutual information and feedback (6.7%). On the other hand, the school is suggested to safeguard the acceptance and support of LGBT+ students with disabilities (33.3%), to implement teacher training (20%), to achieve inclusion and respect for all (20%), and finally, to have appropriate facilities (13.3%) and to ensure parents’ feeling of safety about school (13.3%).

Keywords:

Home-school collaboration, students, LGBT+, disabilities.