Is collaborative service delivery a choice or a professional obligation? Perspectives of preservice teachers and speech and language pathologists on interprofessional practice

Interprofessional practice (IPP) between teachers and speech-language pathologists involves sharing knowledge and skills to achieve a common goal of improving child outcomes. Although IPP receives positive support from many disciplines, including early childhood education, there have been multiple challenges cited in the literature. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore preservice teacher and speech and language pathologists' perspectives on collaborative service delivery for children with a developmental language delay. The study was completed during two different research phases, collecting survey data from students during spring semesters 2022 and 2023. Student participants were surveyed before and after completing an interprofessional collaborative assignment in class, with each group consisting of at least one preservice teacher and one speech-language pathologist. Results showed fairly consistent themes for both groups of students during both phases of data collection, but also revealed clear gaps in the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Core Competencies. Students were missing competencies and skills such as conflict resolution and well-being, which may have been a result of insufficient training and experiences in the key concepts of collaboration and interprofessional practice.