Abstract
This study explores the effectiveness of collaboration between parents and special needs educators in a special school catering for learners with mild intellectual disability (MID) in the Johannesburg Central District of Gauteng Province, South Africa. The purpose of the study was to examine current parent–educator collaborative practices, explore participants’ experiences and perceptions of collaboration, and identify factors that hinder or support effective collaboration within the school context. The study was underpinned by an interpretivist paradigm and employed a qualitative case study design. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews with parents and special needs educators. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, Epstein’s Theory of Overlapping Spheres of Influence, and a decolonial perspective were used as the theoretical lenses to interpret the relational, contextual, and structural factors influencing collaboration. The findings revealed that while both parents and educators valued collaboration, its effectiveness was constrained by multiple interrelated factors. These included systemic challenges such as communication barriers, limited parental empowerment, and institutional power imbalances, as well as socio-economic constraints including poverty. These factors often undermined meaningful collaboration and limited its potential to support learners’ educational development. The study concludes that enhancing the effectiveness of parent–educator collaboration requires a contextually responsive and decolonised approach that addresses historical inequalities, power relations, and structural barriers embedded within the education system. Such an approach has implications for policy, practice, and professional development in special needs education.