This study presents a transdisciplinary project, carried out in a particular educational organization where pupils with various (neuro)diverse needs are supported. The project's overall objective is to document and examine educational practices and artefacts or tangible school materials. This study benefits from the co-production of knowledge with both academic and non-academic stakeholders, each of whom brings ethical and epistemological considerations to the table (West & Schill, 2022). The project involved 32 academic and non-academic observers from diverse professional backgrounds and from a variety of educational organizations, including teachers, school leaders, policy makers, teacher educators, and educational researchers, who conducted classroom observations and participated in subsequent reflective interviews. By employing and combining collaborative ethnography (Lassiter, 2005) and abductive reasoning (Timmermans & Tavory, 2022), learning in, of and between organizations was addressed (Goehlich et al. 2018). While transdisciplinary projects can facilitate the development of legitimate answers to grand societal and ecological problems (e.g. Harris et al., 2024; Norström et al., 2020), their application in educational research remains limited. In educational contexts, transdisciplinarity is primarily utilized as a pedagogical strategy or as an educational objective (e.g. Fantini, 2024; Horn et al., 2024). While this transdisciplinary education is also relevant, conducting and examining a transdisciplinary research methodology for addressing educational challenges is a relatively uncommon practice. The study developed an original systematic approach incorporating multiple phases: careful selection and preparation of observers, structured classroom observations using both protocol-based and open observation methods, immediate documentation of first impressions, and in-depth abductive reasoning interviews. This process generated a rich and complex dataset of observation notes, pictures and interview recordings, reflecting issues at the micro, meso and macro level of a school, of organizations and society. To reveal the iterative process of describing, understanding and communicating, a sequence organizer and a comprehensive account of the intended and achieved phases of this combination are designed as visual charts. In addition, the study offers theory- and practice-informed insights and considerations for future transdisciplinary projects. The findings demonstrate that combining a way of observing and a way of reasoning by a transdisciplinarian group facilitates legitimate knowledge co-production through multiple perspectives and expertise. The approach revealed unexpected classroom practices and educational artefacts, leading to deeper insights into curriculum, teaching strategies and learning support. Furthermore, the study highlighted the importance of trust-building in transdisciplinary collaboration and the value of iterative processes in developing understanding.

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