Austria ratified the UN CRPD in 2008. Article 24 requires the establishment of an inclusive education system to prevent discrimination and ensure equal opportunities. The associated maximum participation in all areas requires structural changes to remove barriers. The sustainability goals of Agenda 2030 also impose far-reaching requirements on the Austrian education system (in particular SDGs 4, 5, and 10). Some of the measures and reforms implemented to date have not been pursued rigorously and have been accompanied by significant changes in content (Sonntag & Windisch, 2024) which is  also confirmed by figures from Statistics Austria, which have recorded an increase in the number of pupils with special education needs receiving exclusive instruction since the 2022/23 school year (Statistics Austria, 2024, Table 1.1.3). Although these figures refer to Austria, similar structural contradictions and implementation gaps have been documented across European education systems, making inclusion a shared international challenge. In order to enable participation and raise educational standards, all students, especially those who are disadvantaged, must be given access to education. Reforms such as the new teacher training programs and curricula for secondary schools  respond to these demands, but (prospective) teachers are confronted with contradictory structural and institutional conditions (Sonntag & Wagner, 2024) and feel burdened or overwhelmed when it comes to designing inclusive lessons (Jude, Klusmann, et al., 2024). In everyday school life, individual-centered views of disability and diversity continue to dominate (Buchner, 2016). In order to break down barriers to learning, compatible teaching materials are needed. This is where the Teaching-Learning-Laboratory for Inclusive Education at the University of Innsbruck (AT) comes in: the empirically based development, testing, and implementation of diversity-sensitive teaching and learning materials as part of teacher training in cooperation with secondary schools, in order to enable increased participation and equal opportunities for all students (Hoffmann & Sonntag, 2024). The focus is on learning boxes, which enable cooperative learning on a common subject using flashcards, differentiated tasks, learning structure grids and detailed information for teachers (Feuser, 2013). The learning boxes are based on the differentiation matrix by Sasse and Schulzeck (2021) and take place as part of courses within teacher training. They emphasize interdisciplinary topics as independent learning units. The material is collaboratively tested, evaluated, and continuously refined by students, teachers, and their pupils in various learning settings under academic supervision. Against this background, the project addresses the following research question: How do pupils interact with diversity-sensitive learning materials in cooperative settings, and how do social, spatial and material dimensions shape collaborative learning processes in inclusive classrooms?

To investigate this question, the project builds on previous research and applies videographic interaction analyses conducted in the 2025/26 academic year to capture microprocesses of collaborative learning. The findings should contribute to a more differentiated understanding of the conditions for successful sustainable inclusive teaching and learning settings and to the more targeted further development of teaching and learning materials. We are focusing on ‘successful moments’ here, as previous empirical inclusion research has predominantly focused on exclusive structures. With this in mind, we are attempting to approach learning ‘in and through cooperation’ and would like to gain a new insight into the complex social practice of teaching. We are, so to speak, ‘on the trail of the “common”...’

Previous research has provided only limited insight into the microprocesses through which cooperative learning unfolds in inclusive classroom settings. In particular, key questions about the cognitive and interactional processes of collaborative learning remain unanswered. To address this gap, a supplementary video-based study was conducted in the winter semester 2025/26. Videographic interaction analysis was chosen in order to capture the complexity of classroom interactions and to reconstruct fleeting learning processes in greater detail. While group discussions have so far mainly provided information about students’ skills and perspectives, video data make it possible to analyse highly complex practical situations – especially pupils’ work with the learning boxes – that require additional levels of analysis (Sonntag & Gleirscher, 2026, in press). These include verbal and non-verbal communication, bodily actions, spatial positioning, movements and parallel activities (Asbrand & Martens, 2018). The interplay of simultaneous and overlapping actions offers particular potential for inclusive education research. The current project reconstructs how pupils use the materials, how they interact, communicate and cooperate, and how material features – such as design, haptics and structure – shape these processes. The focus is deliberately placed on ‘successful moments’ of cooperation in order to counter predominantly deficit-oriented perspectives in inclusion research (Budde et al., 2017) and to empirically approach the “actual core” of collaborative learning described by Feuser (2013). Data were collected in two sessions in the Teaching-Learning-Laboratory for Inclusive Education. Pupils tested the learning boxes under the guidance of university students enrolled in teacher education. Three learning stations were set up, each equipped with a video camera. At each station, approximately three to five pupil groups worked with the materials. In addition to the video recordings, audio recordings were made, and structured field notes were taken to document events that could not be fully captured by the cameras. The data are currently being analysed using the modular principle of educational video interaction analysis (Dinkelaker & Herrle, 2009). This approach allows for the systematic reconstruction of interaction processes by combining various analytical methods. The findings will contribute to a more differentiated understanding of the conditions for successful cooperative learning in inclusive contexts and provide an empirical basis for the targeted further development of diversity-sensitive teaching and learning materials.

The project is expected to generate empirically grounded insights into how cooperative learning unfolds when pupils engage with diversity-sensitive teaching materials in inclusive settings. By focusing on videographically captured microprocesses, the study will illuminate how social, spatial and material dimensions interact to shape collaborative learning. This fine-grained perspective should allow for a more nuanced understanding of the conditions under which inclusive learning environments succeed—particularly in contrast to the predominantly deficit-oriented findings that have characterized previous inclusion research.The analysis of “successful moments” of cooperation is anticipated to reveal concrete interactional patterns that support joint engagement, mutual understanding and shared problem-solving among heterogeneous pupil groups. These insights will help identify which material features of the learning boxes—such as structure, haptics, differentiation options or visual design—most effectively facilitate participation and equitable access to learning opportunities. At the same time, the findings are expected to highlight how teacher education students, acting as facilitators, can scaffold inclusive learning processes in ways that reduce barriers and strengthen collaborative dynamics. Beyond the immediate empirical contributions, the project aims to provide actionable implications for the further development of diversity-sensitive teaching and learning materials. The results will inform iterative refinements of the learning boxes and support evidence-based decisions about their integration into teacher education and school practice. More broadly, the study seeks to contribute to the ongoing discourse on how inclusive education can be sustainably implemented within structurally contradictory systems. By reconstructing learning “in and through cooperation,” the project aspires to advance a deeper understanding of the “common” as a pedagogical and social practice—offering impulses for teacher training, school development and inclusive educational policy.

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