Author(s): Mary Wilson,Deirdre Quirke, Yvonne McCarthy,Maryrose O’Driscoll,Catherine Tierney and Richard Burke.

Department: Brothers of Charity and Dept of Applied social studies U.C.C.

Keywords: Groupwork, learning disability, empowerment, partnership, inclusion and lifelong learning.

Reported: Groupwork Vol.14 (1),2004,pp.xx-xx Whiting & Birch Ltd,2004

This paper documents the development and use of groupwork as a strategy for inclusion and social skills training in the curriculum of a special school,which is also the site of a fieldwork practice teaching unit for social workers in training. The groupwork model was developed for work with 16-18 year old people with learning difficulties,as one day a week in their school curriculum.The article examines the groupwork model.The issues that arose are explored,as are the implications and applications of such collaborative ways of working.