In this paper the focus is on the question of how collaborative professional learning, based on theories of communication, can promote an inclusive school culture. The aim is to discuss conditions and strategies that relate collaborative professional learning to the idea of evidence based practice and to the concept of an inclusive school culture. A research project was created based on different approaches, and in some sense contradictive, perspectives; one expert driven, top-down approach, one participant driven, bottom-up approach, and one interactive, deliberative approach. The data consists of recurrent critical reflecting and analyzing (collaborative meta-consultation) in groups of special education professionals (consultants) and a researcher whose focus was on collaborative consultation, consultants recurrently held with groups of teachers. The collaborative meta-consultations were based on Habermas’ theory of communication as well as Freire’s pedagogy of liberation. An approach of qualitative content analysis has been used to analyze the data. The result shows that it is possible to unite different perspectives when professionals in schools are given the opportunity to discuss, scrutinize and critically examine theories linked to their own practice. The result also shows that if the concept of collaborative consultation has guidelines such as communication, openness, respect, sincerity, participation and acceptance, the possibilities to create an inclusive school culture increase. This means that the concept of inclusion has to embrace how professionals collaboratively and deliberatively examine their practice, strategies and values.
Key words: Evidence based practice, collaborative professional learning, inclusive school culture, theory of communication, qualitative content analysis.