Abstract
The purpose of this study is to clarify success factors of consultations that lead childcare workers to self-directed practice. Records from actual consultations were analyzed to examine how childcare workers deliberated over the advice, given by specialists in collaborative consultations, and how they applied it to their treatment of children with special needs. As a result, the analysis indicates that the following factors will bring about a successful collaborative partnership: 1) working to calm down the childcare worker's impatience, 2) verbally defining the meaning of children's behaviors, and 3) encouraging childcare workers to form self-directed judgements and proposing loose alternative choices for practice. Furthermore, it is found that applying appropriate treatment and educational practice for children with special needs functions as an effective means to improve childcare workers' overall expertise.
