| 1. |
- Göransson, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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Voices of special educators in Sweden : a total-population study
- 2015
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Ingår i: Educational research (Windsor. Print). - London : Routledge. - 0013-1881 .- 1469-5847. ; 57:3, s. 287-304
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: There are two occupational groups in Sweden that are expected to have significant impact on educational work related to children in need of special support. These two groups are special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) and special education teachers. In this paper, we use the collective name special educators' to refer to both groups. Special educators are expected to have specific knowledge regarding the identification of, and work with, school difficulties. However, there is noticeably little research concerning these occupational groups. This study was undertaken in order to further our knowledge about special educators' work.Purpose: The overall purpose of the present paper is to provide a first overview of special educators' work. The paper investigates these special educators' perceptions of their occupational role, of their preparedness for the role and of how their role is practised. The paper also illuminates questions about SENCOs' and special education teachers' knowledge and values as well as the grounds for the occupational groups to claim special expertise related to the identification of, and work with, school difficulties.Design and method: A questionnaire was sent out in 2012 to all SENCOs and special education teachers in Sweden who received their degree from 2001 onwards and in accordance with the Swedish examination acts of 2001, 2007 and 2008 (N=4252, 75% response rate).Results: According to the results, special educators state that they are well prepared to work with some tasks, such as counselling, leading development work and teaching children/pupils individually or in groups. Concurrently, there are tasks that the groups are educated for (e.g. school-development work), which they seldom practise in their daily work.Conclusions: Primarily using reasoning concerning jurisdictional control, we discuss SENCOs' and special education teachers' authority to claim special expertise in relation to certain kinds of work, clients and knowledge and thus, their chances of gaining full jurisdictional control in the field of special education.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Cameron, David Lansing, et al.
(författare)
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A comparative study of special educator preparation in Norway and Sweden
- 2018
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Ingår i: British Journal of Special Education. - : Wiley. - 0952-3383 .- 1467-8578. ; 45:3, s. 256-276
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this study was to explore similarities and differences between special educator preparation in Norway and in Sweden. Graduates of special education programmes at two Norwegian (n = 320) and two Swedish universities (n = 425) who completed their training between 2001 and 2012 responded to surveys. Findings indicate that both Swedish and Norwegian graduates felt prepared for their current work and that teaching approaches employed in the different programmes were similar. However, there appears to be a stronger focus on pupils’ social goals in Sweden, as well as on advising teachers, school development and promoting inclusive environments. In contrast, Norwegian participants reported a greater focus on preparation to work with specific types of learning and behavioural difficulties. Findings are discussed in relation to differing political and social structures, such as national regulations for steering special educator preparation in Sweden, which are absent in the Norwegian context.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Göransson, Kerstin, 1955-, et al.
(författare)
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Professionalism, governance and inclusive education – A total population study of Swedish special needs educators
- 2019
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Ingår i: International Journal of Inclusive Education. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1360-3116 .- 1464-5173. ; 23:9, s. 559-574
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Prior research shows that special needs educators (SNEs) have had problems defining their occupational roles and jurisdiction, particularly regarding inclusive education. There are two occupational groups of SNEs in Sweden, namely special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) and special education teachers. In this paper, we use the collective name SNEs to refer to both groups. Here, results from a total population study of Swedish SNEs are presented (N = 3367, response rate 75%). The aim is to explore differences in SNEs’ interpretation of school difficulties and if these differences are influenced by SNEs’ employment in different parts of the school organisation. Statistical cluster-analysis was used to categorise SNEs into five distinct groups based on how they view the problems of pupils in school difficulties. Key concepts employed in the analysis are, primarily organisational vs occupational governance in relation to professional jurisdiction. Findings suggest that SNEs are less unanimous in their views of school problems, than prior research indicates. The variance is partly due to where they work in the school organisation, but we also find indications that different groups of SNEs experience different forms of governance with regard to their professionalism. The results are important due to the scope of the data and method of analysis as well as the illustrated variance of professional values and situations of SNEs and the potential consequences for the development of inclusive education.
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| 6. |
- Göransson, Kerstin, 1955-, et al.
(författare)
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Segregated education as a challenge to inclusive processes : a total population study of Swedish teachers' views on education for pupils with intellectual disability
- 2022
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Ingår i: International Journal of Inclusive Education. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1360-3116 .- 1464-5173. ; 26:14, s. 1367-1382
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many pupils with disabilities receive schooling in segregated contexts, such as special classes or special schools. Furthermore, the percentage of pupils educated in segregated settings has increased in many European countries. Studies suggest that there is high commitment to the general ideology of inclusive education among teachers in 'regular' education in many countries. This survey study investigates the views of teachers in segregated types of school about education. A questionnaire was sent out, in 2016, to all Swedish teachers (N = 2871, response rate 57.7%) working full time in special classes for pupils with intellectual disability (ID). On a general level results show that there is a strong commitment to preserving a segregated school setting for pupils with ID, a limited desire to cooperate with colleagues from 'regular schools' and a view that schooling and teaching are not quite compatible with the idea of inclusive education. The results highlight the importance of investigating processes of resistance within segregated schools to the development of inclusive schools and education systems. We argue that, while research and debate about inclusive education are important, both are insufficient without analyses of existing types of segregated schooling.
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| 7. |
- Johansson, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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The Professional Role of Special Needs Educators in Sweden Related to Special Support and Development of Learning Environments for Immigrant Students
- 2023
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Ingår i: Inclusion and Special Needs Education for Immigrant Students in the Nordic Countries. - : Routledge. - 9781032355900 - 9781003807872 - 9781032355894
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter is based on a study aimed at deepening our knowledge about SNEs’ work and the development of learning environments in relation to special educational needs (SEN) and special needs education for immigrant students. The study’s result is based on a survey answered by Swedish special needs educators (SNEs). The importance of this research can, for example, be seen through statistics showing difficulties for immigrant students to qualify for upper secondary school in Sweden. The results from the study indicate that SNEs are somewhat detached from the direct work with these students. Instead, SNEs devote time to administration and supervision. Direct support is provided by tutors in the students’ mother tongue, class and subject teachers. When SNEs describe developments of learning environments for immigrant students at their schools, small groups and individual teaching for language learning appear to exist in parallel with general solutions (i.e., “one size fits all” approach). The chapter questions the extent to which the Nordic model, characterized by an ambition to create democratic learning environments, provides equal opportunities for all learners and creates inclusive schools.
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| 8. |
- Lindqvist, Gunilla, et al.
(författare)
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Special Professions?: A Presentation of a Research Project Concerning Special Educators´ Education and Work in Sweden
- 2016
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Proposal informationThe purpose of this paper presentation is to provide overall findings generated from a research project funded by the Swedish Research Council concerning special educators’ education and work. The role of special educators, and their counterparts, is discussed in relation to implications for the development of inclusive education. The overarching research question concerns how special educators identify and shape their occupational role. More specifically the research questions presented below are:According to special educators, what characterizes the professional knowledge and values they claim that they represent? (Study 1) What tasks do special educators consider to be characteristic of their occupational role, as practiced by them? (Study 1) On what grounds can special educators claim special expertise concerning the identification of, and work with, school difficulties? (Study 1)To what extent are special educators and to what extent are support teachers assigned to work with special support in ten municipalities in Sweden? (Study 2)What work tasks characterize/constitute the occupational role of special educators, and what work tasks characterize/constitute the occupational role of support teachers? (Study 2)What work tasks do special educators and what work tasks do support teachers believe should characterize the two occupational roles? (Study 2)What characterizes the work tasks of six special educators who pursue a typical special educator role according to their survey ratings? (Study 3)What characterizes the contexts in which the six special educators enact their professional roles? (Study 3)Our theoretical point of departure is Skrtic’s (1991, 1995) reasoning concerning special education as a parallel system to regular education, which in turn, counteracts the development of inclusion. We also use Abbott’s (1988) notions of division of labor and jurisdictional control in order to better understand the formation of special educators’ role as well as conditions for special educators to develop inclusive practices. In study two, Skrtic’s (1991, 1995) theoretical accounts of inclusive education, and Abbott’s (1988) notion of jurisdictional control is specifically used to gain further understanding about the formation of special educators’ and support teachers’ role in relation to implications for inclusion. In study 3, a typology of school contexts (Ball et al., 2012) is used to describe the complex local contexts in which special educators enact their professional roles.From an international viewpoint, this research project is of value for several reasons. Firstly, it involves large-scale data collections. While it has long since been common to use questionnaires in special needs research in order to study the views of different occupational groups, mostly teachers, it is still uncommon to study large samples of groups that are influential in special needs work (Göransson et al., 2015). Secondly, the education of special educators in Sweden is from an international perspective not at all typical. In Sweden a special educator has to study one and a half years (advanced level) following a degree in teaching in order to get a degree as a special educator. Thus, Swedish special educators have received comparatively more education than their counterparts in most other European countries (Göransson et al., submitted). This is of special interest since, thirdly, Sweden is still considered to have one of the most ‘inclusive’ educational systems in the world (OECD, 2011).MethodsThe project consists of three separate, yet linking studies. The first study is a questionnaire study which investigates all special educators in Sweden who were examined in the years and in accordance with the Swedish Examination Acts of 2001, 2007 and 2008 (N= 4252, 75% response rate). Thus, the first study is a total-population study of special educators in Sweden. The second study is a questionnaire study as well. It was distributed to all special educators and support teachers in ten municipalities (n=511, 61.6% response rate). Both questionnaires were distributed in 2012. Descriptive statistics are mostly used in the presentation of the data from the two questionnaires, since whole populations were studied. In questionnaire # 2, two independent samples t-tests were also used when data was analyzed. In study 3, case-study methodology (Merriam, 1992) was used to illustrate the complexity of enactment of special educator roles in local school contexts. Through purposive sampling, six participants were chosen from study 2 to represent typical special educators. Following criteria were used: (a) reported tasks corresponded to examination statutes (b) participants reported that they could influence the work at school. Within each case, data were collected using participant observations, diary recordings, and interviews with special educators, headmasters and teachers. Data analysis within and across cases was conducted to discern special educator roles and tasks as well as the contexts in which the roles were enacted.ConclusionsAccording to the first study, special educators display a relational perspective on school difficulties. Regarding the mission of education they seem to represent what might be called an ‘equity discourse’ (cf. Englund and Quennerstedt, 2008), which is quite contradictory to the current education agenda, focusing excellence, increased goal attainment and accountability (Göransson et al., 2013). Special educators believe that they are well prepared to work with some tasks, such as counseling, leading development work and teaching children/pupils individually or in groups. Concurrently, there are tasks that they are educated for (e.g. school-development work), which they seldom practice. We discuss special educators’ authority to claim special expertise in relation to certain kinds of work, clients and knowledge (Abbott, 1988). Results from the second study indicate that there are wide variations between municipalities regarding to what extent special educators or support teachers work with special support. The characteristics of the occupational role of special educators are more in line with inclusive practices than the role of support teachers. Moreover, special educators consider that support teachers should work more as ‘traditional special teachers’, than do the support teachers themselves. In study 3, six categories of work tasks were discerned: teaching, social relational work, assessment, informing and following up, supporting and providing materials, school-development, and practical chores. The time devoted to these tasks varied among the six special educators. Related to Abbott’s concept of professional jurisdiction, it can be questioned whether the tasks the special educators as a group claim control over are unique to the profession. While teaching and assessment are typical across all cases, special educators’ conceptions of school-development tasks are quite different. How the role is enacted is also related to local school contexts (Ball et al., 2012), as situated school contexts, the material contexts and values and experiences of staff.ReferencesAbbott, A. (1988). The System of Professions. An Essay on the Division of Expert Labor. Chicago: University of Chicago.Ball, S. J., Maguire, M., & Braun, A. 1. (2012). How schools do policy: Policy enactments in secondary schools. London: Routledge.Englund, T. & Qennerstedt, A. (2008). Vadå likvärdighet? – studier i utbildningspolitisk språkbildning. [What Equivalence? - Studies in Education policy language education]. Gothenburg: Daidalos.Göransson, K., Lindqvist, G. & Nilholm, C. (2015) Voices of Special-educators in Sweden. A Total-population Study. Educational Research, 57, 287-304.Göransson, K., Lindqvist, G., Möllås, G., Almqvist, L. & Nilholm, C. (submitted) Ideas about occupational roles and inclusive practices among Special Needs Educators and Support Teachers in Sweden. Educational Review.Göransson, K., Malmqvist, J. and Nilholm, C. (2013). Local school ideologies and inclusion: the case of Swedish independent schools. European Journal of Special Needs Education. 28 (1), 49-63.Merriam, S.B. (1992). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2011). Social justice in the OECD: How do the member states compare? Sustainable Governance Indicators 2011. Gütersloh, Germany: Bertelsmann Stiftung.Skrtic, T. M. (1991). Behind special education. A critical analysis of professional culture and school organization. Denver, CO: Love Publishing Company.Skrtic, T. M. (1995). Deconstructing/Reconstructing public education: Social reconstruction in the postmodern era. In T. M. Skrtic (Ed.), Disability and democracy: reconstructing (special) education in postmodernity, (233-273). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
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| 9. |
- Magnússon, Gunnlaugur, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Contextualizing inclusive education in educatinal policy : the case of Sweden
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy. - : Taylor & Francis. - 2002-0317. ; 5:2, s. 67-77
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this article, we regard inclusive education as a policy phenomenon that contains a range of ideas about the purpose of education, the content of education and the organization of education. As a political ideal expressed in policy, inclusive education competes with other political ideals regarding education, for instance economic discourses that prioritize effectivity and attainment as educational goals. Thus, inclusive education has to be realized in contexts where available options for action are restricted by several and often contradictory educational policies on different levels of the education system. We argue that while research and debate about inclusive education are important, both are insufficient without analyses of the context of national educational policy. Any interpretation of inclusive education is necessarily situated in a general education policy, and measures of what ‘inclusive schools’ are dependent upon for instance, political interpretation(s) of inclusive education, resource allocation and political discourse on both local and national educational level. Here, we will provide support for this argument through presentation of both research on inclusive education, an alignment of prior analyses of Swedish national education policies and our own analyses of government statements.
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| 10. |
- Löfdahl, Annica, et al.
(författare)
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Lekens roll i förskolan
- 2001
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Abstract The role of play in pre-schoolThere is still an ambiguity towards play, which makes the role of play in pre-school confusing. Play is important, though it has not been educationally developed.We believe it depends on the theoretical connection of developmental psychology with stage theory and the lack of social and historical context in combination with a romantic attitude towards play as something metaphysical from society and culture.When using the discussion of the competent child there is still a risk that adults neglect to participate in childrens play since such an opinion supports the approach that children can play by themselves.Thereby, the discussion of the competent child must start from children's participation in knowledge and meaning making. An account of both child development and childrens play must use social and cultural terminology where the dialogue between children and adults is emphasized and where the content of play is important.
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