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| 2. |
- 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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| 3. |
- 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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| 4. |
- Klang, Nina, 1978-, et al.
(författare)
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Instructional Practices for Pupils with an Intellectual Disability in Mainstream and Special Educational Settings
- 2020
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Ingår i: International journal of disability, development and education. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1034-912X .- 1465-346X. ; 67:2, s. 151-166
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The inclusion agenda has influenced education systems around the world, resulting in better access to mainstream education for pupils with special educational needs (SEN). While numerous studies have compared outcomes of pupils with SEN in mainstream and special educational settings, research on the specific characteristics of these settings remains scarce. In this study a survey was conducted with teachers of pupils with an intellectual disability in mainstream (N?=?254) and special educational settings (N?=?392) in Sweden to investigate differences in instructional practices between these settings. The results showed that teachers? in the two settings devoted approximately similar amount of time to learner- centred and teacher-centred activities respectively, which slightly more focus on teacher-centred activities in both settings. The results of a Mann-Whitney U-test revealed that teachers in mainstream educational settings, in comparison with teachers in special educational settings, reported significantly higher expectations of pupils? performance but lower focus on supporting pupils? social participation. Support of pupils? social participation may be an important characteristic of special educational settings, and there is a need to further explore how knowledge of teacher practices in special educational settings may be used to support pupil?s social participation in mainstream settings.
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| 5. |
- Göransson, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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Speciella yrken? Specialpedagogers och speciallärares arbete och utbildning : En enkätstudie
- 2015
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Forskningsprojektet ”Speciella yrken? Ett projekt om speciallärares och specialpedagogers arbete och utbildning” är finansierat av Vetenskapsrådet. I den här rapporten redovisas resultat från delprojekt 1. Syftet med rapporten är att ge en övergripande och representativ bild av specialpedagogers och speciallärares yrkesroll. Det empiriska materialet utgörs av data från en enkätundersökning som omfattar alla som tagit specialpedagog- eller speciallärarexamen från och med 2001 års examensordning (4252 personer, svarsfrekvens 75%). I rapporten redovisas vilka kunskaper och värderingar yrkesgrupperna bedömer att deras utbildning har resulterat i, vilka arbetsuppgifter de menar kännetecknar deras praktiserande av yrkesrollen, och även vilka förutsättningar yrkesgrupperna har att hävda en specifik expertis vad gäller att identifiera och arbeta med skolproblem. Rapporten riktar sig i främsta hand till praktiskt verksamma inom skolverksamheten på olika nivåer, lärarutbildare och blivande specialpedagoger och speciallärare.
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| 6. |
- Masoumi, Davoud, et al.
(författare)
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Mapping Children’s Actions in the Scaffolding Process Using Interactive Whiteboard
- 2023
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media B.V.. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study aims to examine children’s actions in relation to the preschool teacher’s scaffolding action in a context where an interactive whiteboard (IWB) is used. Over five months, 22 children aged between 4 and 6 years old, along with their five preschool teachers, were video observed. The study of these teaching moments has provided a rich seam of evidence that details the ways children act in relation to their teacher’s scaffolding. The results show that children manifest 12 distinct actions including: Giving short responses, Approaching the IWB to engage in the teaching activities; Explaining, Experimenting; Smiling and laughing; Pointing and showing; Working together; Challenging each other; Solving a problem; Using language in meaningful contexts; Expressing emotions; and Comparing the similarities and differences. By mapping children’s actions in the scaffolding process, which are often undermined or ignored in the existing research, the findings of this study have expanded and deepened our understanding of the scaffolding process and the notion of scaffolding itself. The findings, further, exemplify how just providing support can contribute to early childhood education, since early interventions, such as the ways preschool teachers scaffold children’s actions, are particularly crucial for children’s learning and development. © 2023, The Author(s).
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| 7. |
- Lindqvist, Gunilla, et al.
(författare)
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Making schools inclusive? Educational leaders' views on how to work with children in need of special support
- 2013
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Ingår i: International Journal of Inclusive Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1360-3116 .- 1464-5173. ; 17:1, s. 95-110
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Educational leaders have a comprehensive responsibility for how preschools and schools work with children in need of special educational support. The aim of this research is to study how educational leaders (a) explain why children have problems in schools, (b) consider how preschools/schools should help children in need of special support and (c) the role they believe that Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) should have in such work. Educational leaders (N = 45) working in preschools and regular compulsory schools in a Swedish municipality responded (100%) to a questionnaire. According to the results of this study, this group seems to view difficulties in schools as being caused primarily by individual shortcomings. Educational leaders often advocate solutions that are closely linked to the work of special educators. The educational leaders believe SENCOs should work with supervising staff and focus on documentation and evaluations. Preschool leaders attribute children's need of special support to teachers more often than their colleagues in compulsory schools.
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| 8. |
- 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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| 9. |
- Bourbour Hosseinbeigi, Maryam, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Putting Scaffolding Into Action : Preschool Teachers' Actions Using Interactive Whiteboard
- 2020
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Ingår i: Early Childhood Education Journal. - : Springer. - 1082-3301 .- 1573-1707. ; 48:1, s. 79-92
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study aimed to explore preschool teachers' actions in order to support children's learning processes in a context where an interactive whiteboard (IWB) is used. Five preschool teachers and 22 children aged 4-6 were video observed in 2017 and early spring 2018 over a period of 5 months. The findings of the study revealed 21 scaffolding actions which preschool teachers used including: Concretizing, Questioning, Instructing, Providing space, Affirming, Providing feedback, Inviting, Watching, Laughing together, Approaching, Standing/sitting beside, Simplifying, Filling in the blanks, Confirming, Participating, Challenging perception, Challenging thought, Explaining facts, Displaying, Explaining solutions, and Referring back. By characterizing teachers' actions in relation to different scaffolding functions, the relationship between action and scaffolding function was particularly clarified. Six of the functions, including recruitment, direction maintenance, marking critical features, reduction in degrees of freedom, frustration control and demonstration were aligned with Wood et al.'s (Child Psychol Psychiatry 17:88-100, 1976) theoretical framework. By identifying two additional functions, i.e., mutual enjoyment and participation in the activity, more importantly the study contributed to the development of Wood et al.'s (Child Psychol Psychiatry 17:88-100, 1976) theoretical framework. It can be said that the findings of the study expanded and deepened our understanding regarding scaffolding processes and the ways they can be implemented in teaching practices.
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| 10. |
- Bourbour, Maryam, 1977-
(författare)
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Digital technologies in preschool education : The interplay between interactive whiteboards and teachers' teaching practices
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis is aimed at exploring the ways in which a digital technology, the interactive whiteboard (IWB), interplays with preschool teachers’ teaching practices. In the literature and ongoing debates there are different claims about if and how digital technologies can contribute to children’s development and solving preschool educational challenges. The ways children learn from and by digital technologies have been widely studied, however, there is relatively little research on how digital technologies interplay with teachers’ teaching. Correspondingly, the approach taken here to the ways in which digital technologies contribute to early childhood education is based on preschool teachers’ practices and reasonings.In particular the focus is placed on the following research questions. How do preschool teachers reason about the embedding of IWB into their teaching practices? How do preschool teachers use IWB to structure their teaching practices? How do preschool teachers scaffold children’s learning processes in a context where IWB is used? How do IWBs mediate teaching actions? and What is privileged in the IWB-mediated teaching actions?To address these research questions, three sets of empirical data have been collected. These datasets, including interviews with preschool teachers and video observations of their teaching using IWB, were collected in 2012-2013 within the frame of the licentiate thesis and in late 2017 and early 2018 within the framework of the PhD thesis. Analytically, the study is built on a sociocultural perspective that assumes that learning is a constant social process.The findings of this study provide empirical knowledge regarding how preschool teachers reason about their use of IWB in teaching. The findings of the study, further, show that preschool teachers use diverse strategies to structure their teaching practice using the opportunities that IWB offers. The teachers’ use of IWBs exemplifies the ways they take into account the available technological features to support children’s learning within their ZPD.In its identification of scaffolding actions, this study provides rich details about how preschool teachers use a particular digital technology, IWB, in their teaching to support children’s learning and development. Scaffolding is seen as a collaborative process where preschool teachers’ active participation and emotional support plays an important role in fulfilling the given practices, and leads children’s learning to a higher level. By exploring how teachers’ teaching actions are meditated by the mediational aspects of IWB and what is privileged in the IWB-mediated teaching actions, the current study, moreover, contributes to mapping the desirable or undesirable consequences of using digital technologies in early childhood education. It also exemplifies how the use of IWB interplays with preschoolt eachers’ teaching practices.The new dimensions to scaffolding theory constructed in this thesis, further, contribute to expanding of Wood et al. (1976) theory. This can have significance for other studies using digital technologies in educational settings and can contribute to early childhood education, since early interventions, such as the ways preschool teachers support children, are particularly crucial for a child’s learning and their development later on in life.
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