| 1. |
- Göransson, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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Ideas about occupational roles and inclusive practices among special needs educators and support teachers in Sweden
- 2017
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Ingår i: Educational review (Birmingham). - : Informa UK Limited. - 0013-1911 .- 1465-3397. ; 69:4, s. 490-505
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Special needs educators and their counterparts are expected to play a significant role in schools' work towards inclusive practices. Studies do, however, indicate a rather diversified picture regarding the occupational groups assigned to work with special support and their workroles, within and between different countries. In Sweden, one can differentiate between two such occupational groups, special needs educators (SNEs) with qualifications in special educational needs at advanced level and support teachers (SuTs) with varying teacher education and education in special educational needs. The aims of this paper are to investigate the occurrence of SNEs and SuTs within the compulsory school system in ten municipalities in Sweden and the occupational roles of those SNEs and SuTs in relation to the inclusion agenda. A questionnaire was sent out in 2012 to all SNEs and SuTs in ten municipalities (n=511, response rate 61.6%). Main results indicate that: a) there is wide variation between municipalities regarding the extent to which SNEs or SuTs are assigned to work with special support; b) the characteristics of the occupational role of SNEs are more in line with inclusive practices than those of the role of SuTs; c) there is consensus between the two occupational groups regarding what they think should characterize the occupational role of SNEs; and d) SNEs consider, more than do the SuTs themselves, that the role of SuTs should be more in line with that of a ‘traditional special-education teacher’. Results are discussed in relation to Skrtic’s (1991, 1995) theoretical accounts of inclusive education and Abbott’s (1988) notion of jurisdictional control.
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| 2. |
- Göransson, Kerstin, 1955-, et al.
(författare)
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Inclusive education in Sweden? A critical analysis
- 2011
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Ingår i: International Journal of Inclusive Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1360-3116 .- 1464-5173. ; 15:5, s. 541-555
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- When it comes to pupils in need of special support and pupils with disabilities, Sweden's compulsory school system is sometimes considered a one-track system. This article analyses and critically discusses current policy and practices at various levels of Sweden's compulsory school system for these pupils. The analysis traces three themes at the national and municipal levels: (1) values and goals; (2) organisation and placement of pupils; and (3) importance of categories in obtaining support. A rather complex picture emerges from this analysis. Several conclusions are made: (1) state policies leave a lot of room for interpretation at the municipal and school levels, and this results in an extensive variation; (2) Swedish state policy is not as inclusive as is often stated; (3) celebration of difference seems to be hard to achieve; (4) learning goals can be a double-edged sword with regard to inclusion; and (5) most pupils appear to enjoy participation in school, and in an international perspective, Swedish classrooms seem to be largely democratic.
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| 3. |
- Göransson, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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Local school ideologies and inclusion : the case of Swedish independent schools
- 2013
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Ingår i: European Journal of Special Needs Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0885-6257 .- 1469-591X. ; 28:1, s. 49-63
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper reports on the development of a framework for the classification of local school ideologies in relation to inclusion that provides a tool for classifying the general educational direction as well as work with pupils in need of special support of individual schools. The framework defines different aspects of local school ideology in terms of values related to the societal level, school level and individual level of the education system. The paper also reports on a study exploring variations among Swedish independent schools, concerning local school ideology using the framework as a theoretical tool. In this qualitative analysis, eight schools were selected from results of a questionnaire to all Swedish independent schools (return rate 79.5%) for further analysis based on interviews with different categories of school personnel, parents and pupils. Five different patterns of local school ideologies were found more or less in line with values of inclusion, e.g. the holistic-inclusive and the market-oriented-exclusive. Results are discussed in relation to the multiple and sometimes competing objectives that every school has to deal with and make priorities between. Implications for pupils in need of special support in a school system rapidly undergoing marketisation are finally discussed.
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| 4. |
- 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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| 5. |
- Klang, Nina, 1978-, et al.
(författare)
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Enacting the role of special needs educator : six Swedish case studies
- 2017
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Ingår i: European Journal of Special Needs Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0885-6257 .- 1469-591X. ; 32:3, s. 391-405
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With the increasing focus on inclusion, special needs educators (SNEs) are now expected to share responsibility for pupils with teacher colleagues and to lead school development, but it is a challenge to enact this role in schools. The aim of the study was to explore how professional roles of Swedish SNEs are enacted in local school contexts. From a survey of SNEs in 10 Swedish municipalities, six participants whose work tasks were expected to correspond to the degree ordinances for their university training were chosen. The participants were followed at work, and data were collected through observation of the participants at work, participants’ diaries and interviews with the participants, their teacher colleagues and their school principals. The analysis involved both quantitative and qualitative methods. First, based on the researchers’ observations of the participants at work, categories of SNEs’ tasks were discerned, and the amount of time devoted to those categories of tasks was summarised. Second, case study narratives of the SNEs’ work were constructed to describe how the participants, their teacher colleagues and their school principals view the SNE role and to describe how the work is enacted in various school contexts. The results revealed seven categories of work tasks practised to varying degrees by the six SNEs. The case study narratives exposed large variation in how the SNEs conceptualised their role and how it evolved in relation to local school contexts. The results of the study are discussed with regard to the role of the SNE in relation to policies of inclusion.
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| 6. |
- Möllås, Gunvie, et al.
(författare)
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Specialpedagogers/speciallärares arbete i den dagliga skolpraktiken : En analys av sex fallstudier
- 2017
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Vilka arbetsuppgifter ingår i specialpedagogernas vardagspraktik? Vilka kontextuella villkor och förutsättningar bidrar till att forma den specialpedagogiska yrkesrollen samt vilka strategier använder specialpedagogerna sig själva av för att stärka och forma sin yrkesroll? Frågorna ligger till grund för den analys av sex fallstudier som presenteras i den här rapporten. Studien utgör den tredje delstudien inom ett större forskningsprojekt ”Speciella yrken? Ett projekt om speciallärares och specialpedagogers arbete och utbildning”, vilket har finansierats av Vetenskapsrådet. Samtliga respondenter är anställda som specialpedagoger, men har varierande bakgrund och utbildning. Syftet har varit att undersöka hur specialpedagogrollen konstitueras i grundskolans vardagliga och lokala praktiker. Datamaterialet består av dokument, fältanteckningar från observationer, informella samtal och intervjuer samt respondenternas egna dagboksinspelningar. Rapporten riktar sig främst till verksamma aktörer inom grundskolan på olika nivåer (förvaltningspersonal, rektorer, elevhälsans personal, specialpedagoger, speciallärare, lärare m fl), blivande specialpedagoger och speciallärare samt lärarutbildare.
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