Special professions? The role of special educators in the Nordic countries

• Special educators play a central role in schools´ work in relation to special educational needs. They represent, and are expected to represent, specific ways to identify and work with problematic school situations. Despite their important position, very little is known about what constitutes their professional role with regard to knowledge base, professional activities, legitimacy and status within the educational system. Little is also known about the conditions for developing a professional role, for example in relation to state and local policies.The purpose of this round table session is twofold: a) to discuss the role of special educators in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark and conditions for developing a shared understanding of the professional role within each country as well as between the countries; b) to discuss possibilities for joint, comparative studies within the field.Theoretical points of departure that will guide our discussions are: a) different perspectives on special needs education, the deficit or compensatory perspective (e.g. Ainscow, 1998; Haug, 1998), the relational perspective (e.g. Clark, Dyson & Millward, 1998; Persson, 1998; Skrtic, 1991) and the interactive perspective (Ainscow, 1998); b) different perspectives on professions, the knowledge base, the every-day practice of the profession, legitimacy and status (c.f. Collin, 1990; Gross, 1958; Torstendahl, 1990).Empirical points of departure will be preliminary results from three Swedish surveys: one total population survey of special pedagogues and special teachers examined between the years 2003-2011(N=4 252, response rate 75,0%) and one Swedish survey of all teachers working as special educators, resource teachers etc. (N=511, response rate 62,5%), in a sample of municipalities and one survey to all teaching staff and support staff in one municipality (N=1297, response rate 72,5%).

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Utbildning och lärande

Education and Learning

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)