The stealth policy of inclusion of students with intellectual disability

• The Swedish school system is currently undergoing a change, one in which issues of inclusion for students with ID are at stake. Policy documents mirror ideas, beliefs and value systems that are expressed in the society. In order to better understand the processes of in(ex)clusion of students with ID there is a need to analyze policy. In this study we have analyzed 61 parliamentary texts, such as propositions, decisions and investigations from 2011- 2021 considering compulsory school for students with intellectual disabilities, CSSID (Grundsärskola). Specifically, the analysis focused on how inclusion and students with intellectual disability were fabricated by contemporary policy discourses. Findings indicated that inclusion was fabricated as equal rights to schooling, as the right to be assessed and accountability and as being closer to the norm. Furthermore, the results show a strive for alignment of the structure of schools for children without ID and children with ID to synchronize the work between the school forms, and that much emphasis is put on students’ equal participation in the assessment of knowledge. This seems to mean “sameness” regarding hours, and systems in place for assessment. From this our conclusion is that inclusion is above all to be an active neoliberal subject and the most important thing is then that the organizational structures are in alignment. Hence/ this is example on what Allan (2015) calls the Stealth bureaucracy in Sally Tomlinsson’s irresistible rise of the SEN industry. Allan, J. (2015).  Stealth bureaucracy in Sally Tomlinsson’s irresistible rise of the SEN industry. In (Eds.), Chris Forlin, Phyllis Jones & Scott Danforth, Foundations of inclusive education research, International perspectives on inclusive education vol 6, p37-52. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. The Open Parliament Laboratory (2021). Örebro universitets analystjänst för riksdagsdata. www.riksdagsdata.oru.se    

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogik (hsv//swe)

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

Nyckelord

Policy

Inclusive Education

Intellectual Disability

Education

Pedagogik

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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kon (ämneskategori)