| 1. |
- Johansson, Anna
(author)
-
Den specialpedagogiska personalens arbete med stödinsatser för nyanlända elever – yrkesroll, arbetsuppgifter och utveckling av skolans lärmiljöer
- 2022
-
Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The overall aim of this licentiate thesis is to increase knowledge of the special educators’ professional role and work in relation to special educational support for recently arrived immigrant pupils. The need for the study is motivated by the immigrant pupils’ low achievement of goals and schools responsibility to adapt education to each pupil’s needs in a school for all. The first study examines special educators’ role and work in relation to special educational support for recently arrived immigrant pupils and the professional group's view of the reasons for special educational support for these pupils. The results are based on responses in a questionnaire directed to 483 special educators. The results show that the special educators state that the reasons why recently arrived immigrant pupils are in need of special educational support are that the knowledge requirements are too difficult for the pupils to achieve or that the pupils have individual shortcomings. The occupational group's tasks consist of administrative work and the development of learning environments. According to the special educators, most often class and subject teachers and mother tongue tutors provide special educational support. The special educators collaborate to the greatest extent with class and subject teachers and with the pupils, while they want more collaboration with mother tongue tutors. The results of the study are interpreted and discussed based on Abbott's theory (1988) reasoning about professional groups’ claims of jurisdiction, Persson's (1998) categorical and relational perspectives and Hughes' (1958) concept of dirty work. In the second study, free text answers (n = 451) from the questionnaire are examined, where the special educators describe how they and their schools have developed learning environments for recently arrived immigrant pupils in need of special educational support. The free text answers are analyzed using a qualitative content analysis (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). This analysis is then theorized based on Skrtics´ (1991; 2005) concepts of the school system to interpret obstacles and opportunities in the development of the learning environments. The results show that the development have mainly taken place through general adaptations (one size fits all solutions), language-adapted solutions and special solutions. The analysis based on Skrtics’ concepts shows how the machine and professional bureaucracy can act as an obstacle to the development of learning environments for recently arrived immigrant pupils in need of special educational support. The thesis helps to bring together the results from the two studies. A developed contextualization is made, and the results from the two studies are discussed in relation to previous research and theoretical points of departure. Abbott's (1988) reasoning on claims of jurisdiction and Skrtics’ conceptions of the school system (1991; 2005) are combined to get a deeper understanding of the deadlocks that may exist in the bureaucratic system.
|
|
| 2. |
- Baric, Vedrana B., et al.
(author)
-
Partnering for change (P4C) in Sweden : a study protocol of a collaborative school-based service delivery model to create inclusive learning environments
- 2023
-
In: BMC Public Health. - : Springer Nature. - 1471-2458. ; 23:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Inclusive learning environments are considered as crucial for children's engagement with learning and participation in school. Partnering for change (P4C) is a collaborative school-based service delivery model where services are provided at three levels of intensity based on children's needs (class, group-, individual interventions). Interventions in P4C are provided universally to support all children with learning, not only children with special education needs (SEN), and as such are expected to be health-promoting.Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of P4C as well as school staff members' and children's experiences after P4C.Methods: In a parallel, non-randomised controlled intervention design, 400 children, aged 6-12 years, and their teachers, will be recruited to either intervention classes, working according to the P4C, or to control classes (allocation ratio 1:1). Data will be collected at baseline, post-intervention (4 months), and 11 months follow-up post baseline. The primary outcome is children's engagement with learning in school. Secondary outcomes include for example children's health-related quality of life and wellbeing, occupational performance in school, attendance, and special educational needs. The difference-in-differences method using regression modelling will be applied to evaluate any potential changes following P4C. Focus group interviews focusing on children, and professionals' experiences will be performed after P4C. A health economic evaluation of P4C will be performed, both in the short term (post intervention) and the long term (11-month follow-up). This study will provide knowledge about the effectiveness of P4C on children's engagement with learning, mental health, and wellbeing, when creating inclusive learning environments using a combination of class-, group- and individual-level interventions.
|
|
| 3. |
- Klefbeck, Kamilla
(author)
-
Att få tillträde till lärprocesser : professionell utveckling för lärare som undervisar elever med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning och autism i grundsärskolan
- 2022
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This thesis aims to contribute to knowledge about how teachers can develop their practice to enable students with intellectual disability (ID) and autism to participate in education. Pragmatism, situated learning, and variation theory have been guiding the studies. The research program follows an iterative design with an exploratory sequential design. The initial phase synthesized findings from practice-based research in the educational context of children with ID and co-occurring autism. In the next step, an intervention using Lesson Study, inspired by identified gaps in the research, targeting teachers' professional development and students' learning, was explored through quantitative and qualitative analyses of pre-and post-test data. After the initial examination, the intervention was adjusted and implemented in compulsory schooling for pupils with learning disabilities (CSPLD), for pupils with ID and autism. The main research question was: What, in a professional development program, contributes to enhancing teachers' abilities to develop teaching to increase educational participation for pupils with ID and autism?The narrative synthesis discerned six factors of importance to developing teaching practices in the Swedish CSPLD and thereby promoting contextualized inclusion for pupils with ID and autism. Namely, a. the inportance of collaborative work, b. focus on the pupils' participation in learning situations, c. distance to own teaching by video-based reflections, d. structured observations, e. analyses of how the design of lessons affects pupils' learning, f. changed focus from pupils' behavior to teaching and learning, and more generally, continuity regarding professional development over time. In conclusion, to gain further knowledge of teaching and learning in the context of CSPLD and achieve sustainability in the community where teachers share knowledge and curiosity about teaching and learning, Lesson Study is recomended as part of the SEND teacher commitment.
|
|
| 4. |
- Lüddeckens, Johanna
(author)
-
Dialectical Dimensions on Inclusive Education : Involving Students with Autism Spectrum Conditions
- 2022
-
Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Purpose: The aim of this essay and its contribution to research is to identify the opportunities, pitfalls, and dilemmas that can arise when inclusive education is organized with regard to students with ASC. In order to create more understanding of the situation for students with ASC in schools, the study focus on school leadership.Sub-studies: The essay consists of two studies. In the first study (1) the aim was to identify, describe, and analyze different research approaches to inclusive education and social participation for students with ASC, by performing a systematic research review. In the second study (2) principals of Swedish schools were interviewed, data collection was divided into three sets of interviews based on and using two models as tools in the analysis process. The models are the Index of Inclusion (Ainscow & Booth 2002) and three key concepts for inclusive school leadership (European Agency of Special Needs and Inclusive Education 2018; Óskarsdottir et al. 2020).Theory: A dialectical approach (Clark, Dyson & Millward 1995; 1998) or the dilemma perspective (Nilholm 2003) have been used as a theoretical lens. This approach aims to provide a dynamic and abductive reasoning for the overall analysis in the essay, since inclusive education appears to create dilemmas when societal cultures and norms, bureaucracy, and structures meet. The analysis demonstrates that inclusive processes appear as dilemma-creating at different levels in the system and addresses democracy in terms of social justice.Method: Crystallization is a term that relates to the practice of using multiple data sources and results, research approaches and lenses (Ellingson 2008; Tracy 2010), which leads to a more complex understanding being opened up in the overall analysis.Knowledge contribution: Inclusion is mainly interpreted as the students’ experience of being socially accepted and having access to academic education and the curriculum. Principals’ feeling of loneliness in relation to their superiors—they need to fight for their students and their staff against decisionmakers higher up in the education system hierarchy. At the same time, it is noted that principals have agreat deal of freedom in their practice, but the issue of communication needs to be raised and support for principals is important. A discussion is needed about whose perspective is the prevailing one in decisionmaking processes in schools and in the school system.Limitations: The data collection of the second study (2) took place via virtual meetings due to the pandemic. Virtual meetings are limited by the lack of being able to observe the interviewee's body language and nonverbal communication, as well as a small sample of respondents. These limitations affect the essay in general and thus to some extent reduce the possibility of generalizing the results.Practical implications: This essay can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the inclusion concept in relation to students with ASC. It can potentially initiate forums for further discussions on the working conditions of principals in relation to their responsibilities and the expectations placed upon them. In addition, to conduct a continuous discussion about the importance of authenticity and accountability for all professionals in the school and its stakeholders. Development and improvement of structures that facilitate the inclusion of the student voice in decision-making processes are also seen as important.
|
|
