School district administrators' perspectives on special education policy and practice in Norway and Sweden

The purpose of this study was to examine special education policy and practice from the perspective of school district administrators in Norway and Sweden. Administrators from 266 Norwegian and 262 Swedish municipalities completed a survey concerning: (a) reasons children need special education, (b) common and desired organizational solutions, and (c) the influence of policy on practice. Despite a number of clear differences, findings suggest that Swedish and Norwegian administrators share similar attitudes regarding the provision of special education support. It appears that in both countries inclusive practices are seen as the ideal, yet, Norwegian administrators appear to have a stronger preference for categorical or segregated solutions. However, this finding must be viewed in light of current practices in each country. In particular, we take into consideration data indicating that 17% of Swedish students receive special educational support, as compared to approximately 6% in Norway

Specialpedagogik : Vilka är de grundläggande perspektiven?

Forskningen om specialpedagogik brukar delas in i två grund-läggande perspektiv. Å ena sidan ett mer traditionellt, individualistiskt perspektiv med rötter i medicin och psykologi och, å andra sidan, ett alternativt perspektiv med betoning på sociala faktorers betydelse för skolproblem. Denna dikotomisering utgör utgångspunkten för en stor del av forskningen inom fältet. I den här artikeln diskuteras variationer inom ramen för de respektive perspektiven och rimligheten i den typ av förenklingar som perspektiven utgör. Medan ett flertal olika variationer urskiljs argumenteras ändå för vikten att avgränsa dessa två grundläggande perspektiv men också för att de behöver kompletteras. Olika »kandidater» till ett tredje perspektiv diskuteras. Utifrån en argumentation om att båda perspektiven på specialpedagogik i hög grad tar sin utgångspunkt i vem eller vad som är ansvarig för skolproblem och att de har lösningar på dessa problem, föreslås ett tredje perspektiv som tar sin utgångspunkt i dilemman, inte minst av etisk art, vilka samhälle och skola har att hantera för att möta elevers olikhet. Innebörden i ett sådant dilemma-perspektiv utvecklas i artikeln

Gör politiken skillnad? Exemplet "elever i behov av särskilt stöd"

Does politics make a difference? Special needs education as an example. An empirical investigation concerning the relationship between political control of Swedish municipalities and their work with children “in need of special support” is reported. 262 of 290 municipalities answered a questionnaire regarding their work with children with special needs, covering issues such as resources, the identification of such children, organizational models, influence, prevention, cooperation and evaluation. The empirical analysis focuses on questions of an ideological nature concerning, for example, inclusive education. The relationships between type of political control, i.e. left vs. right, and the answers to such questions are very weak. This outcome is interpreted as an expression of professional dominance within the frame of an educational system managed by objectives. Whether this is desirable or not is discussed from the viewpoint of different democratic perspectives.I demokratins marginaler - ett projekt om barn i problematiska skolsituatione

Power and perspectives : An investigation into international research covering special educational needs

An empirical investigation of international research relating to special educational needs is reported. Two international arenas were identified: a North American and a British/European. Articles from 2004 were analysed with regard to 1) sex of authors, 2) country of institutional affiliation of authors, 3) themes and 4) perspectives. The analyses suggest that, to a large extent, research is still nationally oriented. Female authors were most common in 11 of the 12 journals. The thematic analyses revealed similar patterns across arenas but the theme inclusion was far more common in the British/European journals. Research perspectives were mostly normative and a possible emerging middle-ground was identified. Implications of these empirical patterns are discussed in the article

Research about inclusive education in 2020 : How can we improve our theories in order to change practice?

Since the Salamanca Statement was published in 1994 a massive amount of research has addressed the issue of inclusive education. Yet, there is a sense of lack of progress which seems to necessitate a critical look at the field while not neglecting advancements made. Such advancements concern the development of theory, a concept which is given a broad interpretation in the paper. Both theories with limited scope and more encompassing theories have been developed. However, from the point of view of Lewin ' s well-known formulation 'there is nothing as practical as a good theory' there seems to be a lack of theories that have empirically been shown to be successful tools in the development of more inclusive school systems, schools and classrooms. The case study seems to be a methodological approach well suited for the development of such theories. Two examples from Sweden, one from the school level and one from the classroom level, are used to illustrate the potential of case-studies to develop theory in this area of research

Early intervention with children with Down syndrome - Past and future issues

Firstly, research addressing early intervention in Down syndrome is discussed. It is argued, in contrast to prior reviewers, that early intervention in Down syndrome does seem to yield positive effects in different developmental domains. However, the evidence of long-term effects appears to be mixed, albeit the implications of this state of affairs are arguable. Secondly, some recent trends in early intervention research are outlined. The implications of the recent emphasis on pinpointing strengths and weaknesses in Down syndrome and the emergent recognition of the importance of the context of child development are spelled out. The consequences of a contextualized approach to child development is discussed particularly in relation to the notions of outcome variables and the wider context of development, i.e. in terms of the impact of early intervention on families and the long-term goals of early intervention. Finally, it is argued that the time seems ripe to situate the early intervention movement in its sociocultural context, i.e. in the nexus of political, ideological and scientific factors