This article explores nine SENCOs' lived experiences of the changes, challenges and opportunities which arose when working in Swedish upper secondary schools through the spring term of 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article provides further insights into the particulars of the SENCOs' line of work and also aims to say something about the…

The qualitative literature review includes 34 articles published in English-language, peer-reviewed journals to obtain a Nordic perspective on the status of the research on how the idea of inclusion implemented into practice is reflected in the literature from 2009 through 2019. Qualitative content analysis was conducted. In the analysis, we…

At a time when inclusion is valued, an important question is how it can be put into practice. This study investigates how one Swedish preschool and one of its units achieve inclusion. It adopted a mixed method research approach and a case study design. Participating in the study were one head teacher, five preschool staff members and five children…

Students with special educational needs (SEN) are systematically hindered in their participation in test-taking and, as a result, are also excluded from participating in high-quality learning. Hence, participation in the assessment situation is connected to power relations and future prospects and possibilities to participate in society. This…

Even in inclusive classroom, children with special education needs (SEN) have been shown to have lower levels of emotional inclusion and academic self-concept. Although, their social inclusion may be comparable to their peers. At the same time, boys and girls may also experience differences in perceptions of inclusion and academic self-concept.…

Inclusion regarding challenging behaviour is one of the most demanding challenges for teachers. How schools succeed with inclusion regarding challenging behaviour can therefore be a good indicator of how they succeed in developing an inclusive practice in general. This paper addresses this with a rapid review of how mainstream teachers attribute…

Cross-country comparisons in education using statistics have become increasingly common; however, they are not without difficulties. This paper explores comparative data published by the Educational Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education (EASIE) focusing on the indicator showing the percentage of pupils with Special Educational Needs…

Sweden is internationally regarded as an inclusive educational system. This study explores how teacher education programmes in Sweden have been organised as regards inclusive education (IE). Specifically, the study examines how teacher candidates and staff perceive teacher pre-service training for IE in terms of its curriculum and pedagogical…

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…

This study explored teachers' perception of inclusion of students with special educational needs (SEN) in Swedish regular elementary schools. Semi-structured qualitative interviews with six teachers from different schools were used, and the interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Two themes were arrived at:…

While school choice and marketisation have been studied extensively, some areas remain under-researched, for instance, the consequences of choice for the development of inclusive education. The aim of this article is to illustrate the consequences of school choice for inclusive education, as it relates to special education, using Sweden as a case…

The aim of this study was twofold: (1) to identify factors associated with a high level of accommodation needs in school activities among students with special educational needs (SEN) in regular upper secondary education; and (2) to investigate the extent to which schools have met students' perceived accommodation needs. Accommodation needs and…

The aim of this article is to discuss and problematise issues related to conceptual approaches to differences among children in the world of school education. The article is based on results from a Swedish study on categorisation of schoolchildren's "problems" from a historical perspective. Its central questions are: "What concepts…

This study examines the question of which school environment--special or mainstream school--is more favourable for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Sweden, when it comes to their well-being, and their social and academic inclusion. The aim is threefold: first to compare the well-being of adolescents who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, who are…

This article reports and discusses findings from an ethnographic case study, aiming to gain a deeper understanding of how different children perceive their learning environment in the first grade of primary school, with regard to social as well as academic aspects. The theoretical framework is based on an interactional perspective, where…