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…

According to the Simple View of Reading, decoding and linguistic comprehension are essential for reaching efficient reading comprehension. Students with Swedish as a first (L1) or second language (L2) in grades 1-3 might need special support to develop reading comprehension. In order to identify needs in reading in L1 and L2 students, the current…

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…

The upper secondary school for individuals with intellectual disability should prepare for an adult life as an active citizen with great self-determination and participation in democratic decision-making processes. The extent to which and in what way the schools work to prepare the students and develop their skills are likely of great importance…

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…

Research suggests that supportive teacher-student relationships are a prerequisite for student development. Developing such relationships requires teachers to observe, interpret, and reflect on teacher-student interactions and on teachers' relational competence in practice. Although teacher-student relationships are especially challenging with…

This study aimed to explore parents' and teachers' meaning making of children's learning in transitions from preschool to school, for 5-7-year-old children with intellectual disability (ID). Although educational transitions is a growing area of research there is limited research about educational transitions of children with ID. These children…

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…

Teachers of inclusive early childhood education (ECE) are responsible for monitoring children's social skills achievement, and promoting social play between children with and without special educational needs (SEN). The Teacher Impression Scale (TIS) is an observational assessment developed for this purpose. This study aims to explore the social…

A compelling body of international research demonstrates that a positive, supportive teacher-student relationship is essential for students' development, especially for at-risk students. In this article, the educator's ability to build such relationships is discussed in terms of 'relational competence'. Special educators' relational competence is…

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…

Special educators are considered essential in schools, both in the regular system and in the separate special needs system. It is important to understand how special education is envisioned among teachers who choose further study in this field. The aim of this study is to gain more knowledge about what motivates teachers to gain further…

The aim of this article is, in a chronological perspective, to identify, discuss and problematise concepts for children's 'problems' in compulsory school and the contexts in which they have been categorised and used. To clarify the categorisation in context, the article is based on a previous study on categorisation in Swedish youth education from…