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…

The purpose of this study was to better understand parents' perspectives of education in Budapest, particularly parents of children with disabilities or children who struggle with learning. Nine parents were interviewed. Parents found schools for their child with a disability to be lacking in terms of updated materials, methods and service…

This article presents findings from a recent national study supported by Association for Higher Education Access & Disability and the National Learning Network (2016) to investigate the experiences of students with mental health difficulties in higher education in Ireland. The data investigation was a combination of both survey and qualitative…

The college experience in Iceland has traditionally been reserved for those who have passed the matriculation examination and meet the admission requirements of higher educational institutions. Since 2007, the University of Iceland has offered a Vocational Diploma Programme for people with intellectual disabilities in inclusive settings. The…

In higher education, supporting students with special educational needs (SEN) necessitates an understanding of these needs, additional teaching aids and innovative ideas. The teacher must be an integral part of this support process, and this is difficult for the majority of teachers, due to their lack of core understanding of SEN. However,…

This study aimed to investigate the system designed to support disabled university students from the perspective of disability coordinators. The research on this topic specifically is limited. Disability coordinators from a particular UK university were interviewed to better understand the support system from their own perspective. Interpretative…

Policy and practice in relation to meeting the diverse needs of all children, including those with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities, is in a state of change in the UK. As a result, there is growing interest in and understanding of the need to focus on factors which impact on teachers' levels of self-efficacy in meeting the needs of…

Turkey regulates the special education of students with disabilities and, particularly, those who have intellectual disabilities (ID) based on international and national legal texts. However, the gap between law and practice cannot be denied. The existence of obstacles to special education for students with disabilities or ID continues in Turkey.…

Inclusion of students with disabilities when appropriate is an important goal of special education for students with special needs. Full inclusion, meaning no education for any child in a separate setting, is held to be desirable by some, and Italy is likely the nation with an education system most closely approximating full inclusion on the…

Recent inclusive policy directives and advice offered to schools strongly recommend special/support teachers to expand their role and extend their duties. In light of this, we investigated how Greek secondary special/support teachers perceive and experience their role, work profile and the challenges they encounter. Qualitative analysis revealed…

The aim of the study is to deepen the understanding of teacher's perspective on how to promote all children's learning in reading and writing in grade 1 of primary school. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in a Swedish context with 18 primary school teachers, representing a large collective experience from working as teachers in grade 1.…

This article presents the findings of ethnographic case studies of three girls on the autistic spectrum attending mainstream primary schools and illustrates the difficulties they experience and the ways in which these are often unrecognised. The observations of the girls and subsequent individual interviews with their mothers, class teachers,…

While much progress has been made in relation to including students in mainstream education in Ireland, significant challenges remain. Despite positive attitudes, the implementation of effective inclusive practice at school level persists as one of the most pervasive challenges. This study investigated how six Irish schools, three primary and…

This article examines the relevance of modern moral philosophy to education, with particular reference to special educational needs. Where moral philosophers explore the tension between utilitarian and deontological reasoning, they often consider the balance between the rights of the individual and the benefits or costs for the majority. I argue…

The purpose of this paper is to critically analyse research about inclusive education. Prior reviews and the outcome of a recent search of databases are analysed with regard to (a) how inclusion is defined and (b) what empirical knowledge there is regarding factors that make schools and classrooms more inclusive. Our point of departure is that we…