Elever med utländsk bakgrund presterar genomsnittligt lägre i läsförståelse än elever med inhemsk bakgrund. Föreliggande studie ämnar bidra med kunskap om skolors arbete med flerspråkiga elever som möter svårigheter med läsning och skrivning. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur grundskolor i en kommun beskriver hur de arbetar med att förebygga läs- och skrivsvårigheter, identifiera läs- och skrivsvårigheter samt hur de arbetar med stödinsatser för att utveckla elevers läs- och skrivförmåga. En webbenkät skickades till samtliga skolor i en kommun. En litteracitetsmodell, som innefattar olika aspekter av läsning och skrivning med utgångspunkt i ett sociokulturellt perspektiv, användes för att analysera kodknäckande och meningsskapande undervisningspraktiker. Resultaten visar på ett behov av att utveckla skolornas arbete inom två viktiga områden. Det första är att utveckla arbetet med att tillvarata flerspråkiga elevers olika språkliga och sociokulturella resurser samt deras erfarenheter. Det andra är att förbättra samarbetet med modersmålslärare och studiehandledare. Studiens huvudslutsats är att skolor, genom att tillvarata elevers olika språkliga och kulturella resurser, rimligtvis kan förbättra stödet till flerspråkiga elever i deras läs-och skrivutveckling.

Schools’ teaching practices for multilingual pupils experiencing difficulties in their literacy development process

The aim of the present study is to investigate how the elementary schools in one municipality describe how they work to prevent difficulties with literacy development, to identify specific reading and writing difficulties among multilingual pupils and how they work to develop their literacy skills. A questionnaire was sent to all schools in the municipality (response rate, 77 %). A literacy model within a sociocultural theoretical framework was used in the analysis of codebreaking and meaning-making practices. The results show the need for schools to improve their capability in two crucial areas: firstly, to better utilize the students’ different linguistic resources and sociocultural experiences, and secondly to improve the collaboration with mother tongue teachers and study guidance tutors. The main conclusion is that the schools can improve their practices by taking advantage of the students’ linguistic resources to a greater extent, which plausibly can support these students’ literacy development.

Från inledningen: Likvärdighet är ett nyckelbegrepp i dagens skoldebatt. Hur skapas förutsättningar för en likvärdig utbildning där alla elever får utvecklas i linje med skolans sociala mål och samtidigt ges möjlighet att nå kunskapsmålen och bli behöriga för vidare utbildning? Detta är en utmaning för alla skolor men för vissa är det svårt, eller till och med mycket svårt, att klara uppdraget. Våren 2021 lämnade nästan en fjärdedel (23,9%) av eleverna grundskolan utan att vara behöriga i alla ämnen (Skolverket, 2021). Genomströmningen i gymnasieskolan har ökat om en jämförelse görs mellan första årskullen som slutförde Gy 2011 (71,6%) fram till den senaste årskullen våren 2021 (79,6%) (Skolverket, 2021). Trots detta, kan vi konstatera att var femte elev inte klarar gymnasieutbildningen inom tre år.

The aim of the research was to explore how 55 Swedish independent schools, directed at (or limited to) students in need of special support (SNSS), describe their organisation, work and visions. The empirical data of the research consisted of the schools' website presentations, which were processed and analysed in consecutive steps. The results showed that the students' complicated school- and life situations were often combined with disabilities mainly in the neuropsychiatric field. The majority of the schools (76%) practiced both schooling and methods for treatment and care, differentiating their role from the mainstream track. Neuropsychiatric and psychological perspectives had a significant influence, reflected in how the schools describe their daily routines, therapeutic methods of treatment and access to specific categories of staff. Small groups, individual instruction and competent staff were described as specific features. Teaching content and didactic aspects were seldom highlighted. The focus on the websites was on socialisation and subjectification while qualification, i.e. knowledge development, had a more limited role. The study points to a need for further research exploring daily pedagogical practice in more depth and calls for a greater focus on student perspectives. Consequences for learning contexts are discussed in the concluding part of the article. The specialist role, the independent schools in the present study tended to take on are most urgent issues to discuss in an educational context striving for equity and inclusive learning environments. 

During the development of research to compare the processes and impact of inclusive education in Sweden with results obtained from a study undertaken in Ireland, a pilot study was conducted and documented. The pilot study had three aims: (1) to gather data to provide guidance for a substantive study adapted to Swedish conditions through modification of Irish research procedures and instruments, (2) to critically interrogate how we as researchers could most effectively conduct a pilot study utilizing observational and video-recorded data, and (3) to use the Irish theoretical model as a tool of analysis for studying inclusion in two Swedish schools. Although pilot studies are frequently conducted to assess the efficacy of research instruments for use in qualitative research projects, few publications have drawn upon empirical findings related to such studies. Additionally, while methodological texts recommend the use of pilot studies in qualitative research, there is a lack of reported research focusing on how to conduct such pilot studies. We argue that our methodological findings may contribute to greater awareness of the important role that a pilot study may have for full-scale qualitative research projects, for example, in case study research where semi-structured qualitative interviews are used. This argument is based on the assumption that researchers, and especially novice researchers, having conducted a pilot study will be better informed and prepared to face the challenges that are likely to arise in the substantive study and more confident in the instruments to be used for data collection. A proper analysis of the procedures and results from the pilot study facilitates the identification of weaknesses that may be addressed. A carefully organized and managed pilot study has the potential to increase the quality of the research as results from such studies can inform subsequent parts of the research process.

Den specialpedagogiska yrkesrollen medför ofta en rik flora av arbetsuppgifter och varierande uppdrag. Det saknas dock tydliga riktlinjer för yrkesrollen, vilket gör att den kan tolkas på olika sätt. Hur skolan identifierar och hanterar skolproblem, blir därför avgörande för hur det specialpedagogiska uppdraget ser ut. Det väcker i sin tur frågan om vilka konsekvenserna blir för utvecklingen av en inkluderande undervisning, som främjar alla elevers optimala lärande och delaktighet.

Ett forskningsprojekt, bestående av tre olika delstudier, har riktat sitt fokus mot ”Speciella yrken”. Främst har specialpedagoger och speciallärare deltagit, men även resurslärare var involverade i en av delstudierna. Efter två genomförda enkätstudier, valdes sex respondenter ut för fördjupade fallstudier. Observationer, intervjuer, informella samtal, inspelade dagboksanteckningar och dokument utgjorde datamaterialet. Samtliga sex deltagare var anställda eller arbetade som specialpedagoger.

Det övergripande syftet var att undersöka hur specialpedagogrollen konstitueras i grundskolans vardagliga och lokala praktiker. Följande forskningsfrågor ställdes:

- Vilka kontextuella villkor och förutsättningar bidrar till att forma specialpedagogers yrkesroll?

- Vilka strategier använder specialpedagoger sig själva av för att stärka och forma sin yrkesroll?

- Vilka arbetsuppgifter ingår i specialpedagogers vardagspraktik?

Resultatet pekar på att flera kontextuella dimensioner (situerade, professionella, materiella och externa) bidrar till att skapa olika förutsättningar för specialpedagogers arbete. Hit hör bland annat skolans historiska, socioekonomiska och kulturella miljö, organiseringen av specialpedagogiskt arbete och inte minst rektors ledarskap och visioner, samt rektors inställning till elever i svårigheter och tilltron till specialpedagogens styrkor.

Samtidigt visar forskningsresultaten på att specialpedagogerna använder sig av egna strategier för att ta kontrollen över sina arbetsuppgifter. Det handlar om personliga intressen, erfarenheter och kompetenser. Vidare rör det sig om förmågan att bygga relationer, att kunna inta ett självständigt ledarskap och att fungera som en stödjande länk mellan olika kontexter, nivåer och aktörer inom och utanför skolan.

With the increasing focus on inclusion, special needs educators (SNEs) are now expected to share responsibility for pupils with teacher colleagues and to lead school development, but it is a challenge to enact this role in schools. The aim of the study was to explore how professional roles of Swedish SNEs are enacted in local school contexts. From a survey of SNEs in 10 Swedish municipalities, six participants whose work tasks were expected to correspond to the degree ordinances for their university training were chosen. The participants were followed at work, and data were collected through observation of the participants at work, participants’ diaries and interviews with the participants, their teacher colleagues and their school principals. The analysis involved both quantitative and qualitative methods. First, based on the researchers’ observations of the participants at work, categories of SNEs’ tasks were discerned, and the amount of time devoted to those categories of tasks was summarised. Second, case study narratives of the SNEs’ work were constructed to describe how the participants, their teacher colleagues and their school principals view the SNE role and to describe how the work is enacted in various school contexts. The results revealed seven categories of work tasks practised to varying degrees by the six SNEs. The case study narratives exposed large variation in how the SNEs conceptualised their role and how it evolved in relation to local school contexts. The results of the study are discussed with regard to the role of the SNE in relation to policies of inclusion.

Special needs educators (SNEs) and their counterparts are expected to play a significant role in schools’ work towards inclusive practices. Studies do, however, indicate a rather diversified picture regarding the occupational groups assigned to work with special support and their workroles, within and between different countries. In Sweden, one can differentiate between two such occupational groups, SNEs with qualifications in special educational needs at advanced level and support teachers (SuTs) with varying teacher education and education in special educational needs. The aims of this article are to investigate the occurrence of SNEs and SuTs within the compulsory school system in 10 municipalities in Sweden and the occupational roles of those SNEs and SuTs in relation to the inclusion agenda. A questionnaire was sent out in 2012 to all SNEs and SuTs in 10 municipalities (n = 511, response rate 61.6%). Main results indicate that: (a) there is wide variation between municipalities regarding the extent to which SNEs or SuTs are assigned to work with special support; (b) the characteristics of the occupational role of SNEs are more in line with inclusive practices than those of the role of SuTs; (c) there is consensus between the two occupational groups regarding what they think should characterize the occupational role of SNEs; (d) SNEs consider, more than do the SuTs themselves, that the role of SuTs should be more in line with that of a “traditional special-education teacher”. Results are discussed in relation to Thomas Skrtic’s theoretical accounts of inclusive education and Andrew Abbott’s notion of jurisdictional control.