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 a largely unexplored topic. This article contributes by reporting on an interview study with 21 experienced special educators. The study focuses on the educators’ perceptions of their relationships and relational competence. Two research questions (RQs) are explored: (1) What is the role of social relationships in (successful) work as a special educator? and (2) How is the relational competence of special educators realised in practice? The results are presented in themes and subthemes, and are supported by significant quotes. Regarding RQ 1, the study shows that the informants perceive positive social relationships as fundamental in their work and relational competence as particularly important in their profession. The results for RQ 2 show that relational competence is realised by an accepting attitude in the ‘here and now’; by finding a personal connection to the student; and by building trusting relationships over a longer period of time. Comments on implications for special education teacher preparation are provided.
In the context of the North Rhine-Westphalian school reform towards an inclusive education system, this article problematises the practice of categorisation. Our research aims to investigate the assessment of special educational needs (SEN) and thereby enrich the discussion of the relation between inclusion and diagnostics. For this study, we interviewed 14 SEN investigators and five decision-makers. We discuss the results on the basis of a qualitative content analysis and against the background of Fleck’s concept of thought styles. We mainly found inertia in special education traditions, expressed in the use of intelligence tests, the dominance of SEN teachers in the assessment process and the lack of participation of parents and pupils. We conclude that it is necessary to reform the SEN assessment rules. At the same time, we see major challenges in transforming existing thought styles into a more flexible and decategorising approach.
Including vulnerable groups of students such as students with learning disabilities in mainstream school research, require ethical considerations and questionnaire adaptation. These students are often excluded, due to low understanding or methodologies generating inadequate data. Students with disability need be studied as a separate group and provided accessible questionnaires. This pilot study aims at developing and evaluating student self-reported measures, rating aspects of student experiences of school-based Physical Education (PE). Instrument design, reliability and validity were examined in Swedish secondary school students (n = 47) including students, aged 13, with intellectual disability (n = 5) and without impairment and test–retested on 28 of these students. Psychometric results from the small pilot-study sample were confirmed in analyses based on replies from the first wave of data collection in the main study (n = 450). Results show adequate internal consistency, factor structure and relations between measures. In conclusion, reliability and validity were satisfactory in scales to measure self-efficacy in general, in PE, and aptitude to participate. Adapting proxy ratings for functioning into self-reports indicated problems. Adequacy of adjustments made were confirmed and a dichotomous scale for typical/atypical function is suggested for further analyses.
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 students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), few studies have examined how these relationships develop. In this qualitative study, teachers from two Swedish elementary schools comprising one intervention (n = 33) and one control group (n = 20) completed pre- and post-tests in which they analysed videos of teacher–student interactions. We explored how the teachers understood relational competence in relation to students with ADHD before and after the video-based intervention, which included a presentation on the concept of relational competence and a model for analysing such competence. Our findings suggest that the intervention promoted teacher development regarding relational competence. Compared with the pre-test period, participants i) used more nuanced relational language, ii) substantiated their claims with concrete cues regarding interpersonal communication, and iii) adopted both teacher and student perspectives regarding the relationship. Finally, new understanding regarding relational competence was combined with knowledge regarding the importance of teacher sensitivity and responsiveness when working with students with ADHD.
Based on street-level bureaucracy, this study investigates the paraprofessional role and assignments in self-contained classrooms for students with intellectual disabilities in Sweden. The research design contains a mixed method approach using a digital questionnaire for paraprofessionals (N = 60) and semi-structured interviews with four special teachers and five paraprofessionals. The results demonstrate that paraprofessionals cooperate with special needs teachers and have a supportive role working with students throughout the day. A lack of support for paraprofessionals’ professional development and few opportunities for them to co-plan, co-teach and co-assess with special needs teachers is said to hinder this advancement. The complexity of being both an educator in the classroom and a caregiver taking the responsibility for students’ wellbeing, peer-to-peer relations and care orientated work tasks are discussed.