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.

The aim of this study was to collect and analyze research on inclusive education from the perspective of parents of students with intellectual disability (ID). The review examined characteristics and trends related to geographical origin of research, design, data collection, publication source and year, source of data, age of individuals with ID, and research focus. The initial database search produced a total of 2,540 non-duplicated articles published between 1994 and 2019. In total, 63 articles were included from the initial search and a subsequent ancestry search. The results show a significant increase in publication on the topic in the final one-tenth of the review time parameter, suggesting a continued upward trend. The majority of articles were qualitative in design, used interviews and surveys to collect data, and focus on the perspectives and beliefs of parents on inclusive education. Gaps in the existing set of research included a lack of family perspectives beyond that of mothers (e.g. father, grandparent) and a limited focus beyond perspectives and beliefs, to that of parent experiences of inclusive education.

Research shows that the quality of the teacher-student relationship is crucial to students’ learning and development, especially for students in need of special support. In Scandinavia, the concept of relational competence is increasingly used to define a teacher’s ability to build supportive relationships. In this article, relational competence is discussed in the context of special education. The article investigates how relational competence is described in the curriculum for special education teacher training. Syllabuses (n = 142) at all Swedish universities that have programs in special education (n = 11) are included in the analysis, with a focus on the learning goals (n = 857). Content analysis provides both an overall and a more in-depth picture. The first study shows that there are relatively few learning goals relevant to relational competence. For example, the key concepts “relation,” “participation,” and “empathy” are very rarely used, and “care” and “trust” are completely absent. The second study shows, among other findings, that relevant content mainly concerns the special educator as a qualified interlocutor vis-à-vis colleagues. Hardly any goals include teacher–student or teacher–parent relationships. On the whole, the results indicate that relational competence is a neglected topic in this discourse, and that it has a fairly narrow focus. The implications of this lack are discussed, and suggestions for improvement are added. 

Special needs teacher (SNT) in special school for students with intellectual disability (ID) is a new profession, which has not been explored to greater extent and therefore it is important to highlight their professional role. The aim was to analyze what characterizes the SNTs work and assignments and what collaborations they engage in inside and outside the special school. Changes made to the policy document of the National Agency of Education 2011 and set new demands on SNTs, with stronger focus on skill assessment and improving the academic performance of students with ID. International research has also noted a trend towards an increased focus on academic skills in the teaching of students with ID. To collect data of SNT’s perceptions about competence, school assignments and collaboration, a questionnaire was constructed. The study group consisted of 88 respondents with special needs teacher degrees from three universities in southern Sweden. Lipsky's concept (1980) 'street level bureauucracy' constitutes the theoretical framework. The results showed that most SNTs had long work experience from a special school for ID before they started the special needs training program. When SNTs describe their work and assignments, classroom education is in the forefront. Other assignments e.g., supervision or subjectdevelopment exist, but not to the same extent as classroom teaching. It is also common for SNTs to collaborate with professionals both inside and outside the special school. A significant difference exists in interaction between primary and upper secondary school, as they have a common principal. One conclusion that was drawn was that SNTs have many collaboration partners, possess many different skills, and most of them continue as class teachers after the special needs teacher’s degree.

Innehållet i artikeln lyfter betydelsen av att alla elever ges möjlighet att utöva inflytande i det egna lärandet. Lärarens relationskompetens betonas som en central aspekt i lärmiljön för att skapa undervisning som ger eleverna möjlighet att påverka undervisningens utformning och innehåll. I arbetet med elevers aktiva medverkan i lärandeprocessen beskrivs utvecklande av metakognitiva strategier och kamratlärande som framgångsrika arbetssätt. Genom artiklen får läsaren möjlighet att reflektera över er egen undervisning i syfte att öka elevers inflytande samt hur utvärdering och återkoppling kan användas som stöd i arbetet. Syftet är att läsaren utvecklar en djupare medvetenhet kring hur olika förutsättningar som ges för elever att utveckla kunskap om och förståelse för sin egen lärprocess kan bidra till ett ökat lärande.

The aim of this research is to analyze teachers’ and paraprofessionals’ work and reflections on assessments for learning in a Swedish compulsory special school. Research has shown that assessment for learning is a powerful tool to improve student achievement. The theoretical perspectives discuss concepts such as situated learning and collaboration. The research adopted a participatory design; the researchers followed four teams, totally 20 teachers and paraprofessionals’ work through video observation, discussions, feedback and lectures on assessment. The teams documented classroom teaching and assessment of students' abilities in different subject. The data in this study are based on teams’ written texts. The texts are analyzed using a qualitative content analysis and contribute to research on formative assessment by including teachers as well as paraprofessionals. Results show, that professions have developed their educational philosophy and their ability to give children feedback, which will help their learning. The results also highlight the discussion between learning and caring, regarding the duties of teachers and paraprofessionals. A challenge for the teams is to unite the children’s care needs with the curriculum knowledge requirements and ensure them to learn within a holistic perspective. Teaching and assessing students with extensive learning difficulties and in need of alternative communication is another challenge for the teams as well as awareness that change processes take time. 

Innehållet i artikeln lyfter praktiknära forskning som synliggör hur olika skolor har arbetat med att skapa inkluderande undervisning för att möta elevers olikheter. I denna forskning ger lärare exempel på hur de arbetar med stödjande strukturer i lärmiljön. 

I artikeln belyses även Universal Design for Learning (UDL) som är ett ramverk för inkludering när det gäller planering, genomförande och utvärdering av undervisning. 

The Swedish school system has go through a number of extensive reforms since 2011: a new school legislation and new curriculum for the compulsory school. In 2013 a new career reform was launched with the aim to provide new career paths for teachers within the profession,reward skilled teachers and create conditions for school development. This reform has introduced a new category of teachers - ‘first-teachers’ – which are expected to work with school improvement with the aim to improve student achievement. The study is conducted within the tradition of participatory-oriented research using a research circle as a methodological framework. This paper aims to describe and analyze eight special teachers’experiences of working their first year as “first-teachers” in schools with self-contained classrooms for students with intellectual disabilities. The research circle described in this paperis carried out together with the eight members with myself as the participating researcher. The data presented in this paper is a small portion of data from an ongoing project about “firstteachers”work with school improvement processes. The study is conducted within the tradition of participatory-oriented research using a research circle as a methodological framework. The research issue concerns the questions the participating special teachers ask themselves in their everyday work with together with other special teachers, paraprofessionals and students with intellectual disabilities. In the research conducted in a research circle, the aim is that there should be an interaction between researchers and professionals so that both parties change theirview of the research problem. All participants is working in schools with self-containedclassrooms for students with intellectual disabilities. The work of the research circle is led byme over a period of over two semesters and will include a total of ten meetings and is documented with a digital voice recorder and with field notes. The analysis of the data materialis influenced by the work of Lipsky (2010) on street-level bureaucracy.

Forskningscirkeln har genomförts tillsammans med nio förstelärare från två kommuner som arbetar inom grundsärskola och gymnasiesärskola. Inom ramen forskningscirkeln har de drivit utvecklingsprojekt under läsåret 2016/2017.

Grundsärskola och gymnasiesärskola utgör arenan för deltagarna i forskningscirkeln och de nio förstelärarna har drivit egna utvecklingsprojekt inom sina respektive verksamheter. Trots att de nio förstelärarna arbetar på olika stadier, med olika elevgrupper och utifrån olika förutsättningar samlades de kring några centrala teman. I de olika utvecklingsprojekten har skolutveckling utifrån elevernas delaktighet och inflytande, bedömning för lärande, elevhälsa, kommunikation och kollegialt lärande stått i förgrunden. 

I föreliggande rapport redovisas det uppdrag som under hösten 2016 gavs Högskolan Kristianstad som haft som övergripande syfte att bidra med en extern utvärdering av projektet ”Tecknandemiljö i förskoleklass”. Den externa utvärderingen ska betraktas som ett komplement till den interna utvärderingen som gjorts av projektdeltagarna själva. Uppdraget har genomförts inovember/december 2016, med besök på Parkskolan 23‐24/11och med bearbetning av underlag som samlats in under december 2106.