Swedish compulsory school for students with intellectual disability (ID) has been criticized for focusing on care and not presenting the students with enough knowledge-related challenges. The purpose of this study is to investigate how a conceptually-based mathematics curriculum can be interpreted and constructed for students with ID. A total of 18 mathematics lessons in 6 classes forstudents with ID were filmed, and the teachers were interviewed in connection with the lessons. Aqualitative content analysis approach was used to identify aspects of mathematical competency content and to analyze the teaching. Three major groups of teaching strategies are identified: pedagogical mathematics activities, focusing on students’ perceptions of mathematical content, and encouraging dialogue between students.
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 are used to formulate children’s various educational needs, and how can these concepts be understood?’ Supported by an ecological analysis model, complex situations in the categorisation and problem-solving process are clarified. Using terminology to refer to pupils’ diverse abilities and needs involves aspects of categorising. An understanding of how this works may bring more profound knowledge of obstacles to children’s learning. The categorisation process illustrates effects both at individual level and more generally. Categorisation may be regarded as a useful practice for understanding children’s differences better, and thereby finding the best ways of responding to them. However, categorisation based on abilities and needs also adds a challenge to the important idea of inclusion. The article discusses categorisation as a basis for educational problem-solving and the implications of categorising children’s varying abilities and experience of school education. The theoretical premises enhance understanding of the dynamic nature of terminology usage, and thus future prospects of meeting challenges that may arise, in schools.
I detta kapitel presenteras och diskuteras resultat från den studie om barns tidiga pedagogiska övergångar som ligger till grund för kapitlet. Syftet i den studien var att fördjupa kunskapen om hur barn med olika förutsättningar kan uppfattas och förstås vid pedagogiska övergångar, särskilt avseende hinder och utmaningar. Data insamlades genom fokuserade gruppintervjuer med lärare från förskola, förskoleklass och första klass i grundskolan. En kvalitativ ansats valdes och det teoretiska ramverket i studien var influerat av ett ekologiskt synsätt på barns lärande och utveckling. Lärarna såg hinder och utmaningar som är ett resultat av interaktioner mellan barnets egenskaper och miljöförhållanden. Resultatet visar även att den ekologiska utgångspunkten var användbar för att synliggöra faktorer och förhållanden som medverkade till hinder och utmaningar på olika sätt.
Syftet med kapitlet är att diskutera och problematisera frågor som rör kategoriseringsprocesser i pedagogiska praktiker med utgångspunkt från två ekologiska analysmodeller. Med exempel från empiriska studier där dessa modeller används, diskuteras begreppsanvändning i pedagogiska verksamheter samt de utmaningar som kan uppstå i samband med barns lärande och sociala utveckling. Det handlar om en interaktivitet mellan olika komponenter i en kategoriseringsprocess och analysmodellerna synliggör detta.
This chapter presents issues regarding diversity and inclusion from different perspectives, involving various aspects of children and young people’s learning and development related to educational transitions and practices. Several factors and conditions are highlighted as part of the explanation of how diversity can be understood and addressed pedagogically in different educational transitions. The chapter takes into account important issues on meeting diversity from an inclusive perspective with regard to the variety of cultural, socio-economic and individual conditions relating to young children’s learning and development.
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 a historical perspective. School health reports from the 1940s to the 1980s in this document study constituted the empirical data material on which the discussion in this article is based. An ecological model of analysis was used with the main analytical tools: concept use, curricula, documentation routines, experts and educational support measures. The various tools elucidate the context to which the categorisation may be related, and show that social, cultural, medical and psychological influences contributed to what were identified, observed and documented as children’s ‘problems’ at school from the school health services’ point of view. On the basis of the empirical study and the components pinpointed by the analytical tool, present-day terminology of children’s ‘problems’ in Swedish schools today is discussed and problematised. © 2020, © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
In this chapter issues from a study about teachers’ perceptions of children’s diversity in different educational settings are discussed. The chapter also focuses on how these issues can be understood from an ecological point of view. The theoretical framework, used in the referred study, was influenced by an ecological approach to understand children's capabilities in relation to transitions and the learning process. The empirical data originates from focused thema interviews with 36 teacher from preschool, preschool class and first grade in primary school. The result shows that teachers’ perceptions of children´s different capabilites and experiences were influenced by factors from micro to macro level and emphasised the complexity of a dynamic process. Obstacles regarding children's learning and development changed from preschool to first grade in primary school. Teachers' perceptions of diversity involve both ideas of including and also excluding processes, besides dimensions linked to identity and social relations but also changes related to different educational settings. What teachers perceive as "problems", challenges and implications for measures in different educational settings can be of valuable knowledge for all professionals who are interested in children's learning journeys from preschool to school.
This qualitative in-depth study is a follow-up and evaluation of the “intervention guarantee” in the city of Västerås, Sweden. The work based upon that task is the starting point for this report. The aim of the study is to deepen the understanding of the problems linked to the question: Why do some children, despite interventions, not attain the goal – the ability to read, write, and do arithmetic by the end of the third grade? An interpretive approach was applied to fulfill the aim of the study. Empirical data were collected in two ways: qualitative interviews with teachers and special needs educators, and an ethnographic case study including participant observation, interviews with teachers, and collection of documents. Supported by the interviews with each teacher category – special needs educators and classroom teachers in grades 3 and 4 – and the results of the case study, a picture emerges of how the schools respond to children who do not attain learning objectives in the relevant areas of knowledge and what may facilitate or prevent their positive development. The study shows that concerted efforts are being made in the “reading, writing, arithmetic” area in the schools. Many of them have comprehensive educational programmes intended to ensure that children who face obstacles in the language, writing, reading and arithmetic process will attain learning objectives. Constructive cooperation between classroom teachers and special needs educators is usually found in the most successful schools. Another “picture” also emerges in the interviews about the schools’ capacity to meet all the needs of different children: respondents identified factors including lack of resources and inadequate teaching skills development as explanations for why various children do not achieve goals at school.
In this chapter we explore teachers’ perceptions of children’s diversity in different educational settings. Using interviews with teachers from Swedish preschools, preschool classes and the first grade in primary school, we aim to study transitions in school from the perspectives of several actors. The theoretical framework we employ is influenced by an ecological approach to understanding children’s needs in educational transitions. The teachers’ reflections on these three transitions emphasised the importance of context when responding to children’s needs. The teachers also described transitions as dynamic processes in which factors and conditions at different levels interact.
Children all around the world pass through a number of transitions in educational systems. These transitions are organised in different ways in different countries. In Sweden, children pass through three school forms in early childhood education: preschool, preschool class and primary school. In a research project funded by the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish POET group conducted case studies in three municipalities, using participant observations, semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews. The aim has been to deepen the understanding of children’s learning journeys from preschool into school. A second aim has been to examine the long-term implications of educational practices across the transitions for children’s learning and participation. In this chapter, some findings from the research project are presented. The results show how the complex structure of Swedish early childhood education creates challenges for children and their learning journeys.
What do we know about children’s perspectives on starting school? This chapter reports and discusses findings from an ethnographic case study, aiming to deepen the understanding of how different children perceive the transition to school with regard to social as well as academic aspects. The theoretical framework is leaning on an interactional perspective, where children’s learning and development are seen to take place in a dynamic and ecological system. The reported results are based on interviews with 23 children, before and after their entrance in primary school, and on observed teaching situations in preschool class and grade 1. Research among children demands special ethical considerations, such as how to avoid that questions and interest from the researcher affect the position of children that are vulnerable in some way. The findings show that, within a group of children, facing the same educational settings and the transition between them, there are significant differences between the experiences expressed by the children.The findings presented support the importance of listen to children, when planning educational settings and the transitions between them.
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. The result shows there is a lack of sharing information and experiences, between preschool class and grade 1, concerning reading and writing activities and instructions. The teachers’ perspectives on reading and writing instruction can be described as pluralistic, in the sense that each teacher refers to several strategies and approaches to promote learning and development related to reading and writing. The variation of children appears to give meaning to the work of the teachers in the study, though it also is associated with challenges e.g. the experience of being alone and not sufficient to support children’s different abilities, experiences and needs. According to teachers in the study, the additional support in schools is more remedial than preventive since the resources are mainly invested in older students.
This article reports findings from an ethnographic study aiming to deepen the understanding of the transition from preschool into school, with special regard to participation and learning, from the perspective of students and teachers involved. The results show that, although children appear well prepared and comfortable facing school, a system that requires two transitions within one year is problematic given the change in activities, roles, and relationships for children. In terms of literacy activities, preschool and Year 1 are weakly linked and there is no arena for teachers to develop a common ground for pedagogical discussion, a “borderland”.
This study is interested in teachers’ use of digital technology for differentiation of teaching in early school years, focusing in particular on teaching reading and writing. The study is qualitative in nature and is based on field studies in grade 2 (aged eight), along with focus groups involving teachers who work with and around pupils. Two research questions have served as a guideline for the study: 1. What characterises teachers’ experiences and didactic usage of digital technology when teaching children (to read and write), and 2. How is digital technology used to promote different dimensions of reading and writing processes? The results show that teachers use digital technology to differentiate teaching in various ways; by illustrating, motivating, individualising and making the didactic content accessible, for example. Digital technology is used when teaching children to read and write in order to promote both individual skills and activities promoting communication and creating meaning. Digital technology appears to provide opportunities for teachers to offer particular support within the classroom framework and offer pupils tasks at custom levels, thereby helping to provide a more inclusive didactic space. This study highlights teachers’ somewhat ambivalent approach and balancing of different didactic choices in relation to digital technology.