Principals' perspectives of inclusive education involving students with autism spectrum conditions – a Swedish case study

PurposeThe aim of this case study is to describe what commitment and actions are needed in the Swedish school so that principals — within the Swedish school policy framework and with the goal of creating an inclusive school culture and practice — can positively affect schooling for students with disabilities, with a particular focus on students with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). Three research questions guide the study: (1) What commitment and actions do principals consider important for developing an inclusive school for all students, with a particular focus on students with ASC? (2) How do the principals reflect on their own leadership in the development of inclusive education, with a particular focus on students with ASC? (3) Based on the results, what are the implications of the study in practice?Design/methodology/approachAs part of a three-step data collection method, a snowball sampling was conducted in which n = 6 principals were initially interviewed and the data analyzed by an inductive thematic content analysis.Findings(1) Certain structures are needed when planning how to develop mutual values when organizing an inclusive school involving students with ASC, (2) the principals could, at times, feel a sense of loneliness in relation to their superiors and decision-makers and (3) more accountability from educators and greater consideration for the student perspective in decision-making are needed.Practical implicationsIt was found that (1) certain structures are needed when planning how to develop mutual values when organizing an inclusive school involving students with ASC, (2) the principals could, at times, feel a sense of isolation in relation to their superiors and decision-makers and (3) more accountability from educators and greater consideration for the student perspective in decision-making are needed.Originality/valueIndex for inclusion and elements from the inclusive leadership model were used in the data collection and analysis.

Pupils as subjects or objects: Policy changes in the area of pupils influence

The aim of this article is to describe and analyse how policy changes in the three latest Swedish compulsory school, preschool class, and school-age educare curricula affect the political goal of pupil influence. This is done with an interest in implications for utterances of power relations and for didactical considerations for living and learning democracy in school. This article analyses pupil influence by using theories of democracy, power, and didactics. The method used is content analysis. The empirical results show that pupil influence in the curricula is linked to seven concepts: democracy, value, norm, rights, responsibility, influence, participation. Our conclusion is that only small differences exist in terms of the central concepts mentioned in the curricula linked to pupil influence. Secondly, we found a policy shift with respect to the pupils, i.e., viewing pupils as subjects or objects. Thirdly, we found a shift in how learning is viewed in the curricula and the type of didactical questions that are in focus, which illuminates a change in utterances of power relations that challenges possibilities for living and learning democracy in Swedish school education.

The Educational Practice of School-Age Educare Teachers Teaching Visual Art in Swedish Primary Schools

The purpose of this article is to increase the understanding of the challenges that Swedish school-age educare teachers with a certification in visual art experience in their everyday school practice. The study focus on the educational practice of teaching visual art from a holistic perspective which also includes the teachers’ perception of their overall work situation and their professional identity. Due to dual professional roles, these teachers are not only required to meet the criteria formulated in the syllabus of the subject visual art, but also to achieve the goals for the educare centre (National Agency of Education, 2019). The method used is in-depth individual interviews with nine teachers, together with observations of visual art lectures and the physical and material environment. The results provide insights into what it means to work as a school-age educare teacher teaching visual art in primary schools, struggling with limited resources and identity conflicts. The study highlights how teachers often end up in a struggle between individual agency and social structures since they have to resist, adjust and negotiate to get acceptable work conditions.

The Kobane Generation: Kurdish Diaspora Mobilising in France

A small Kurdish city located in northern Syria, Kobane, became symbolically significant when ISIS laid siege to the city between September 2014 and January 2015. This pivotal moment in the fight against ISIS threw the international spotlight on the Kurds. The Kobane Generation analyses how Kurdish diaspora communities mobilised in France after the breakout of the Syrian civil war and political unrest in Turkey and Iraq in the 2010s. Tens of thousands of people, mostly but not exclusively diaspora Kurds, demonstrated in major European capitals, expressed their solidarity with Kobane, and engaged in transnational political activism towards Kurdistan. In this book, Mari Toivanen discusses a series of critical events that led to different forms of transnational participation towards Kurdistan. The focus of this book is particularly on how diaspora mobilisations became visible among the second generation, the descendants of Kurdish migrants. The book addresses important questions, such as why second-generation members felt the need to mobilise and what kind of transnational participation this led to. How did the transnational participation and political activism of the second generation differ from that of their parents, and is such activism simply diasporic or also related to more global changes in political activism? The Kobane Generation offers important insights on the generational dynamics of political mobilisations and their significance to understanding diaspora contributions. More broadly, it sheds light on second-generation political activism beyond the diaspora context, analysing it in relation to global transformations in political subjectivities. Mari Toivanen (PhD) currently works as Academy Research Fellow at the Swedish School of Social Science, University of Helsinki. She has conducted ethnographic research on a wide range of migration-related topics, focusing on diaspora mobilisation, transnational connections and activities, second generation migrants, and questions of identity and belonging.

BLUEPRINTS FOR CHANGE: WHAT MULTICULTURAL EXPERIENCE OFFERS INSTRUCTORS OF PRE-SERVICE EARLY EDUCATION TEACHERS

This research is part of a long-term study focused on the redesign of pre-service early teacher education based on observations of schools that use a multicultural inclusive model. The Swedish school highlighted in this research provides a case study in how international standards are appraised by education stakeholders (researchers, educators, the local community, etc.) and then transformed into curricula in local practice. The key to this Swedish approach is the emphasis on democratic values in education. This gives the educators at the preschool in question a traditional “Swedish” basis for their progressive efforts to rise to the challenges presented by their multicultural student body, challenges they meet by creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere for all members of the school community, students, teachers, and parents alike. The goal is to make each person feel valued and included in the educational process. The emphasis is on inclusivity for all, whatever their background, religion or socio-economic status. The approach of the Ringmuren Forskolan is presented as a potential model for institutions that have the responsibility of preparing pre-service teachers for their work in an increasingly multicultural world.