Beskrivelse
PUPIL PERSPECTIVES ON INCLUSIVE EDUCATIONAuthors of proposal
Anette Boye Koch and Jens Hansen Lund
Background
The overall international trend is towards a more inclusive education, and the effects of inclusion on students with and without special educational needs is evaluated in a variety of studies with focus on academic achievement or socio-emotional development from an adult point of view (see Ruijs and Peetsma 2009 or Dansk Clearinghouse for Uddannelsesforskning 2013 for systematic reviews).
Aim
This presentation considers some socio-emotional outcomes of inclusive education in four Danish public schools from a pupil perspective.
Research Questions
How do pupils with and without special educational needs talk of inclusive education initiatives?
What do they consider important in order to experience inclusion?
How do pupils experience teacher’s impact on qualitative inclusion?
Theory and Method
The study is performed with base in phenomenology and in a mixed-methods set up as a supplement to a comprehensive quantitative survey asking professionals and parents their views on the inclusive education strategy in a public school municipality in Denmark. Qualitative inclusion is defined with reference to theory of Alenkær, 2010.
Ten pupils with mild to moderate special needs and nine pupils without special needs were invited to participate in focus group interviews considering their everyday life in school. The interviews were based on informed consent and voluntary participation.
The pupils were asked to explain the organization of their school aided by prefabricated illustrations depicting school buildings, classrooms, teachers and pupils that could be arranged on a table in different ways.
They were encouraged to share stories from their everyday life in a semi-structured fashion considering friendships, psychological well-being, teacher roles and experiences of qualitative inclusion.
Preliminary findings
Qualitative inclusion is experienced when teachers consider and pay attention to the directedness and the well-being of pupils and support friendships and sense of community in an almost invisible manner. When teachers try to hard, or if their intentions are too evident, the pupils are embarrassed. Teachers are not considered role models, but they may support the psychological inclusion and the well-being of pupils by creating special moments in the classroom with time and space for appreciative dialogue and shared attention towards pupil perspectives.
| Periode | mar. 2015 |
|---|---|
| Begivenhedstype | Konference |
| Placering | Gøteborg, SverigeVis på kort |