ADHD as lived Experience in School Contexts: Exploring Instruction and Participation: Part of symposium at session Q23, "Participation and agency in instructional settings: Perspectives of diagnosed children"

The ambition of this paper is to study the in situ practices that emerge in inclusive classrooms in Denmark where children
diagnosed with ADHD are participating and, as a part of this, to examine the situated experiences of the diagnosed
children. By analyzing sequences of instructional practice, the paper aims at contributing to shedding light upon the
complex contextual factors of instructional approaches and learning for all in inclusive schools. A background for this
interest is the many claims in literature and public debate regarding the impact of the presence of this group of children in
mainstream classrooms, recently accentuated as a large number of children diagnosed with ADHD formerly referred to
special education are now, as a result of the overall inclusion strategy in Denmark, attending mainstream schools. The
sociocultural analysis of this paper focuses on processes of participation in school activities and on how the participation of
diagnosed children is mediated by both instructional approaches and by the diagnosed children’s intentional agency.
Findings show that the capacity of participation in learning activities of diagnosed children can change several times during
a day relative to teachers’ instructional approaches, and that problems with peer interplay have consequences on
motivation and concentration for the diagnosed children. The implications for both instructional approaches and inclusion
policy are discussed.