The purpose of this study is to investigate how five educators define the concepts of inclusion and children in need of special support. The purpose is also to see in what way they in the discursive practice design an inclusive curriculum. The research questions posed were: 1) in what way do educators define the concept of children in need of special support, 2) in what way do educators speak when describing an inclusive preschool and 3) in what way do educators design an inclusive curriculum based on their understanding of the definition of children in need of special support. To answer these questions, we have used a qualitative method where we conducted observations and interviews. The study was based on post structural theory. We analyzed the results based on the educators' linguistic expressions and definitions. The conclusions in this study showed that educators have similar definitions of the concept of inclusion and children in need of special support. Some of these definitions concern children with diagnoses and children without, children with difficulty, special children, children who run away, children who do not follow instructions, children with various physical and cognitive barriers. Furthermore, the results showed that all participants believe that the environment is the most important factor in creating an inclusive curriculum thusly that it is the environment that should be adapted to the child and not the child to the environment.

<p>The purpose of this study is to find whether there is any truth in the thesis that adopted children from abroad is in greater need of special support, in particular regarding factors that might inhibit the language development that may cause language problems.</p><p>To achieve knowledge for this study, the methods have been to seek and analyze literature that discusses theories about language development and language socialization. To understand if theory and reality is cohesive, two interviews was conducted with special teachers that have had experiences teaching adopted children, analyzes of the results contra literature has been somewhat important and necessary. To ensure the reliability the interviews was recorded on tape and later transcribed.</p><p>The results from literature studies indicates that adopted children are more likely to be in need of special support in school due to factors concerning, among other things, adaptation difficulties, language progress and identity. Overall, language progress is depended on children’s total progress that includes physical, emotional and psychological condition. The results of the interviews agree in many aspects and outline the importance of giving such adopted children correct and individual support.</p><p>The conclusions of this study is that adopted children from abroad can, in some cases, be in need of special support in school, but not necessarily just because they are adopted. Language socialization explains how a language is learned and used and in that sense, it’s very important to be aware of the responsibility you have as a teacher to overview large spread of individuals and their progress.</p>

The purpose of this study is to find whether there is any truth in the thesis that adopted children from abroad is in greater need of special support, in particular regarding factors that might inhibit the language development that may cause language problems. To achieve knowledge for this study, the methods have been to seek and analyze literature that discusses theories about language development and language socialization. To understand if theory and reality is cohesive, two interviews was conducted with special teachers that have had experiences teaching adopted children, analyzes of the results contra literature has been somewhat important and necessary. To ensure the reliability the interviews was recorded on tape and later transcribed. The results from literature studies indicates that adopted children are more likely to be in need of special support in school due to factors concerning, among other things, adaptation difficulties, language progress and identity. Overall, language progress is depended on children’s total progress that includes physical, emotional and psychological condition. The results of the interviews agree in many aspects and outline the importance of giving such adopted children correct and individual support. The conclusions of this study is that adopted children from abroad can, in some cases, be in need of special support in school, but not necessarily just because they are adopted. Language socialization explains how a language is learned and used and in that sense, it’s very important to be aware of the responsibility you have as a teacher to overview large spread of individuals and their progress.

This report is going to discuss the relatively new and in schools, frequently debated concept of inclusion. The concept inclusion, easily explained means that all children, regardless of special needs or other conditions should be involved in the schools ordinary environment. In the democratic school of today, the education is supposed to be adapted to every individual and its special needs. The dilemma of the special need education is described as giving all children the same, but at the same time adapt to each and everyone’s differences. This study describes the teachers approach to the concept of inclusion and especially the inclusion of children in need of special support. And the teachers experience of possible advantages and disadvantages in their work to include all children. The method’s that were used to collect the empirical information to this report were qualitative interviews. The questions at issue were: How do the teachers include children in need of special support in the education? The teachers experiences of advantages and disadvantages in the way they work whit inclusion Partly for the children in need of special support Partly for the teachers Partly for the rest of the class

The overall aim of this thesis is to increase our knowledge of different occupational groups´ views on work with children in need of special support. This is explored in four separate studies. The first study investigates the views of occupational groups in preschools and schools in one municipality. A questionnaire was handed out to all personnel (N=1297) in the municipality in 2008 (72.5 % response rate). The second study explores the views of educational leaders (N=45) in the same municipality. Questionnaire # 2 was distributed in 2009. All the educational leaders responded to the questionnaire. The third study describes the views of different occupational groups concerning special educational needs coordinators´ (SENCOs) role and work. This was highlighted by comparing responses from questionnaire #1 and # 2. Responses concerning SENCOs´ work were also added using a third questionnaire. This questionnaire was handed out in 2006 to chief education officers (N=290) in all municipalities in Sweden. The response rate was 90.3%. Finally, the fourth study presents five head teachers´ descriptions of their work with special needs issues. Study four was a follow-up study of questionnaire # 2. These head teachers were selected because of their inclusive values and because they seemed to be effective according to certain criteria. They were interviewed in January 2012. The results reveal a number of interesting findings. For example, there are both similar and different views among the occupational groups concerning work with children in need of special support. A majority of the respondents in all groups state that children´s individual deficiencies is one common reason why children need special support in preschools/schools. Differences between the occupational groups become especially visible regarding their views of SENCOs‟ work. Critical pragmatism (Cherryholmes, 1988) is applied as a theoretical point of departure. Skrtic´s (1991) critical reading and analysis of special education relative to general education is specifically used to interpret and discuss the outcome of the studies. Additionally, Abbott´s (1988) reasoning concerning the “division of expert labor” is used to discuss the occupational groups´ replies concerning “who should do what to whom”. The findings in the studies are contextualized and theoretically interpreted in the separate articles. However in the first part of this thesis (in Swedish: Kappa), the theoretical interpretations of the empirical outcome are discussed in more detail and the results are further contextualized and synthesised. Inclusion and premises for inclusive education are also discussed in more depth in the first part of the present thesis.

The overall aim of this thesis is to increase our knowledge of different occupational groups´ views on work with children in need of special support. This is explored in four separate studies. The first study investigates the views of occupational groups in preschools and schools in one municipality. A questionnaire was handed out to all personnel (N=1297) in the municipality in 2008 (72.5 % response rate). The second study explores the views of educational leaders (N=45) in the same municipality. Questionnaire # 2 was distributed in 2009. All the educational leaders responded to the questionnaire. The third study describes the views of different occupational groups concerning special educational needs coordinators´ (SENCOs) role and work. This was highlighted by comparing responses from questionnaire #1 and # 2. Responses concerning SENCOs´ work were also added using a third questionnaire. This questionnaire was handed out in 2006 to chief education officers (N=290) in all municipalities in Sweden. The response rate was 90.3%. Finally, the fourth study presents five head teachers´ descriptions of their work with special needs issues. Study four was a follow-up study of questionnaire # 2. These head teachers were selected because of their inclusive values and because they seemed to be effective according to certain criteria. They were interviewed in January 2012. The results reveal a number of interesting findings. For example, there are both similar and different views among the occupational groups concerning work with children in need of special support. A majority of the respondents in all groups state that children´s individual deficiencies is one common reason why children need special support in preschools/schools. Differences between the occupational groups become especially visible regarding their views of SENCOs‟ work. Critical pragmatism (Cherryholmes, 1988) is applied as a theoretical point of departure. Skrtic´s (1991) critical reading and analysis of special education relative to general education is specifically used to interpret and discuss the outcome of the studies. Additionally, Abbott´s (1988) reasoning concerning the “division of expert labor” is used to discuss the occupational groups´ replies concerning “who should do what to whom”. The findings in the studies are contextualized and theoretically interpreted in the separate articles. However in the first part of this thesis (in Swedish: Kappa), the theoretical interpretations of the empirical outcome are discussed in more detail and the results are further contextualized and synthesised. Inclusion and premises for inclusive education are also discussed in more depth in the first part of the present thesis.

Inclusion enable children with special needs pursue their education or activities with their peers who are not disabled. Participation of children can be promoted by inclusion. Teachers are key for developing inclusive schools and improve the participation of children with special needs. The aim of this study is to describe strategies teachers use to facilitate participation of children in need of special supports in three ‘inclusive schools’ in Finland. To study this issue, interviews were conducted with eight participants from these three schools. The ICF-CY model was used to analyze the interview data. Results show that teachers’ strategies of promoting children’s participation in these Finnish ‘inclusive’ schools are diverse, teachers use strategies that focus on children’s environmental factors as well as factors that relate to children themselves. Most of teachers believe strategies that make changes on children environmental factors can help children participate in classroom tasks and activities. Some factors to influence difference of the strategies in different schools were found, different school situations and seems to be a decisive role on teachers’ strategies of improving the participation of the children. This study gives a promising view of the actions that teachers take to promote participation of children in need of special support.

The interaction between guardians and educators around children in need of special support In this study, we have investigated how the interaction between guardians and educators work around children in need of special support. Our research questions were 1). What experiences do guardians have of the interaction with educators regarding children in need of special support, 2). What experiences do educators have of the interaction with guardians regarding children in need of special support and 3). What can the interaction between educators and guardians of children with special needs look like? In order to answer these questions, we have used qualitative interviews with three guardians and four educators. In the analysis and reflection on the interviews, we have taken support from Urie Bronfenbrenner´s ecological development model (1979), Säljö – communication as a social act (2000) and Mezirow – transformative learning and communication (1997). The main result of this study in that guardians and educators have different experiences of interactions around children in need of special support. The guardians are looking for more knowledge and care of their children´s need for special support in preschool. The educators strive for a good interaction with the guardians, and they use a variety of different approaches in order to meet the guardians around the  child´s needs.

This study is about the work in the preschool adapted to children in need ofspecial support. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the variousprofessions within the preschool's operations work to promote an equallearning environment adapted to children in need of special support, as well aswhat limitations arise. The study is qualitative and has been based on semistructured interviews. The theoretical framework the study is based on isPractical epistemological analysis as the study's three central concepts arequalification, socialization and personality development which can becompared in relation to the curriculum's three concepts of learning, care, anddevelopment. These three concepts have great importance in relation to thework with learning environments adapted to children in need of specialsupport. The theory is based on meaning creation, which in the results of thestudy we get to see is important in the design of the learning environment. Theresults of the study show that when designing the learning environment, it isimportant to start from the needs that exist in order to create an equal learningenvironment that will benefit every child. It is important to know what you aredoing and why in order to develop the learning environment. Knowledge isimportant and by working together with the work team with their variousknowledge, experiences and competences, they constantly strive to create anenvironment that benefits and is the best for the children.

Syftet med min studie är att få en förståelse för vilken syn pedagoger har på arbetet med inkludering av barn i behov av särskilt stöd i förskola och förskoleklass. I studien har jag använt mig av metoden kvalitativa intervjuer för att kunna få en djupare förståelse för hur det inkluderande arbetet kan se ut. Resultatet visar att det grundläggande arbetet med inkludering handlar om att alla barn ska har samma rättigheter till delaktighet oavsett vilken svårighet barnet har. Det visar även i resultatet kring det inkluderande arbetet att det krävs ett stort engagemang och en stor kompetens för att kunna möjliggöra inkludering av barn i behov av särskilt stöd. / The purpose of the study is to get an understanding of which view educators have on the work with inclusion of children in need of special support in the preschool and the preschool classes. In the study I have used the method qualitative interviews to get a deeper understanding for how the including work may look. The result shows that the basic work with inclusion is that all children shall have the same rights to inclusion regardless of which difficulty the child has. It also shows that the including work requires a large involvement and competence to enable inclusion of children in need of special support.