The aim of this thesis is to, based on teachers’ experiences, describe and analyse meanings of teachers’ leadership in general, and in relation to children in need of special support in particular. The study was carried out within the tradition of participatory-oriented research, a research circle. The dialogues in the circle were based on the participants’ questions, experiences, interests, and knowledge. The circle included a researcher and nine teachers from the following types of schools: preschool, preschool class, compulsory school, and compulsory school for pupils with learning disabilities. The study is based on an understanding of leadership as a relational practice. Leadership is practised in the interaction between teacher and child. Both parties exert influence over the practice of leadership. A central assumption in the study is that knowledge can develop through and in interactions between people, that knowledge and power are connected, and that knowledge and actions are intertwined. Another central assumption is that learning is a complex phenomenon. In the analysis of the research circle’s dialogues, the following meanings of teachers’ leadership emerge: to facilitate learning and discipline, and to promote different interests. The practice of leadership involves teachers handling complex situations in their interactions with ‘all’ children, i.e. children in need of special support and children without such needs. Leadership is practised between teachers and children, and the teachers have to consider the group of children as a collective in relation to the individual children. At the same time, the teachers have to consider their intentions versus what happens during the interactions. In addition, the teachers have to pay heed to the fact that their own actions and the children’s actions influence one another. Finally, the teachers have to consider the individual child’s ‘best interest’ in relation to the requirements of the policy documents. Furthermore, the results indicate that the practice of leadership is perceived as both unpredictable and, to some extent, predictable at the same time, which adds to the complexity of leadership. The teachers cannot know for sure what the children understand or if the children’s actions facilitate learning. However, the teachers can make certain assumptions about how to practice leadership in order to facilitate learning and discipline in children with different needs. The meanings of leadership were expressed in different ways in the circle’s dialogues; both as enabling and limiting in interactions with children in need of special support. One of the study’s conclusions is that leadership seems to be particularly complex in interactions with children in need of special support. The research circle’s dialogues served to promote a democratic knowledge process. The dialogues were characterised by respect for the participants’ different opinions; however, this does not mean that they were free from power structures.

The aim of this thesis is to, based on teachers’ experiences, describe and analyse meanings of teachers’ leadership in general, and in relation to children in need of special support in particular. The study was carried out within the tradition of participatory-oriented research, a research circle. The dialogues in the circle were based on the participants’ questions, experiences, interests, and knowledge. The circle included a researcher and nine teachers from the following types of schools: preschool, preschool class, compulsory school, and compulsory school for pupils with learning disabilities. The study is based on an understanding of leadership as a relational practice. Leadership is practised in the interaction between teacher and child. Both parties exert influence over the practice of leadership. A central assumption in the study is that knowledge can develop through and in interactions between people, that knowledge and power are connected, and that knowledge and actions are intertwined. Another central assumption is that learning is a complex phenomenon. In the analysis of the research circle’s dialogues, the following meanings of teachers’ leadership emerge: to facilitate learning and discipline, and to promote different interests. The practice of leadership involves teachers handling complex situations in their interactions with ‘all’ children, i.e. children in need of special support and children without such needs. Leadership is practised between teachers and children, and the teachers have to consider the group of children as a collective in relation to the individual children. At the same time, the teachers have to consider their intentions versus what happens during the interactions. In addition, the teachers have to pay heed to the fact that their own actions and the children’s actions influence one another. Finally, the teachers have to consider the individual child’s ‘best interest’ in relation to the requirements of the policy documents. Furthermore, the results indicate that the practice of leadership is perceived as both unpredictable and, to some extent, predictable at the same time, which adds to the complexity of leadership. The teachers cannot know for sure what the children understand or if the children’s actions facilitate learning. However, the teachers can make certain assumptions about how to practice leadership in order to facilitate learning and discipline in children with different needs. The meanings of leadership were expressed in different ways in the circle’s dialogues; both as enabling and limiting in interactions with children in need of special support. One of the study’s conclusions is that leadership seems to be particularly complex in interactions with children in need of special support. The research circle’s dialogues served to promote a democratic knowledge process. The dialogues were characterised by respect for the participants’ different opinions; however, this does not mean that they were free from power structures.

I detta examensarbete utforskar jag hur en kan arbeta med en designprocess i möbler för en skolmiljö med ett bredare fokus än vad möblerna på marknaden är idag. Genom att utgå från barn i klassrummet med varierande behov, hoppas jag på att designa skolmöbler som passar fler individer. Med det har jag utgått i designprocessen med perspektivet och arbetsmetoden – Design for all och tagit fram en möbel som kan placeras in en skolmiljö i dagens klassrum. Min förhoppning är att kunna formge skolmöbler som inkluderar hjälpmedel som stimulerar och hjälper till i elevens arbete. Syftet med att fördjupa mig i ämnet skolmöbler är att jag vill fördjupa mig i skolans värld och lära känna miljöerna som möblerna sätts in i. Detta med en önskan att sedan i arbetslivet arbeta med att ta fram anpassade möbler. Arbetet inleds med en teoretisk undersökning där jag gör platsbesök på skolor, har samtal med pedagoger och med en fysioterapeut vid namn Ulrika Myhr som jag har samarbetat med samt dialog med handledare. Med ett valt fokus på mellanstadiet arbetar jag utifrån ett befintligt klassrum tillhörande en fyra bestående av två mentorer och 34 elever. Där har jag en dialog med eleverna och pedagogerna om hur de ser på och arbetar i sin miljö. Därefter gör jag egna analyser från de resultaten och gör ett förslag på möbler tänkta för det klassrum jag arbetat med. Därpå går jag över till en praktisk undersökning där jag har en kontinuerlig dialog om ergonomi med Ulrika Myhr samt jag testar hur ergonomi och design möts tillsammans i en form som till slut blir min design. Min slutsats visar på att det är svårt att få in alla funktioner i en möbel och tillgodose alla elever även ifall om man designar utifrån perspektivet design for all. Men däremot går det att designa för fler och för fler än vad det görs nu. Jag drar också slutsatsen att ha involverat eleverna själva i designprocessen har visat på att de har tydligt själva vet vad de vill ha och deras åsikter har gjort att mitt arbete har gett ett så gott resultat. / In this degree project, I explore how one can work with design processes in furniture for a school environment with a broader focus than the furniture on the market today. By focusing on children in a classroom, all with a broad spectrum of different needs, I hope to design school furniture that suits more individuals. I have started this particular design process with the perspective, and working method, of "design for all"; and produced a piece of furniture that can be placed in a school environment in today's classroom. My hope is to be able to design school furniture that includes features which can stimulate and assist the student's work. The further purpose of this project is that I want to immerse myself in the world of today's pupils, getting to know the environments that the furniture they use is placed in. My hope is that this will aid me in my further desire to then work on creating customized furniture in my professional working life. My working process begins with a theoretical investigation where I make on-site visits to schools, have conversations with educators and with a physiotherapist named Ulrika Myhr, with whom I have also collaborated, as well as dialogue with supervisors. With a chosen focus on the ages of 9-12, which constitutes the Swedish school system's later primary school years, I work on-site with access to a fourth-grade class and classroom, consisting of two mentors and 34 students. There, I have a dialogue with the students and teachers about how they view and use their working environment. I then make my own analyzes from those results which leads to a proposal for new furniture intended for the classroom I worked with. I then move on to a practical investigation where I have an on-going dialogue about ergonomics with Ulrika Myhr, and I test how ergonomics and design meet in the form that ultimately becomes my design. My conclusion shows that it is difficult to include all necessary functions in a piece of furniture while still satisfying the needs of all students, even if you design it from the perspective of "design for all". But on the other hand, it is possible to design for more people than is currently being done. I also conclude that having involved the students themselves in the design process has shown that they clearly know what they want, and their opinions have given the results of my work a greater legitimacy in its relevance.