Abstrakt Studien behandlar begreppskunskap inom området positionssystemet hos elever i matematiksvårigheter. Undersökningen har gjorts i årskurs 4 och omfattar naturliga tal avseende tiobassystemet. Studien består av en kvantitativ undersökning och en kvalitativ del med intervjuer. Resultatet av studien har organiserats i tre områden som har betydelse för individens utveckling av matematiska begrepp. Talområdet 1-10, talsystemets uppbyggnad samt förståelsen av stora tal. Av resultatet framgår att förståelse av ett begrepp kan vara mer ytlig än den ser ut att vara. Brister i grundläggande begreppsförståelse kan leda till att räknesvårigheter uppstår. Svårigheter är bland annat begreppen talsort och platsvärde, särskilt i stora tal. Sökord: begrepp, matematiksvårigheter, positionssystemet, schema, specialundervisning, tiobassystemet. / Abstract The study deals with the conceptual knowledge in the positional system for pupils with mathematical difficulties. The investigation was conducted in grade four and includes natural numbers for the ten-base system. The study consists of a quantitative survey and a quality part with interviews. The result of the study has been organized into three areas which have importance to the development of mathematical concepts for individuals. The number field 1-10, rules for the building of system of numbers and the understanding of large numbers. The result shows that the understanding of a concept may be more superficial then it appears to be. Deficiency in basic conceptual understanding can lead to numeracy problems. The difficulties included the concepts place-value and magnitude of number, especially in large numbers.   Keywords: concept, mathematical difficulties, positional system, schema, special needs education, ten-base system.

Genom intervjuer och observationer har innehållet i tre specialpedagogers matematik-undervisning, enskilt eller i liten grupp, studerats utifrån vad de arbetar med, varför och hur. Det visade sig att specialpedagogerna anser att de arbetar med uppnåendemålen istället för strävansmålen medan observationer visar att även strävansmålen finns med i arbetet. Det matematiska innehållet som främst behandlas är taluppfattning. Faktorer som konkretisering, organisation, motivation, självkänsla och att använda tiden till lärande är också viktiga faktorer i undervisningen. Pedagogerna känner stort stöd från forskningsbaserade handböcker. Dialogen med klassläraren kring klass screeningar är viktig då den kan innebära det enda tillfället till samarbete kring innehållet i undervisningen för eleven i behov av särskilt stöd. / By interviews and observations the contents of three special education teachers education in mathematics, as one-to-one tuitition or in small groups, have been studied from what they work with, why and how. The tutor aims from the lowest goals to achieve in the curriculum while observations and written goals showed that also the goals to pursue were used. The most common content of mathematics was numbersense. Concretization, organisation, motivation, self-esteem and time on task are also important factors for the tutoring. Handbooks based on science are good support for the tutors. The dialog with the class teacher while analysing class screenings is important though it could be the only opportunity for collaboration about the contents for pupils in special education needs.

In the essay, the balance between being an educator and a mother of a child with autism is explored in respect to how the roles might influence the actions of a pre-school teacher. Writing is used as a method of reflection, it gives the teacher a chance to take a step back and view her practical experiences from a novel perspective; conclusions are recounted throughout the teachers narrative. The essay is based on the following questions; which problems might arise in the meeting with parents such as Adams where there is a suspicion of autism for the child? Which advantages/disadvantages might the teacher’s personal experience of autism have for the role as educator? How would the dual roles as educator and mother of an autistic child best be balanced in the future? The essay highlights special educational and parent perspectives on the matter of autism. Professor of pedagogy Claes Nilholm, specializes in special needs education. Nilholm discusses the existence of compensatory and critical perspectives on autism in the classroom, which are presented in the essay as a problematic dichotomy which the teacher must navigate. Based on the work performed by psychologist Lennart Lindqvist the teacher presents her own experiences of being a mother of a child with autism and how it affects her role as educator. From the reflective process the teacher concluded that personal experience from children with autism might be of advantage in the educational environment but has distinct disadvantages when communicating with parents. Aristoteles three forms of knowledge episteme, techne and fronesis were used to further highlight the difficulties when dealing with parents of children with suspected autism. Especially the concept of fronesis was discussed in relation to the teacher’s narrative as an influencing factor. Fronesis, the wisdom to act correctly in a given situation, was concluded be of advantage in the role as educator. When meeting parents of children with suspected autism the teachers unprocessed feeling on the matter may become a disadvantage. The aim of the essay was to deepen the knowledge of the teachers own experiences in order to better utilize them in the role as an educator.

Access and use of academic information by adolescents with hearing loss is important to assure their academic success. Learners with hearing loss experience problems regarding communication, literacy, and information literacy, which has an impact on their ability to access and use various types of academic information sources. This leads to problems in achieving tertiary education and employment in later life. In order for learners to develop their abilities and skills to access and use academic information, they need to learn to work independently, be familiar with all the types of academic information, and utilize the media centre. An urgent need existed to determine the abilities of adolescents with hearing loss to access and use academic information in order to make suggestions for an information literacy programme to be implemented for learners with hearing loss. The suggestions could be highly relevant for teachers and media teachers. The research design was a descriptive design comprising of a questionnaire survey followed by an assignment survey. A set of questionnaires was a quantitative tool implemented for systematic and objective gathering of information from a representative sample. The survey assignment employed qualitative methods to investigate characteristics of a group of adolescents with hearing loss with regard to their ability to access and use academic information in the media centre. The questionnaires were distributed to 326 learners with hearing loss, 19 teachers, and 6 media teachers; and the quantitative survey assignment involved 48 learners with hearing loss. The research was done in order to develop an information education programme based upon scientific findings, for use within the planned educational system in South Africa. The results from the study indicated that the majority of the participants always found academic information difficult to access and use, except where information was readily available in the classroom setting. Sub-goal 1 indicated that the majority of the participants always found academic information difficult to access and use except where information was available in schoolbooks. They mainly accessed and used academic information during and after school. There was not much consensus as to the purpose for which they accessed and used academic information. The participants regarded themselves as unsuccessful and relied on role players to help them to understand, find, and access academic material. They also preferred visual (graphical) information above printed information. The participants indicated they found OBE material difficult to access and use. It became clear that they did not visit the media centre regularly and did not have adequate computer and Internet facilities. Sub-goal 2 indicated that the teachers displayed the perception that the adolescents experienced problems when accessing and using academic information. They indicated that the adolescents occasionally accessed and used information, but needed them as role players to assist them. The teachers and media teachers also suggested lack of motivation, lack of funds, insufficient training, and degree of hearing loss as possible constraining factors. They indicated that hearing loss has an impact on language and communication skills and consequently has an effect on literacy and information literacy skills. They also considered low literacy and information literacy skills and underdeveloped cognitive skills to have an effect on the adolescents’ ability to access and use academic information. This has impact on learners’ ability to access, apply, and analyse information. It is important to note that teachers seemed to be of more assistance to learners than media teachers and research is needed to determine the reasons for this. The teachers indicated that sign language influenced the subjects’ ability to access information as the subjects seem to think in pictures rather than using words. This also calls for further research. Sub-goal 3 indicated that the media teachers’ perception was similar to that of the teachers. They indicated that the subjects found English as a second language difficult to understand. Sub-goal 4 indicated that the subjects were not able to complete the assignment in the media center with ease. The subjects also had poor knowledge of catalogue use and no knowledge of the Dewey classification scheme which is used to locate books on the shelves. These findings were utilized to propose an information literacy programme at school media centres, to be implemented in the context of content-based courses and assignments. It is clear that adolescents with hearing loss are a heterogeneous group and due to the differences in the degree and type of hearing loss, they have varying frames of reference, language bases, and cognitive skills. Adolescents who have a language delay due to hearing loss, experience problems with access to formal as well as informal education. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / unrestricted

The purpose of this empirical study is to investigate special needs education teachers’ perception and knowledge before the concepts of mathematics difficulties and dyscalculia. We chose to emanate from three main questions. What meaning do the concepts of math difficulties and dyscalculia have for special needs education teachers? What do special needs education teachers think about the actuality regarding dyscalculia? What are the different approaches implemented by special needs education teachers towards mathematics difficulties and dyscalculia? Qualitative interviews were chosen as method because we believe that a survey would be too shallow and statistical. Responses may be too monotonous and short. By selecting interview as an information retrieval method gives us the opportunity to go more in depth with the help of supplementary questions, personal interaction and observation of the interviewee. The special needs education teachers we interviewed mostly agree with one another, however sometimes their perceptions differed which has led to an interesting and nuanced result. The result has given us many different approaches and beliefs facing difficulties in mathematics and dyscalculia, these makes us better equipped for our future students with difficulties in math. A definite conclusion from this study is that all our respondents jointly agreed that use of exploratory practical material and group works were suitable towards students with dyscalculia or math difficulties.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka de motiverande faktorer som lärarna anser vara betydande när de planerar och genomför en lektion. Målet är att förbättra elevernas motivation för att uppnå högre resultat. Frågorna är:• Vilka motivationsfaktorer är viktiga för lärarna i undervisningen för att få eleverna att känna sig motiverade att prestera?• Vilka motiverande faktorer tar lärarna hänsyn till i sin undervisning?• Hur ser lärarna på de stödfunktioner som finns i utbildningen?Den teoretiska ramen för undersökningen bygger på värde och mål-teorier som representeras av Hackman och Oldhams arbetsdesignteori, Locke och Lathams målteori. Analysen från studien är inspirerad av metoden "Grounded" teori och bygger på intervjuer med fem lärare som undervisar elever i grundskolans tidigare år i två skolor.Undersökningen visar bland annat att relationen mellan lärare och elev är adaptiv. Den visar också hur olika lärare diskuterar motivationsfaktorer. De faktorer som dessa lärare identifierar i intervjuerna är miljö, bedömning, undervisning, förståelse, mål, relation, engagemang och säkerhet. Undersökningen resulterade också i en modell för att analysera lärare sätt att tänka om hur man undervisar att motivera eleverna.Vilka faktorer lärarens tycker är viktigt att motivera eleverna är inte bara de faktorer som visas i analysmodellen. Det beror också på hur förhållandena är runt eleven och läraren. Det beror på lärarens egen utbildning, år i yrket och vad fortbildning de har fått från arbetsgivaren.Nyckelord: Bedömning, Förståelse, engagemang, motivation, undervisning. / The aim of this study is to investigate the motivating factors that teachers consider to be significant when they plan and implement a lesson. The goal being improving students’ motivation in order to achieve higher results. The questions are:•Which motivation factors are important for the teachers in their teaching to make students feel motivated to perform?•What motivating factors do teachers take into account in their teaching?•How do the teachers look upon the supporting functions in education?The theoretical frame of the investigation is founded upon the “Value and Goal” theories represented by Hackman and Oldhams’ “Work design” theory, Locke and Lathams’ “Goal” theory. The analysis from the study is inspired by the method “Grounded” theory and is based on interviews with five teachers who teaches first grade students in two schools.The investigation shows, among other things, that the relation between the teacher and student is adaptive. It also shows how different teachers discuss motivation factors. The factors that these teachers identifies in the interviews are environment, assessment, teaching, comprehension, goal, relation, engagement, and safety. The investigation also resulted in a model for analysing teachers way of thinking about how to teach to motivate students.What factors teacher’s think are important to motivate students aren’t just the factors that are shown in the analysis model. It also depends on what the conditions are around the student and the teacher. It depends on the teacher’s own education, years in the profession and what in-service training they have received from the employer.Keywords: Assessment, Comprehension, Engagement, Motivation, Teaching.

In the field of inclusive education and children in need of special education, the access to the general curriculum plays a significant role. Methods mentioned in the curriculum display the pedagogical vision within specific school systems and furthermore how teachers are expected to practice. Comparing curriculums from nations with different school systems can put national education systems in a wider perspective. Although the curriculums were studied out of their contexts, some interesting findings were ascertained. The study, performed with hermeneutic textual analysis and based on a comparison of the national curriculum of England, Finland, New Zeeland and Sweden, shows a difference in both frequency of methods mentioned, the way they are presented as well as what kind of methods each curriculum proposes. The New Zealand curriculum provides a demonstration of using inclusive education for all pupils while the Swedish and the Finish curriculums propose special methods when educating children being in special needs. The English curriculum also aims for inclusive education, but without the wide frequency of methods found in the New Zealand curriculum.

<p>In this paper integration and inclusion were analysed in both theory and practice to see what they mean for pupils who reqire special support or pupils who have Swedish as a second language in compulsory school. The purpose of this work was to investigate whether inclusion is the best way of reaching the goal of a school for all children. A literary study, was conducted to test this hypothesis. The literature used for this purpose includes non-fiction books, handbooks, newspaper articles, declarations, conventions, and learning and course plans. Qualitative interwiews were held whit a remedial teacher, a Swedish-as-a-second-language teacher, and a class teacher who contributed greatly to this work thoough their experiences and vast knowledge. The result showed that there is not only one solution to the problem; sevral ways of going about reaching the goal of a school for all children exist. To get even closer to presupposed goal, a school for alla children, teachers must remove obstacles in their approach so that all children feel that they are in meaningsful situations.</p> / <p>En analys gjordes för att ta reda på vad de tre begreppen; integrering, segregering och inkludering i teorin och i praktiken kan innebära för enskilda elever i behov av särskilt stöd och/eller elever som har svenska som andraspråk i grundskolan. Syftet med arbetet var att undersöka om inkludering är den bästa vägen att gå för att nå målet, en skola för alla barn? Hypotesen prövades genom att en litteraturstudie gjordes som dessutom kompletterades med en kvalitativ undersökning bland utvalda pedagogiska specialister. Litteraturen som användes för ändamålet var, faktaböcker, handböcker, tidningsartiklar, deklaration, konvention, samt läro - och kursplaner. Kvalitativa intervjuer genomfördes med en speciallärare/specialpedagog, en svenska som andraspråkslärare och en klasslärare som genom sina erfarenheter och sitt stora kunnande bidrog stort till detta arbete. Resultatet visade att det inte finns en enda väg att gå, det finns flera vägar att gå, för att nå målet, en skola för alla barn. För att komma närmare det förutsatta målet, en skola för alla barn, måste lärare själva röja hindren i sitt förhållningssätt så att alla barn känner att de befinner sig i meningsfulla sammanhang.</p>

The aim of this study was to investigate the demands, pressures and needs experienced by teachers in special needs schools (referred to as schools with learners with barriers to learning), with the aim of providing guidelines for teacher support to promote wellness. To attain this aim, the study had the following specific objectives or aims: 1. To determine the demands made on and pressures experienced by teachers as stressors. 2. To determine the needs which teachers experience to alleviate these stressors that arise as a result of the demands and pressures experienced by teachers in a special needs school. 3. The provision of guidelines for teacher support in order to promote wellness. 4. To make recommendations for the promotion of the wellness of teachers in a special needs school. A qualitative research design was considered to be the most appropriate for gaining in-depth insight into the demands, pressures and needs of these teachers. Data was collected through phenomenological interviews and direct observations. This data was then organised into categories and subcategories and direct quotations were presented verbatim. Research findings were compared with the relevant literature to identify existing information and possible differences, and the findings were then recorded in the form of two articles. As explained above, the primary goal of this study was to identify and describe the demands and needs experienced by teachers in special needs schools and to formulate guidelines for support to promote wellness. The study also showed that students need mentally and physically fit adults who can guide them as they find their way in the world. It is thus necessary to develop and promote the use of programmes and instruments to identify specific needs and stressors, so as to more accurately predict, prevent and alleviate demands that can be detrimental to health, and to provide and support guidelines to promote wellness in teachers.. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

The aim of this study is to investigate pupils’ experiences of social entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial learning in upper secondary school, from a relational Special Needs Educational perspective. How pupils’ in difficulties are affected, and benefit from social entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial learning is of particular interest as well as how these approaches can be related to inclusive education. A qualitative method is applied through observations, dialogues and interviews with pupils’ at two different suburban upper secondary schools. The main results show that social entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial learning in most cases contribute to an inclusive education. However, all the pupils’ in the study expressed the most important factor for their learning to be the teacher. The empathy and concern shown by the teacher in social entrepreneurship was beneficial for meaningful inclusive education. If the processes of social entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial learning are the causes of the so called focal point, in which genuin communication take part, or if it is the teacher who is of decisive importance, or both, is difficult to discern from the results of this study. Analysis of the results hints that pupils’ in particularly difficult circumstances have problems to pass even if the education is given through social entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial learning. To help these students the school as an educational system would most likely have to undergo significant changes in order to avoid seeing pupils’ as being stuck in special educational needs but rather as individuals in need of genuin communication and interpersonal relations. / Studien syftar till att undersöka elevers erfarenheter av socialt entreprenörskap och entreprenöriellt lärande i gymnasieskolan, ur ett relationellt specialpedagogiskt perspektiv. Specifikt undersöks hur elever i svårigheter påverkas och hur socialt entreprenörskap och entreprenöriellt lärande kan relateras till inkludering. I studien tillämpas kvalitativ metod genom observationer, samtal och intervjuer av elever på två olika gymnasieskolor, en förortsskola och en förstadsskola. Resultatet visar att socialt entreprenörskap och entreprenöriellt lärande bidrar till inkludering i de flesta fall. Emellertid uttryckte samtliga elever att det viktigaste för deras lärande var läraren. Samtliga elever ansåg att det empatiska förhållningssätt och omtanke läraren i socialt entreprenörskap hade gynnade lärandet. Om det är processerna i socialt entreprenörskap och entreprenöriellt lärande som bidrar till att underlätta förutsättningarna för att utbildningens sk brännpunkt, i vilken genuin mellanmänsklig kommunikation kan uppstå, eller om det är läraren som är avgörande för att detta ska ske eller både och är utifrån den studie som gjorts svårt att avgöra. Analys av resultatet antyder dock att elever i synnerligen svåra omständigheter även har svårt att klara undervisningen då socialt entreprenörskap och entreprenöriellt förhållningssätt tillämpas. För att hjälpa dessa elever skulle skolan som system troligen bl a behöva förändras till en organisation som istället för att se elever i behov av särskilt stöd se elever i behov av genuin kommunikation och mellanmänskliga relationer.