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This paper is based on one part of an extensive research project, conducted in 1998 Á/2002, into young disabled adults in Iceland who have grown up with the ideology of integration and inclusion enshrined in law. This is a qualitative study of the experience of being a young disabled adult (16 Á/24 years old) in Icelandic upper-secondary schools, university or equivalent educational settings, in the job market and in society. Attention is focussed on the young people's experiences of schooling in compulsory and upper-secondary schools, general education schools and classes, special schools, and in special classes. The study looks at how the structure and practice of the educational environment, including the organization of teaching, learning and evaluation, and students experiences of participation in school community life, hinder or promote their full active participation in school. This paper also discusses to what extent the young people's experiences of schooling prepare them for adulthood. The main conclusion indicates that schooling is a powerful agent for placing these young people on vastly different tracks, independent of their disability labels, either on a track that leads them to an interdependent adulthood or on a track within a special world for ''eternal children''.

Inclusive education policy, now the norm in many parts of the world including Iceland, is highly dependent on teachers for its successful implementation. Research on inclusion often attempts to identify teachers' attitudes of inclusion (against/for). This article takes a different approach. It focuses on teachers' perspectives of their professional practices; that is, how teachers understand what it means to be and practise as a teacher. We interviewed 10 Icelandic compulsory school teachers and also examined teaching logs and associated documents. The findings suggest that the teachers participating in this study have conflicting expectations towards their professional practice. They have unclear ideas about the inclusive ideology, and external factors influence teachers' perception of their professional practice more than reflective practices. We suggest that these findings may well be applicable beyond the Icelandic context, and that they have implications for the overall in-service and pre-service education offered to teachers.

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The purpose of the chapter is to give an overview of special education in Iceland, historically and with reference to modern use of terms, research, policy, legal trends and funding. Recent data is provided on demographic developments amongst children in Iceland and detailed account is given of practices in schools, including collaboration with parents and teacher education. Finally some issues and challenges are discussed that still remain to be solved with respect to meeting the special needs of students in school. One of the findings is that only 1.3% of students attend special schools and special classes and that the term special education has outlived its usefulness except perhaps in the context of the three segregated special schools that still remain in the country. Official papers have replaced it with the term special support. Despite a diversity of views and practices the main implication is that a new model of education is required, in line with that proposed by Slee (2011) where the needs of individuals are served in all schools and the binary thinking related to regular vs. special education is no longer necessary.