The purpose of this study was to investigate the different support systems used by teachers in compulsory education. Class and subject teachers and special educators from Finland (N = 57) and Sweden (N = 57) participated in the study, in which both qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Participants completed an electronic questionnaire to identify various ways of pupils who have special educational needs. The findings indicate both similarities and differences between the two countries. One of the most common forms of support was individualisation, including pedagogical modifications. Methods of supporting academic skills such as reading differed from those used to support behavioral issues. Positive pedagogy and structuring the environment were used ways of supporting pupils with behavioral challenges. Results for both countries are compared and support needs are discussed.

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Förenta Nationernas barnkonvention har fått en genomgripande betydelse för lagstiftarnas politiska ambitioner inom svensk socialvård. Det innebär att barn har rätt att få sitt perspektiv i fokus när socialtjänsten behandlar ärenden som berör honom eller henne. Vid alla åtgärder som rör barn som misstänks fara illa ska hans eller hennes bästa komma i främsta rummet. Genom en studie i en svensk medelstor kommun belyses hur det förhåller sig med barnkonventionen i praktiken.

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The overall aim of this article is to analyse how a school's special needs unit in Sweden deals with children's agency and category work as they negotiate and categorise the problems that are encountered there. The data derive from an ethnographic study conducted in a Swedish special educational needs unit (SENU) attended by a group of five boys aged between 7 and 12. The results show that the teachers' categorisations of the boys' emotional and behaviour problems and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) could be interpreted as an attempt to guide the boys' development so that they will change and improve. Conversely, from the boys' perspectives, the daily activities in the SENU could themselves be problematic in that the boys are obliged to adopt several different strategies to control and strengthen their identity. These observations highlight the importance of detailed analyses of the boys' communicative activities during their interactions with teachers and peers.