Consultation in Special Needs Education in Rural Schools in Sweden– An Act of Collaboration between Educators

Abstract

The article attempts to shed light on how the expertise of special educators can be utilized in classroom teachers' professional development at rural schools with a diverse student body. The study focused on the educational consultations that took place between the two types of professionals, namely the special educators and the classroom teachers, at three rural schools in three communities in northern Sweden. The special educators did not work at the schools. Rather, they worked at Community centers and ran the consultation with the aid of ICT or when they visited the schools. The multiple-case study describes and analyzes the a) context for consultation, b) how consultation is used to support the teachers, and c) the consultation strategies. The data collection methods were observations, interviews, and questionnaires. After the interviews were transcribed, the data were analyzed by thematic content analysis. The results show that the consultations were based on students' needs, but the consultations focused on the learning environment more than on individual shortcomings. The two professionals collaborated and shared their professional expertise across professional boundaries. This boundary-crossing professional collaboration seems to deepen the consultation between the two professionals and enable them to work together to create a learning environment that supports all pupils.

Teaching for inclusion – a review of research on the cooperation between regular teachers and special educators in the work with students in need of special support

“…The relatively few studies that examined special educational consultations offered some examples of cooperation in which power and responsibilities were equally shared (e.g. Eisenman et al 2011;Pettersson and Ström 2017). Challenges found in studies focusing on interprofessional cooperation with a consultative character, on the other hand, were associated, for instance, with a lack of communication between the cooperating actors (Bray and Russell 2018;Hemmingsson, Gustavsson, and Townsend 2007).…”

“…Four studies described and analysed special educational consultations. Different models of consultations were reported that could be classified, using Sundqvist's (2012) categorisation, as both reflective conversations (Kjaer and Dannesboe 2019) and cooperative conversations (Pettersson and Ström 2017). Kjaer and Dannesboe (2019) describe consultations between educational psychologists and regular teachers as having a therapeutic character, where teachers were supposed to search within themselves for alternative instructional approaches, attitudes and behaviours.…”

“…Kjaer and Dannesboe (2019) argue that consultations of this kind do not take advantage of the educational psychologists' expertise and transform teachers into coached employees rather than autonomous professionals. In the consultations analysed by Pettersson and Ström (2017), there was also an emphasis on the learning environment instead of individual students' deficits. However, Pettersson and Ström (2017) describe an even distribution of power between regular teachers and special educators in these consultations, which they noted were marked by professional dialogue and problem solving through mutual sharing of expertise.…”

“…In the consultations analysed by Pettersson and Ström (2017), there was also an emphasis on the learning environment instead of individual students' deficits. However, Pettersson and Ström (2017) describe an even distribution of power between regular teachers and special educators in these consultations, which they noted were marked by professional dialogue and problem solving through mutual sharing of expertise. The special educators were supporting teachers in their everyday challenges, but the teachers were active agents in these meetings, rather than passive receivers.…”

Specialpedagogisk verksamhet i svenska fristående glesbygdsskolor

“…Pettersson, Ström & Johansen 2016;Pettersson 2017). Tidigare svenska studier (Pettersson, Ström & Johansen 2016;Pettersson & Ström 2017;Pettersson & Näsström 2017) har dock utarbetat följande definition: glesbygdsskolan är belägen i olika geografiska områden i fjälltrakter, i inland, på öar och i kustregioner. Glesbygdsskolan har få lärare och få elever (55 elever eller färre).…”