Experiences of a dual system: motivation for teachers to study special education

Abstract

Special educators are considered essential in schools, both in the regular system and in the separate special needs system. It is important to understand how special education is envisioned among teachers who choose further study in this field. The aim of this study is to gain more knowledge about what motivates teachers to gain further qualifications to become special educators. The study is based on 158 written self-reports from students studying special education. These reports were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings reveal six themes: 'Thirst for knowledge, tools and science', 'Achieving better results as a teacher', 'Improving career opportunities', 'Getting away: giving up teaching in a classroom setting', 'Influence: helping pupils and teachers' and 'Developing schools: identifying deficits in schools' ways of working with special needs education'. These themes are discussed in relation to special educators' work, their jurisdictional control and how their reasons relate to supporting or dismantling the dual system of special education.

Using Emotions as Data: A Framework for Supporting Educators’ Well-Being and Improving Professional Practice

“…First, by noticing moments when they experience joy, success, or even humor, teachers gain important insight regarding their expectations of what it means to be an effective educator and can reorient themselves to their core priorities and goals. Although many special educators enter the field with a passion for teaching students who have been marginalized by the education system (Lavian, 2013;Lindqvist et al, 2020), this passion is often challenged by unmanageable workloads (Bettini et al, 2017), competing messages about their roles (Shepherd et al, 2016), and isolation and misunderstanding from general education colleagues and administrators (Bettini et al, 2021). Noting the moments in which they experience positive emotions can help special educators to revive their original passion for the work.…”

En språkverkstad för alla?

“…Liksom Skrtic (1991) fokuserar Abbott (1988) på professionella aktörer och arbetsfördelning i samhälleliga system. Inom såväl pedagogisk som specialpedagogisk forskning har det visat sig fruktbart att undersöka hinder och möjligheter till lärande och deltagande utifrån hur olika yrkesgrupper förhandlar sin jurisdiktion på arbetsplatsen (se Göransson et al, 2015b;Sandström et al, 2019;Klang et al, 2017;Lindqvist et al, 2020). Som analysverktyg har därför Abbotts (1988) teori om professioners arbetsfördelning och jurisdiktion använts för att förstå vilka hinder och möjligheter som kan uppstå för studenter i studiesvårigheter.…”

Pre-Service Special Educators’ Understandings of Relational Competence

“…Pre-service special educators have begun their development in a new profession, which includes an advisory and supervisory function in relation to general education teachers. Studies (Lindqvist et al, 2020) have reported the presence of a pattern within in-service special educators' perceptions about their work: They develop from general education teachers to specialeducation teachers through a greater focus on the supervision of other teachers. In-service special educators strongly emphasize that a central task in their job is to work with supervision and consultation in relation to general education teachers.…”