Boundaries in school: Educational settings for pupils perceived as different

Abstract

This paper analyses the contradictions in the Swedish school organisation between the intentions of an implemented integration of pupils with disabilities, and the actual dramatic increase of pupils enrolled in special units. The study is a multiple case study of the functions and conditions of special support in differentiated educational settings (such small teaching groups, special units, cooperation classes) based on interviews with special educators and observations in three schools with such differentiated groups in the county of Stockholm. None of the studied groups were homogeneous, but most of the children in them had in common some kind of vulnerability. The potential or actual reactions of teachers and peers in the regular settings seem to be a common criterion for placement in the differentiated setting. Psycho-medical diagnoses were not always a prerequisite for enrolment in the special units; they were not always accurate and they were not sufficient to get special support. Problematic aspects that would have to be changed, in a school valuing individual differences, are the funding system, the grading system, the working methods, the attitudes towards parents and the personnel's competence regarding disability. Theoretical implications such as the compartmentalisation of values and goals are presented, and some further investigative tasks are suggested.