Characteristics of Nordic research on special education in preschool: a review with special focus on Swedish conditions

Abstract

The article identifies and reviews current Nordic research on special education in preschool. The research question was: What characterises Nordic research on special education in preschool between the years 2006 and 2014? The analysis that was applied was configurational and the procedure included a content analysis. The results of the present review indicate that the included studies are characterised by intimacy and depth in relation to preschool practice, with predominantly qualitative data created through interviews and with a variety of theories. Teachers' voices dominate, while special educators, and parents' voices are heard to some degree. Children's voices are rarely heard and then only through video recordings in which the adult interprets the child. ARTICLE HISTORY

Training of future teachers for work with children under the conditions of preschool inclusive education

“…In addition to the theoretical substantiation of the study, we strengthened the experimental part, namely a survey on the importance of criteria for teacher readiness for inclusive teaching practice using a five-point scale (Palla L., 2017;Smantser & Ignatovich, 2015). The results indicate the importance of the following criteria: readiness to overcome failures; availability of the necessary knowledge, skills, abilities; flexibility of thinking and behaviour depending on the situation; inclination to creativity and anticipation of the desired pedagogical result at the stage of choosing a strategy of influence; as well as awareness of the need for innovation (Spratt G., 2015).…”

“…They increasingly include the term "inclusive education" in the educationa1l system, which means the education of children with special needs in comprehensive schools (preschools), the exclusion of discrimination and the provision of favourable conditions for each child. The effectiveness of implementing an inclusive approach in the educational system depends primarily on the training of qualified teachers who are aware of the social significance of their profession, have high motivation to perform professional activities, know the age and psychological characteristics of pupils with various pathologies, are able to implement constructive pedagogical interaction between all subjects of the educational environment (Florian L., Beaton M., 2018;Palla L., 2017;Sayyed Ali Samadi, McConkey R., 2018).…”

Similarities and variation in preschool special education studies: an overview of main content themes in Nordic research

“…Thematic analyses are often used to analyze primary qualitative research (Thomas & Harden, 2008). The analysis was conducted by using summative content analysis, as described by Graneheim and Lundman (2004), including the process of carrying out thematic syntheses (Palla, 2018;Thomas & Harden, 2008). The analysis involved identifying patterns and common themes in the material and highlighting any variation within and between the included studies.…”

The educational context in expert assessments. A study of special education documents of children in ECEC institutions

“…A systematic review of research reveals that a system-oriented approach is challenging for the EPS, and there is a clear need for more research on expert assessments (Moen et al 2018). Within ECEC, research on EPS is sparse (Cameron, Kovac, and Tveit 2011), following a general lack in the Nordic countries of research regarding special education and special education documentation in ECEC (Palla 2015(Palla , 2019.…”