Inclusion and Special Needs Education for Immigrant Students in the Nordic Countries

Abstract

This chapter examines the question "What are the educational experiences of inclusion of young immigrant students with blindness?" through the thematic life story of a young blind student at upper secondary school. Inclusion is a key principle in the Norwegian school system. Nevertheless, there are still a large number of students who feel that they do not belong in the learning community. Approximately 25% of students at upper secondary school drop out, a figure the authorities consider to be too high. There are many reasons why adolescents end up not finishing upper secondary school. Inadequate adaptation can be one of several reasons. The primary focus of this chapter is the immigrant student's own experience of support when learning difficulties were linked to visual impairments. In this study, we follow the thematic life history of a single student, in order to go in depth on this student's narrative. The perspective of the student is highlighted based on the blind student's self-reporting through an in-depth interview. The narrative has been analysed based on sociological theory, primarily Bauman's theory of the Stranger and togetherness.The results show that inadequate adaptation and poor proportional support from the teacher lead to a poor perception of inclusion. It may seem that the sensory impairment is a more important reason for this than the fact that the student is an immigrant. The blind immigrant student is treated as a Stranger and is unable to assume a student role involving learningpromoting encounters with fellow students or teachers. The impetus for completing upper secondary school is to achieve a grade transcript rather than the motivation that could have been provided by a safe and positive learning environment.