Inclusive Education - Perceptions of Learning Facilitators of Children With Special Needs (Inkluderande utbildning – uppfattningar av specialpedagoger som underlättar lärandet för elever med särskilda behov)

Abstract: This essay is my term paper submitted in partial fulfillment of my Swedish teaching degree (90hp) inthe ULV project. It is an attempt to understand the concept of inclusion and the degree to which it isbeing practiced in Swedish municipality schools. World Declaration on Education for All wasfollowed by the political acceptance of “one school for all” in educational system and debates inSweden. This was a clear expression of the democratic ambition to create an inclusive school whereevery student had a right to equal and comparable education. Yet the history of special education hasshown that the goal to implement inclusive education has been difficult to achieve. The ideology ofinclusive education is in conflict with the ground realities and the interests and values of theindividuals involved in schooling children which has led to a compromise where “one school for all”has resulted in the persistence of the traditional paradigm where segregated schooling and integrationhas been seen as the appropriate solution.Although there is space for different kinds of solutions to support children of special needs within theconcept of “one school for all”, a positive posture on the part of the personnel would help grounddemocratic inclusive schools where students are not sorted out in terms of their abilities/disabilities,rather one which is designed with pupil diversity in mind, and where the school setting is adapted tochildren´ s needs. Such an inclusive education would be one, which celebrates diversity and isgrounded on the value that differences between students are a resource rather than a problem.