Elevers erfarenheter av delaktighet och inflytande i skolarbetet
Grundsärskoleelever berättar
AbstractHow do pupils with intellectual disabilities experience participation and involvement in school work? It was a question I had in mind when I was formulating the thesis statement. I wanted to catch pupils? experiences and analyze them from the sociology of childhood. Do pupils want more involvement and what obstacles and opportunities do pupils find to exert participation and involvement?The study is based on six interviews conducted with pupils enrolled in the compulsory school for pupils with intellectual disabilities. The pupils were aged between 12 to16. The informants were three girls and three boys, and represented three schools in two municipalities. The interviews were sound recorded and soon after the interviews were completed, they were transcribed. In the analysis I used the sociology of childhood (James & Prout, 1997) with a participatory model (Elvstrand, 2009) as an analytical tool.The results show that pupils? experiences of participation and involvement can be interpreted as limited. The pupils report that they rarely are informed about the teaching content, methods and how to present their knowledge. They describe that they mostly have experience of participation and being involved in how to work with school work. The pupils report lack of time, teaching materials, group size, teachers and the relationship to classmates as barriers to participation. As for the pupils? views on how opportunities should be provided for increased participation and involvement, they describe the teacher as a central factor. The pupils want more involvement, but show some uncertainty in their own ability to exert it.A conclusion to be drawn from the result of the study is the teacher?s important role in creating conditions for pupils? participation and involvement. Teachers should be more explicit when informing pupils about school work, invite them for discussions and listen to them. Another conclusion is that the pupils who are integrated in ordinary school exert more participation and involvement than pupils whose entire school day is in special-schools. The result of this study may help teachers and other staff working with special education to gain a better understanding of how pupils with learning disabilities experience participation and involvement. This can hopefully contribute to the fact that special education and pupils´ learning are improved.