Översättare eller särskiljare? -elevers syn på att ha elevassistent i grundskolan
In all times school has defined and categorized pupils from a hypothetical normality. The National Agency for Education is today critical to how the municipalities provide for the necessity of special support for pupils with difficulties in school.Pupil`s assistants has been a growing profession in school during the last decade and their importance for the pupils is relatively unexplored. The aim of this study is to find out how the pupils think about having pupil`s assistant during the obligatory school on the basis of the ideas of power, knowledge, involvment and understanding. The study is based on qualitative interviews, consisting of half-structured questions, with eight pupils that have or have had pupil`s assistant during their time in senior compulsory school. The result notifies that the pupils feel powerless in school, they have no opportunity to affect and they do not think they are someone that could make any change. With the pupil`s assistant the pupils get an opportunity to affect and a feeling of recognition. The pupil thinks that the pupil`s assistant is a translator of the teachers instructions and someone who builds a bridge between teacher and pupil. There is a fear within the pupils to be different, to not belong. When the pupil`s assistance is given in the classroom the pupil think they belong more to the class than if the assistance is given outside the classroom. With assistance outside the classroom the pupil sees the pupil`s assistant more as a teacher.