2023/09/28 by Wieland Wermke, Inken Beck
Social Sciences · #Collaborative Teaching and Inclusion #Sociology and Education Studies #Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/00313831.2023.2263481
crossref issued 2023/09/28 · crossref published 2023/09/28 · crossref published-online 2023/09/28 · openalex publication_date 2023/09/28 · crossref created 2023/09/29 · crossref published-print 2025/01/02 · crossref deposited 2025/01/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02 · crossref indexed 2026/07/24
This article presents a comparative interview study (N = 45) with Swedish and German special educators working in inclusive school settings in order to gain an understanding of how inclusive education is operationalized by the provision of special education needs (SEN) support; and how both aspects are conditioned by nation-specific particularities.Drawing on our interview analyses, we suggest an analytical device for examining and comparing the provision of SEN support in school organizations from a comparative perspective.The device is a 9-dimensional matrix, understanding the phenomenon in terms of three levels (individual, group, organizational) related to three domains (educational, social, administrative).Employing this matrix, we explain national differences in operationalizing inclusive schools.Compared with Germany, in Sweden, special educators have much more power in the inclusive school, and significantly more important decisions regarding SEN are made at an organizational level, and not only regarding individual students in need of special support.