Kvalitetsarbete i grundskolan ur ett specialpedagogiskt perspektiv - en fallstudie

AbstractHeléne Slivka (2013). Kvalitetsarbete ur ett specialpedagogiskt perspektiv– en fallstudie.(Quality assurance process in the elementary school from a special education perspective – a case study.)The researchThis essay investigates the language in the school´s quality assurance documents. An important aspect of this is the way in which language structures and informs how we think about, and work with, students with special needs.AimThe aim of this essay is to problematize how students with special needs are represented in the quality assurance documents of the school. The writer intends to point out how the ways in which the language used to describe students informs governing processes. The research questions are: How are the governing techniques being described in relation to students with special needs? What kind of knowledge and rationalities underpin these techniques? How do these approaches influence how students are perceived?Theoretical frameThis study puts the written texts of quality assurance documents in a social context. In order to do so, the writer is inspired by Fairclough´s critical discourse analysis where text is analyzed in a wider social context. Like Andreasson (2007) and Lutz (2009), the writer combines discourse analysis with Foucault´s governmentality concept which focuses on ways of governing. By considering these theories the writer hopes to learn more about what informs and directs the way we write and talk about students with special needs.MethodThis enquiry is carried out as a case study where the quality assurance documents from one school during the years 2003-2013 constitute the empirical evidence. The writer carried out an analysis of the text on three levels: the text itself, the discursive practice and the social practice. In order to investigate governing patterns concerning students with special needs in the documents, an analytical matrix was constructed. The matrix was inspired by Lutz (2009) and is based on Foucault´s governmentality concept.ResultThe result shows the quality assurance documents place an emphasis on the student´s reading ability. Substantial parts of the texts concern different kinds of screening materials which contribute to the categorizing of the students. There is also a prescriptive tendency in the documents, where students are measured and compared against certain standard. The result also shows that the expectancy of the student´s capacity to self-governing is based on a general societal norm.Conclusion and implementationAndreasson (2007) examines Individual Educational Plans and shows how words can affect how children`s identities are constructed. This study also deals with documentation but instead of individual plans it is focused on the quality assurance documents of the school. The study illuminates the power that principals and teachers have in describing students in these documents. The study intends to raise awareness to the potency of the written word in this context.Key words: discourse analysis, elementary school, governmentality, quality assurance documents, special education, special needs