Abstract
Inclusive education is an important foundation of Nordic society. It is considered a key pillar in the ‘education for all’ policy and has become an important foundation for sha** pedagogy and practice. This chapter shows how inclusive education is taught and enacted in Swedish early childhood teacher education. A specific focus lies on local legislation documents as a precursor for actions. A case study is shared from a study of Swedish early childhood preservice teachers’ beliefs to include all children in Swedish classrooms to show current understanding of these practices. Consideration is also given to raising concerns of segregation in Swedish education in terms of socioeconomic status, immigrant background and special education. The rapidly changing profile of society in Sweden requires that the teacher education sector be reformed to prepare educators who are competent in including all learners. The key points for consideration for future teacher education policy and practice are given.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahlberg, A. (2013). Specialpedagogik i ideologi, teori och praktik- att bygga broar [Special education in ideology, theory and practice]. Liber.
Almqvist, L., Sjöman, M., Golsäter, M., & Granlund, M. (2018). Special support for behavior difficulties and engagement in Swedish preschools. Frontiers in Education. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2018.00035
Essex, J., Alexiadou, N., & Zwozdiak-Myers, P. (2019). Understanding inclusion in teacher education – A view from student teachers in England. International Journal of Inclusive Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2019.1614232
European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education (EADSNE). (2010). Teacher education for inclusion: International literature review. European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education.
Florian, L., & Rouse, M. (2009). The inclusive practice project in Scotland: Teacher education for inclusive education. Teacher and Teaching Education, 25(4), 594–601.
Göransson, K., & Nilholm, C. (2014). Conceptual diversities and empirical shortcomings – A critical analysis of research on inclusive education. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 29(3). https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2014.933545
Göteborgs Universitet (2019). Förskollelärarprogrammet. https://lararutbildning.gu.se/utbildning/forskollararprogrammet
Gustafsson, B. M., Proczkowska-Björklund M., & Gustafsson, P. A. (2017). Emotional and behavioural problems in Swedish preschool children rated by preschool teachers with the strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5401349/.
Karila, K. (2017). ECEC pedagogy in the Nordic countries – Its roots and current challenges. Report pedagogy in ECEC. Nordic challenges and solutions. file:///C:/Users/xuusli/Downloads/PEDAGOGYINECEC.pdf.
Karlsson Lohmander M. (2017). Sweden – ECEC workforce profile. In P. Oberhuemer & I. Schreyer (Eds.), Workforce profiles in systems of early childhood education and care in Europe. www.seepro.eu/English/Country_Reports.htm
Massouti, A. (2019). Rethinking teacher education for inclusion: A literature review. Canadian Journal for New Scholars in Education, 10(1), 1–9. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ee67/c011b6d9b90e34adfa11d4a0f6f3f80103bd.pdf
Ministry of Employment. (2020). Questions and answers about incorporating UN convention on the rights of the child into Swedish law. Government offices of Sweden. https://www.government.se/articles/2018/04/questions-and-answers-about-incorporating-un-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child-into-swedish-law/.
National Agency for Education. (2015). Beskrivande data 2015 [Descriptive statistics 2015]. National Agency for Education.
National Agency for Special Needs Education and Schools. (2020). Special needs education (SNE) in Sweden. https://www.spsm.se/om-oss/english/the-swedish-education-system/laws-and-rights-in-swedish-schools/special-needs-education-sne-in-sweden/.
OECD. (2011). Social justice in the OECD: How do the member states compare? Sustainable governance indicators 2011. Bertelsmann Stiftung.
Palla, L. (2018). Characteristics of Nordic research on special education in preschool: A review with special focus on Swedish conditions. International Journal of Inclusive Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2018.1441337
Robinson, D. (2017). Effective inclusive teacher education for special educational needs and disabilities: Some more thoughts on the way forward. Teacher and Teaching Education, 61(2), 164–178.
Sharma, U. (2018). Preparing to teach in inclusive classrooms. In Oxford research encyclopedia of education. https://oxfordre.com/education/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264093-e-113.
Sharma, U., & Desai, I. (2002). Measuring concerns about integrated education in India. Asia and Pacific Journal on Disability, 5(1), 2–14.
Sharma, U., & Jacobs, K. E. (2016). Predicting in-service educators’ intentions to teach in inclusive classrooms in India and Australia. Teaching and Teacher Education, 55, 13–23.
Sharma, U., & Sokal, L. (2016). Can teachers’ self-reported efficacy, concerns, and attitudes toward inclusion scores predict their actual inclusive classroom practices? Australasian Journal of Special Education, 40(1), 21–38.
Sharma, U., Loreman, T., & Forlin, C. (2012). Measuring teacher efficacy to implement inclusive practices. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 12(1), 12–21.
Shulman, L. S. (2004). The wisdom of practice: Essays on teaching, learning and learning to teach. Jossey-Bass.
Skolverket. (2018). Curriculum for the preschool Lpfö 18. Norstedts Juridik kundservice. https://www.skolverket.se/getFile?file=4049
Skolverket. (2020). Ny prognos: Fortsatt mycket stort behov av fler lärare. https://www.skolverket.se/om-oss/press/pressmeddelanden/pressmeddelanden/2019-12-09-ny-prognos-fortsatt-mycket-stort-behov-av-fler-larare
Skolverket (Swedish National Agency for Education). (2015). Beskrivande data 2013. Förskola, skola och vuxenutbildning. Skolverket.
Swedish Education Act. (2010:800). Stockholm: Swedish Code of Statutes.
Swedish Schools Inspectorate. (2017). Förskolans Arbete Med Barn i Behov av Särskilt Stöd. [Preschools work with children in need of special support]. Schools Inspectorate.
Symeonidou, S. (2017). Initial teacher education for inclusion: A review of the literature. Disability & Society, 32(3), 401–422. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2017.1298992
Uusimaki, L., Garvis, S., & Sharma, U. (2018). Swedish early childhood preservice teachers’ intensions, attitudes and concerns for engagement in inclusive classrooms. International Journal of Special Needs Education, 22(2), 1–10.
Volmari, K. (2019). Basic education in the Nordic region. Similar values, different policies. Finnish National Agency for Education. Reports and Surveys 2019, 4 https://www.oph.fi/sites/default/files/documents/30955454_basic_education_in_the_nordic_region_netti_19_04_08_0.pdf
Yin, R. K. (2002). Case study research: Design and methods. SAGE Publications.
Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods (4th ed.). Sage.
Zakirova Engstrand, R., & Roll-Pettersson, L. (2012). Inclusion of preschool children with autism in Sweden: Attitudes and perceived efficacy of preschool teachers. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 14(3), 1–10.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Garvis, S., Uusimaki, L., Sharma, U. (2022). Swedish Early Childhood Preservice Teachers and Inclusive Education. In: Harju-Luukkainen, H., Hanssen, N.B., Sundqvist, C. (eds) Special Education in the Early Years. International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Development, vol 36. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91297-0_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91297-0_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-91296-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-91297-0
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)