Special Education - Theories and Research, 15 credits

Main field of study

Course level

Advancement level

Course offered for

• Special Educational Needs Programme

Entry requirements

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of the course, the student should:

- have acquired knowledge of special needs education as a concept and a phenomenon in both research and society, and knowledge of national and local control documents.
- be able to demonstrate an understanding of different perspectives on special needs education and special tuition in both inclusive and exclusive organisation of teaching.
- be able to discuss and problematise special education concepts and have a general understanding of the knowledge field.
- be able to account for national and international research
- have acquired knowledge of laws and ethics with relevance to special education activities.
- have acquired an understanding of the work of the teacher for special needs education in preventive special educational activities.
- have developed an ability to reflect theoretically on special educational practice and special educational approaches.

Course content

The course covers special education and approaches to special education from both historical and present-day perspectives. Central concepts that are problematised and discussed in the course are wholeness, participation, inclusion, integration, deviation, normality, differentiation and segregation. Knowledge of the community's and school's encounter with and responsibility for children and adolescents is central to the course, and the laws and statutes regulating this responsibility are studied. An important part of the course is the cooperation and collaboration between different actors and institutions with regard to pupils, which provide an overall view of what the special education work may involve. Further processed in the course are dilemma situations where ethical and legal considerations and positions are taken with the purpose of developing the students' judgement and approach

Teaching and working methods

The teaching takes the form of field studies, student active literature seminars, lectures and oral and written assignments, individually or in groups.

Examination

The course is examined through literature seminars, individual and group course/field assignments, and examination assignments. Both oral and written examinations may occur.

Applies to all courses regardless of grading scale.

• Students failing an exam covering either the entire course or part of the course two times are entitled to have a new examiner appointed for the reexamination.

If the course has a three-graded grading scale (U - VG), following applies:

• Students who have passed an examination may not retake it in order to improve their grades.

If the course is a VfU course, the following applies:

• Examination of applied social and didactic abilities is limited to three (3) occasions.

Grades

Other information

Planning and implementation of a course must take its starting point in the wording of the syllabus. The course evaluation included in each course must therefore take up the question how well the course agrees with the syllabus.

The course is carried out in such a way that both men´s and women´s experience and knowledge is made visible and developed.

Department