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Little is known about the working conditions for Swedish special educators who teach students with an intellectual disability. Consequently, the overall aim of this research is to describe special educators‘ job satisfaction, self-efficacy, and work absenteeism in Swedish special needs comprehensive schools (Grundsärskolan). We surveyed 148 special educators from Sweden (111 were eligible for the analysis). For measurement validation, we used principal axis factoring. For analysis, we estimated a linear regression (job satisfaction as the outcome) and negative binomial regression (work absenteeism as the outcome). The special educators in the study like their jobs, but some desire more resources. Our analysis suggests that higher levels of self-efficacy for inclusive education are associated with higher levels of expected job satisfaction, whereas a higher level of job satisfaction is associated with lower expected work absenteeism.

The voter turnout among citizens with intellectual disability (ID) is alarmingly low. This raises the question of why people with ID do not show up to vote. The overall aim of this study was to describe the role of self-efficacy for inclusive education as a predictor of special educators’ attitudes towards encouraging voting behaviour among pupils with ID. Consequently, our research question was the following: To what extent does self-efficacy for inclusive education predict Swedish special educators’ attitudes towards voting encouragement among pupils with ID? We studied 148 special educators from northern and western Sweden by using a non-random sample survey. In addition, we used an exploratory factor analysis and fit an ordinal logistic regression. We argue that the relative strength of civic education and, more precisely, attitudes towards encouraging voter behaviour are positively associated with teachers’ self-efficacy as special educators. Special educators who feel that they have mastered dealing with special-education tasks contribute to increasing the propensity of positive attitudes towards encouraging voting behaviour. Our study is – to our knowledge – the first to address the association between efficacy and voting encouragement among pupils with ID.

Executive function (EF) skills are crucial for pupils' learning. Therefore, incorporating well-considered instructional strategies may reduce the EF demands placed on pupils with insufficient EF skills in the classroom. Hence, educators are critically positioned. In the present study, 303 student teachers answered the Mathematics Skills Questionnaire. The aim of the study was to (a) examine how student teachers rated the importance of EF skills and EF-related skills involved in pupils' learning and (b) investigate whether there were any differences in rating between regular student teachers and special needs student educators. The results of a two-way mixed ANOVA showed a significant main effect of skill in the total sample. Follow-up tests revealed that skills such as reasoning and proof, inhibition, shifting, and creativity were rated as more important when compared to other skills. Follow-up comparison of the significant interaction effect between skill and student teacher group revealed that the special needs student teachers regarded working memory skills as more important, while the regular student teachers rated EF-related skills that are grounded in core EF skills to have higher importance. The science of learning and its educational implications are discussed.

This article reports the results of a twelve-week intervention study in which 30 students in the third grade in a socially disadvantaged neighbourhood received training in a reciprocal teaching reading programme twice a week. Previously, (a) no study of the effects of reciprocal teaching had been conducted in a Swedish context under the conditions of larger groups in grade 3 or (b) in a socially disadvantaged neighbourhood. In the present study, the students were instructed in ‘text talk’ in large groups, with 15 participants in each group. Each session lasted 15 to 20 minutes. Some text talks were video recorded. The video recordings were analysed qualitatively. The students’ reading comprehension was tested before the intervention, immediately after completing the intervention, and three months after completing the intervention. The results presented suggest that the students’ reading comprehension significantly increased. In the conclusion, the study indicates that reciprocal teaching had a positive effect on students in grade 3 in a Swedish context; however, uncontrolled intervening variables cannot be ruled out.

Between 2007 and 2011, the Swedish government added 50 million Euro per year to the budget of the Swedish Sports Confederation (RF) for a Sports for All programme (SfA), Idrottslyftet (The Lift for Sport), with the aim of engaging more children and youth, especially those from underrepresented groups. The programme manifesto stated that all activities should be based on gender and equality perspectives and be permeated by the regular RF policy program, Idrotten vill (What sports want). In this article, we discuss mechanisms of change and inertia in the Swedish sports system by applying path dependency theory on results achieved in Idrottslyftet. Findings are based on three data sources from five National Sports Organisations (NSOs) (Swedish Budo & Martial Arts Federation, Swedish Floorball Federation, Swedish Gymnastics Federation, Swe-dish Ski Association and Swedish Sports Organisation for the Disabled); the data include their development plans, interviews with key personnel and granted project applications from sports clubs during the programme’s first and third year (N = 2,563). Overall, the study shows that when considering decisions and activities undertaken by the government, RF and the NSOs little has been done to enable change and to avoid inertia. The NSOs have mainly provided funds to applications that focus on recruiting instead of on applications with a qualitative approach focusing on changing activities for children and youth. Furthermore applications focused on only a few of the guidelines in Idrotten vill and lacked in general gender and equality perspectives. Our main conclusion is that projects carried out in sports clubs strengthen ongoing activities rather than being an engine for qualitative leaps in developing activities for engaging more children and youth. Finally, we note that path dependency theory has been a fruitful tool for analysing the results from Idrottslyftet. The theory has significantly contributed to a deeper understanding of inertia within the Swedish sports system.

Under Skolarbetet blir roligare, gymnasieeleverna tar större ansvar och de lär sig bättre när de får använda datorn eller plattan i skolarbetet. Vilket de motiverar med att tekniken ger ökad tillgång till information, gör det lättare att läsa, skriva och anteckna samt att det stöttar lärandet. Många anger också att de uppskattar specialprogram som underlättar läs- och skrivarbete. Detta visar den enkätstudie som Skellefteå kommun gjort under våren 2014. Under perioden 2013-2015 genomför Skellefteå kommun en 1:1-satsning i kommunens gymnasieskolor som omfattar samtliga elever och lärare. Studien genomfördes och analyserades av Umeå universitet på uppdrag av Gymnasiekontoret vid Skellefteå kommun. Den omfattade samtliga gymnasielever och lärare i årskurs 1 samt rektorerna vid de berörda skolorna. Rapportförfattarna vill tacka alla som tog sig tid till att delta. Av de elever som deltog, besvarade samtliga alla frågor som ingick i enkäten, vilket var extra roligt.

This chapter discusses different forms of teacher-introduced corrective feedback – the backbone of language teaching – and students’ responses to it. How can university teachers use corrective feedback to promote clarity and transparency? And what resource allocations and constraints may affect these teaching-learning processes? The chapter also discusses the link between corrective feedback and the EU’s second language teaching system. It is further argued that student-centered, self-governed learning is important in European higher education, and that this, in turn, calls for learning situations where reflective self-correction among students is encouraged. Consequently, given the importance of, and need for, such learning environments, this chapter reminds the reader that student-introduced feedback should be encouraged and seen as a natural part of the teaching and learning process. Student-introduced feedback provides students with opportunities to offer feedback about the teaching-learning that is taking place, as well as about their perspectives on their own learning experiences. A key point in this chapter, therefore, is that learners may improve their language skills at a faster rate and with higher quality if they are provided with opportunities to reflect on and take active part in their own learning.