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Inom den svenska grundskolan är segregerade specialklasser för elever med neuropsykiatriska funktionsnedsättningar vanligt förekommande. Syftet med denna artikel har varit att undersöka hur arbetslagsmedlemmar i specialklasser för elever med neuropsykiatriska funktionsnedsättningar konstruerar mentala modeller och genom dessa belysa hinder och förutsättningar för organisatoriskt lärande. Detta gjordes genom arbetslagsmedlemmarnas tolkning och förståelse av begreppet inkludering. I analysprocessen användes ett organisationsteoretiskt ramverk för att synliggöra hinder och möjligheter för organisatoriskt lärande. I artikeln identifieras ett flertal olika mentala modeller kopplat till inkludering. I flera fall fungerade de mentala modellerna som ett hinder i utvecklandet av organisatoriskt lärande. Resultaten visar att inkludering sågs som ett hot mot specialklasser och att ett kategoriskt perspektiv relaterat till elevernas diagnoser var framträdande. Synen utmanades inte och blev ett hinder i lärandeprocessen. Resultaten visar också hur tolkningen av begreppet inkludering användes för att legitimera segregerande specialklasser för elever med ADHD och autism. Vidare framkom att arbetslagsmedlemmarnas resonemang motiverades av vad som ansågs vara det bästa för eleverna. Om mentala modeller inte synliggörs och problematiseras riskerar de att skapa hinder för organisationsutveckling och lärande. Något som i sin tur får effekter gällande rätten till likvärdig utbildning, särskilt när det gäller elever med ADHD och autism.

This chapter analyses the learning process within educational teams in segregated special education units (SEUs) for students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder. The theoretical framework used builds upon pragmatism and organisational learning. Arguments are put forward regarding the framework's utility in analysing educational team members' collective and individual learning from an organisational perspective. The learning processes can clarify what may prevent or enable the development of organisational learning. Gaining knowledge about obstacles and conditions for organisational learning is important in the understanding of how and why SEUs function the way they do.

School leaders hold key roles in the organisation of educational support. In several Swedish municipalities, municipality organisers and school leaders provide segregated special educational solutions (SSESs) for pupils diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs). This article aims to contribute with knowledge about the Swedish special education system, more specifically to illuminate school leaders' understanding of special educational provision designated for pupils diagnosed with NDs. Seven school leaders, with connections to SESSs in a Swedish educational jurisdiction, were interviewed. The article is influenced by the theory of critical pragmatism and the concept of systems thinking. The results indicate that, according to the school leaders, the regular school system is not adapted for pupils diagnosed with NDs, therefore SSESs are needed. However, the school leaders did not share a mutual understanding of SSESs. Equally, information flows and collaborations among the school leaders were limited. Several school leaders expressed scepticism about the municipality organiser's engagement and interest in the SESSs. Accordingly, SSESs appear as units that are de-coupled from the rest of the regular educational system. Various obstacles regarding prerequisites for systems thinking were identified, complicating school leaders’ and the municipality organiser's mutual understanding and critical scrutinising of SESSs.

This study aimed to explore how the perceptions held by pupil assistants (PAs) and teachers regarding their professions shaped the identities of PAs and teachers belonging to segregated special education units (SEUs), as well as pupils with neurodevelopmental diagnoses (NDs). A qualitative study consisting of semi-structured interviews and Critical Discourse Analysis inspired by Fairclough with an emphasis on members’ resources was conducted in two educational teams composed of PAs and teachers. Two overarching discourses emerged in which the PAs presented themselves as spokespersons of the pupils’ thoughts and feelings, which created an identity of the diagnosed pupils as less capable and the PAs as caretakers. The teachers represented a view less affected by NDs; the pupils were identified as individuals capable of learning. The results illustrated the importance of member resources as an explanatory factor in the creation of discourses and identity making of occupational groups and pupils with NDs.