Characteristics of Nordic research on special education in preschool: a review with special focus on Swedish conditions

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of the reviewed studies’ aims.

Author(s) (N = 31)	Intimacy & Depth (n = 25)	Distance & Width (n = 6)
1 Åmot (2012)	X
2 Arnesen (2014)	X (diff to def)
3 Björklund (2012)	X
4 Bygdeson-Larsson	X
5 Cameron and Tveit (2011)	X
6 Drugli, Clifford, and Larsson (2008)	X
7 Fisker (2010)	X
8 Gjermestad	X
9 Hagström (2010)	X
10 Hillesøy, Johansson, and Ohna (2014)	X
11 Holst (2008)	X
12 Holst and Pihlaja (2011)		X
13 Kristoffersen and Simonsen (2013)	X
14 Kristoffersen and Simonsen (2014)	X
15 Lansheim (2010)	X
16 Lillvist (2010) (4/4 art)		X
17 Lindqvist (2013) (2/4 art)		X
18 Luttropp (2011) (2/2 art)	X
19 Lutz (2006)	X
20 Lutz (2009)	X
21 Melin (2013)	X
22 Palla (2011)	X
23 Sajaniemi, Suhonen, and Kontu (2010)		X
24 Sandberg and Ottosson (2010)	X
25 Siljehag (2007)	X
26 Svensson (2013) (2/4 rel art)		X
27 Tveit and Cameron (2012)	X
28 von Ahlefeld Nisser (2009)	X
29 Warming (2011)	X
30 Westman Andersson (2013) (4/4 art, unclear relevance)		X (closer to dist than to intimacy and depth, but not to great width)
31 Wetso (2006)	X

Table 2. Characteristics of the reviewed studies’ data collection methods, data and analysis.

Author(s) (N = 31)	Data Collection Methods	Qual. Data & Analysis Appr (n = 27)	Quant. Data & Analysis Appr (n = 7)
Åmot (2012)	Observations, focus group interview	X
Arnesen (2014)	3 studies. Interventions, questionnaire, interviews	X
Björklund (2012)	Deep interview, videographic observations	X
Bygdeson-Larsson	Observations, narrated experiences by preschool practitioner	X
Cameron and Tveit (2011)	Observations, interviews, field notes	X
Drugli, Clifford, and Larsson (2008)	Interviews	X
Fisker (2010)	Observations, video recordings, interviews, conversations	X
Gjermestad	Video observations, conversations	X
Hagström (2010)	Mapping, conversations, education sessions, written narratives	X
Hillesøy, Johansson, and Ohna (2014)	Video observations	X
Holst (2008)	Interviews	X
Holst and Pihlaja (2011)	Self evaluation, survey		X
Kristoffersen and Simonsen (2013)	Video observations, field notes, interviews	X
Kristoffersen and Simonsen (2014)	Video observations, field notes, interviews, informal conversations	X
Lansheim (2010)	Interviews, conversations, participants diary notes	X
Lillvist (2010)	Survey, observations	X	X
Lindqvist (2013)	Questionnaires, interviews	X	X
Luttropp (2011)	Observ, video, surveys, interviews, written doc	X	X
Lutz (2006)	Meeting with discussion, written doc, interviews, policy doc	X
Lutz (2009)	Meeting with discussion, written doc, interviews, policy doc	X
Melin (2013)	Part of an intervention programme. Observations, field notes, conversations	X (yet frequency measures, histogram, particip profiles, time profiles)
Palla (2011)	Interviews, group conversations, written documentation	X
Sajaniemi, Suhonen, and Kontu (2010)	Intervention programme, tests, video recordings		X
Sandberg and Ottosson (2010)	Interviews	X
Siljehag (2007)	Group meetings, interviews, policy documents, archive material	X
Svensson (2013)	Survey		X
Tveit and Cameron (2012)	Interviews	X
von Ahlefeld Nisser (2009)	Interviews, logbooks, network meetings, web forum	X
Warming (2011)	Group interview	X
Westman Andersson (2013)	Part of an intervention programme. Tests, Observations, questionnaire, interviews		X
Wetso (2006)	Play process as intervention, researcher initiated activities: educating, tutoring, conversations, observations, video, questionnaire, interviews, diary	X

Table 3. Characteristics of the reviewed studies’ theories.

Author(s) (N = 31)	Theories, Theoretical Analysis Tools, Theoretical influence(r)s or similar
Åmot (2012)	Descriptive phenomenology
Arnesen (2014)	No obvious theory. Briefly mentions learning theory as part of ABA
Björklund (2012)	Variation theory of learning, phenomenography
Bygdeson-Larsson	Activity theory (Engeström, EPR model), hermeneutics, sociocultural theory and object rel theory (Winnicott)
Cameron and Tveit (2011)	Lipsky and Habermas
Drugli, Clifford, and Larsson (2008)	Grounded theory
Fisker (2010)	Metatheor rel developm perspective, Vygotsky, Sommer
Gjermestad	Theories about dyadic relations, intersubjectivity and learning, phenomenology and hermeneutics
Hagström (2010)	A range of diff theories on for example teachers learning, attachment theory, affect theory
Hillesøy, Johansson, and Ohna (2014)	Sociocultural theory
Holst (2008)	No obvious theory
Holst and Pihlaja (2011)	No obvious theory
Kristoffersen and Simonsen (2013)	Ethnography, sociocultural theory
Kristoffersen and Simonsen (2014)	Ethnography, sociocultural theory
Lansheim (2010)	Social constructionism, Mead, Foucault and more
Lillvist (2010)	System theory
Lindqvist (2013)	Critical pragmatism, Cherryholmes, Skrtic, Abbott
Luttropp (2011)	Developmental ecology
Lutz (2006)	Social constructionism, critical discourse analysis, Fairclough, Foucault, organisation theory, Giddens
Lutz (2009)	Social constructionism, critical discourse analysis, Fairclough, Foucault, organisation theory, Giddens
Melin (2013)	Critical realism
Palla (2011)	Poststructuralism, discourse analysis, Foucault, Butler
Sajaniemi, Suhonen, and Kontu (2010)	No obvious theory
Sandberg and Ottosson (2010)	Phenomenology
Siljehag (2007)	Critical social theory
Svensson (2013)	Theories regarding child abuse, ecology model
Tveit and Cameron (2012)	Ethnography, deliberative communication (theoretical approach based on ‘argumentative’, power-free and respectful communication)
von Ahlefeld Nisser (2009)	Social constructionism, deliberate communication, the theory of argumentation by Habermas, critical theory, discourse analysis
Warming (2011)	Discourse analysis, Fairclough, Foucault, Giddens and Bourdieu
Westman Andersson (2013)	No obvious theory
Wetso (2006)	‘Ethnography’. Main theory: Activity theory (Vygotsky, Leontiev, Elkonin)

Table 4. Primary voices in the reviewed studies.

Author(s) (N = 31)	Preschool Teachers & oth Staff (n = 26)	Special Educators (n = 8)	Parents (n = 4)	Children (n = 0)
Åmot (2012)	X Teachers, staff
Arnesen (2014)	X ABA-supv & teachers, staff
Björklund (2012)		X Educator spec in educ children w spec needs
Bygdeson-Larsson	X Teachers, staff
Cameron and Tveit (2011)	X Teachers, nurse	X	X
Drugli, Clifford, and Larsson (2008)	X Teachers
Fisker (2010)	X Educators
Gjermestad	X Adults/staff
Hagström (2010)	X Teachers
Hillesøy, Johansson, and Ohna (2014)	–	–	–	–
Holst (2008)	X Teachers
Holst and Pihlaja (2011)	X Teachers	X
Kristoffersen and Simonsen (2013)	X Teachers
Kristoffersen and Simonsen (2014)	X Staff
Lansheim (2010)		X Future + special ed
Lillvist (2010)	X Teachers
Lindqvist (2013)	X Staff, ed. leaders
Luttropp (2011)	X Teachers, staff
Lutz (2006)	X Staff, actors
Lutz (2009)	X Staff, actors
Melin (2013)	X Teachers
Palla (2011)	X Staff	X
Sajaniemi, Suhonen, and Kontu (2010)	–	–	–	–
Sandberg and Ottosson (2010)	X Teachers, prof		X
Siljehag (2007)		X Teachers bec. special eds
Svensson (2013)	X Staff
Tveit and Cameron (2012)	X Teacher, nurse	X	X
von Ahlefeld Nisser (2009)	X Edu leaders	X
Warming (2011)	X Teachers
Westman Andersson (2013)	X Teachers		X
Wetso (2006)	X Teachers		X

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