Special education and general education – coordinated or separated? A study of curriculum planning for pupils with special educational needs

ABSTRACT

The central issue of this article is the coordination between special and general education in curriculum planning for pupils with special educational needs. The focus is on individual education plans (IEPs) in special education and work plans in general education. This is also viewed in relation to how special and general education teachers cooperate on planning. The analysis is based on a qualitative interview study with special and general education teachers in four primary and lower secondary schools in two municipalities. A clear pattern is shown in the study, where curriculum planning for special and general education is not very coordinated and cooperation between special and general education teachers is often very limited. Thus, curriculum planning within special and general education appears to be more separated than coordinated. The two groups of teachers appear to adopt traditional and partly separate roles, and tend to plan individually rather than together. Responsibility for the education of pupils with special needs seems to be more divided than shared.

KEYWORDS:

• Curriculum & instruction
• inclusive education
• special education needs

Notes on contributor

Sven Nilsen is professor in the Department of Special Needs Education at University of Oslo. His research is focused on the interplay between adaptation of general education and special education.