The School Situation for Students with Congenital Mobility Impairments

Project leader Göran Nygren.

What does the social and educational school situation look like for students with congenital mobility impairments in today's school? The aim of the research project is to contribute with research results and knowledge about the factors that promote and counteract students' opportunities for equal education and development.

Details

Period: 2024-02-15 – 2027-07-31
Budget: 3,850,000 SEK
Funder: Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare,Norrbacka Eugeniastiftelsen
Type of funding: Etableringsbidrag

About the project

Since the end of the 1980s, Swedish schools have undergone several revolutionary reforms and a systemic change. There is a clear need for knowledge and research on how this has affected the schooling of primary school students with congenital mobility impairments.

They are a heterogeneous and complex group of pupils with different individual conditions, abilities and needs. Congenital mobility impairments are an umbrella term for several diagnoses. The most common are cerebral palsy, spina bifida and muscle diseases, other examples are short stature, hydrocephalus, multiple disabilities and osteoporosis. These injuries occur in the womb, during childbirth or before the age of two and result in reduced mobility. They can also affect to varying degrees other functions such as cognition, perception, communication, gross and fine motor skills, vision, hearing, and gastrointestinal function.

The overarching question for this research project is therefore: What does the social and educational school situation look like for these students in today's school? The aim of the research project is to contribute with research results and knowledge about the factors that promote and counteract students' opportunities for equal education and development.

The specific aim is twofold

1) Investigate what experiences and perceptions students with congenital mobility impairments have about their school situation.

2) Identify which perceptions, conditions and practices around the school promote or counteract opportunities for equal education and development for children and young people with mobility impairments.

Method

The ethnographic design of the study is based on cultural and discourse analytical perspectives, an explorative and holistic approach, and qualitative fieldwork methods and techniques. The study combines observations, conversations, semi-structured interviews and document and internet analysis. During the fieldwork, I follow twelve students between grades 1 and 9 individually in their everyday school life. With the pupil at the center and the combination of methods and types of material, both a holistic perspective and detailed knowledge of how conceptions, practices and conditions interact and shape the pupils' school situation are made possible.

The focus is on the students' experiences and perceptions in their everyday school life. Students will be followed for approximately five days each in their respective school environment and followed up with a home visit to observe and interview the student and parents about school-related activities at home or other places after the school day ends. The research project includes a high degree of collaboration with the surrounding community, primarily with the National Association of Mobility Impaired Children and Youth (Riksförbundet för rörelsehindrade barn och ungdomar, RBU).

The results of the study will be disseminated through research conferences, open conferences, a report in Swedish and three articles in international journals.