Ingela Andreasson

Lessons Learned from Research on Individual Educational Plans in Sweden: Obstacles, Opportunities and Future Challenges.

Since 1995, all Swedish compulsory schools have had a legal obligation to establish individual educational plans (IEPs) for pupils with special educational needs. However, previous research shows that there are a number of issues associated with how these plans are used in schools’ overall work and identifies a discrepancy between educational policy and practice. In this article, we review previous research on authentic IEPs in Sweden to clarify issues and obstacles associated with each step of the process of working with these plans. We then problematise and critically discuss the role that IEPs have come to play in the current Swedish education system and Swedish education policy, following recent reforms. Informed by our review of previous research and the transformation of the Swedish education system during recent years, we conclude that the following issues regarding the use of IEPs require particular consideration on both policy and local school levels. Firstly, partly (at least) because guidelines for implementing IEPs are inadequate, schools appear to enact rather than implement these policy demands, without critically considering what an IEP is and how it should be used in practice. Secondly, in contrast to initial intentions, IEPs largely seem to be used primarily as administrative tools rather than to help meet the educational and developmental needs of the pupils concerned. Hence, there is a risk of IEPs being used merely for ‘fabricating’ a sanitised version of the schools’ procedures to demonstrate accountability in national quality audits and give a favourable representation of the schools. Finally, parents and pupils’ participation and involvement in developing IEPs need further exploration in schools. These issues should ideally be critically examined in future studies regarding the use of IEPs both nationally and internationally.

Operationalizing equity: The complexities of equity in practice

The aim of this article is to offer some reflections on the relationship between meanings of equity at the national level and those working with these questions in local schools. We argue that meanings of equity at the national level are in strong contrast to the range complexity identified in local schools. The article draws from case study research, and the empirical data were gathered in seven schools, ranging from preschools to upper secondary schools. Our focus is on how issues of equity are interpreted and what challenges the schools face in relation to this. Our intention is to gain insights into processes where values of equity are negotiated, renegotiated and reshaped in daily contexts in schools. Our results convey a complex picture with a wide variation in how school staff interpret and work with fundamental values. This variation appears both within and between schools. An analysis of the variations resulted in three overarching themes: values as taken for granted, values as formalized and values as a pedagogical flow. These three themes are not exclusive or limited; instead, they should be seen as intertwined.