A third level of educational research is emerging, in addition to original research and secondary-level reviews. Whereas most third-level research syntheses focus on rather restricted topical areas, this study introduces a comparative and integrative overview of prominent second-order research on teaching, including many different types of reviews and aspects of teaching. The purpose of the study is to illuminate patterns in a second-order research topography in the widespread and multi-faceted field of research on teaching from 1980 to the present, in order to discuss its implications for research and review-making. The overview encompasses 75 most-cited reviews of research on teaching published in international, refereed journals from 1980 to 2018 in the Web of Science. The overview utilised a specific coding procedure covering methodology, review topics and context. The study shows that several research traditions have contributed to advances in the research on teaching over time. Reviews have become more formalised, but the distribution of different types of review formats and research traditions is relatively constant. The single most established review format is meta-analysis, but it is less dominant than might be expected in an era of evidence-based education. The reviewers mainly belong to educational psychology, applied linguistics/research on language teaching, or research on science teaching. Whereas most reviews of research on science teaching are qualitative, reviews performed by psychologists and language-education researchers are mainly quantitative or based on mixed methods as a way to rationally and cumulatively summarise and downsize unmanageable amounts of research.

The purpose of the reported interview study from Sweden is to contribute to our understanding of how head teachers can promote inclusive practices. Five head teachers were selected from a larger sample of head teachers working in compulsory schools (6–16) according to specific criteria in order to obtain head teachers who work effectively and express inclusive values relative to a relational perspective. The interviews were semi-structured, and a thematic analysis was performed. Head teachers’ strategies were in focus. The theoretical point of departure is critical pragmatism. Overall the five head teachers reported similar strategies. The head teachers describe the importance of educational leadership through observation and participation in activities in the classrooms. They advocate flexibility in the solutions provided for students in need of special support preferring solutions carried out in the regular classroom by the class/subject teacher. Head teachers see special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) as important partners in their work towards more inclusive practices. Head teachers express the importance of consensus among their staff. They seem to welcome government’s increasing demands and steering concerning how head teachers should manage their schools. Finally, it is discussed whether the head teachers can be said to work ‘inclusively’ and, more generally, the methodological challenges researchers must confront in studies concerning ‘inclusive’ education.

Educational leaders have a comprehensive responsibility for how preschools and schools work with children in need of special educational support. The aim of this research is to study how educational leaders (a) explain why children have problems in schools, (b) consider how preschools/schools should help children in need of special support and (c) the role they believe that Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) should have in such work. Educational leaders (N = 45) working in preschools and regular compulsory schools in a Swedish municipality responded (100%) to a questionnaire. According to the results of this study, this group seems to view difficulties in schools as being caused primarily by individual shortcomings. Educational leaders often advocate solutions that are closely linked to the work of special educators. The educational leaders believe SENCOs should work with supervising staff and focus on documentation and evaluations. Preschool leaders attribute children's need of special support to teachers more often than their colleagues in compulsory schools.

Objectives: To examine perceived participation in students with ASC and their classmates in mainstream schools and to investigate correlations between activities the students wanted to do and actually participated in.

Methods: Twenty-two students with ASC and their 382 classmates responded to a 46-item questionnaire regarding perceived participation in mainstream schools.

Results: On 57% of the items, students with ASC perceived lower participation than their classmates. These results emphasize the importance of knowledge about students’ perceived participation. However, positive correlations between what the students wanted to do and actually did indicate that students with ASC may be participating to the extent that they wanted.

Conclusion: Students with ASC perceived lower overall participation in mainstream school than their classmates. The correlations between “I want to” and “I do” statements in students with ASC indicated that aspects of autonomy are important to incorporate when studying, and interpreting, self-rated participation in mainstream schools.

The purpose of this study was to examine special education policy and practice from the perspective of school district administrators in Norway and Sweden. Administrators from 266 Norwegian and 262 Swedish municipalities completed a survey concerning: (a) reasons children need special education, (b) common and desired organizational solutions, and (c) the influence of policy on practice. Despite a number of clear differences, findings suggest that Swedish and Norwegian administrators share similar attitudes regarding the provision of special education support. It appears that in both countries inclusive practices are seen as the ideal, yet, Norwegian administrators appear to have a stronger preference for categorical or segregated solutions. However, this finding must be viewed in light of current practices in each country. In particular, we take into consideration data indicating that 17% of Swedish students receive special educational support, as compared to approximately 6% in Norway.

The purpose of the present paper is to investigate how different occupational groups explain why children have problems in school, how they believe schools should help these children and the role they believe that special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) should have in such work. A questionnaire was distributed to all teaching and support staff in a Swedish municipality (N=1297). As a result, 938 persons (72.5%) answered the questionnaire. The answers given by (a) preschool teachers (b) teacher assistants (c) SENCOs (d) special teachers (e) class teachers and (f) subject teachers were compared. Several interesting patterns emerged from the data indicating that the occupational groups to a large extent have different ideas concerning how the school should work with children in need of special support. The SENCOs were, for example, the only group that believed that they should be involved in school development. The outcome of the study is discussed in relation to the notion of inclusive education.

When it comes to pupils in need of special support and pupils with disabilities, Sweden's compulsory school system is sometimes considered a one-track system. This article analyses and critically discusses current policy and practices at various levels of Sweden's compulsory school system for these pupils. The analysis traces three themes at the national and municipal levels: (1) values and goals; (2) organisation and placement of pupils; and (3) importance of categories in obtaining support. A rather complex picture emerges from this analysis. Several conclusions are made: (1) state policies leave a lot of room for interpretation at the municipal and school levels, and this results in an extensive variation; (2) Swedish state policy is not as inclusive as is often stated; (3) celebration of difference seems to be hard to achieve; (4) learning goals can be a double-edged sword with regard to inclusion; and (5) most pupils appear to enjoy participation in school, and in an international perspective, Swedish classrooms seem to be largely democratic.

A case study of what appears to be an inclusive classroom in Sweden is reported. The group of children in the class studied was very heterogeneous: five of the 15 children had a disability diagnosis at the time of the study. One aim of the study was to develop a methodology which can be used in order to investigate in what sense classrooms are 'inclusive', especially as regards the point of view of the pupils. It is argued that an explicit definition of characteristics of inclusive classrooms and clear-cut methods to study those characteristics are necessary prerequisites in order to reach valid conclusions concerning what teaching strategies are central to inclusive processes. The data consist of interviews with the teachers and children involved, sociograms, a questionnaire answered by the children, notes from participant observations and poetry by the children. The analyses suggest that the classroom seems to be inclusive, although it is emphasised that this is not an all-or-none phenomenon, especially children's experiences are complex phenomena. It is argued that the teachers try to create a learning community where differences are valued. Six teacher strategies emerged from the data.