Special Needs Education in Norway – The Past, Present, and Future of the Field

Abstract

The main challenge of special education in Norway, as in other Nordic countries is to implement the inclusive school in practice. Even if there is a strong commitment to the idea of full inclusion in a one-track system, there are still several indications of segregation tendencies in the schools. The long-term goals of Norwegian school reforms to promote an inclusive school with high-quality special education and assistance do not seem to match the practical realities in the municipalities and local schools that are responsible for putting the ideals into practice. There are disagreements about how to create a good balance between the general and the specific or between adapted and special education. According to special education research, there are ideological, organizational, financial, and practical obstacles in the process of including students with special needs. One of the promising research based approaches to the inclusion of special needs students, and particularly those who are difficult to include, is the model of school-wide positive social and academic learning support and intervention. This model has been implemented and evaluated in Norwegian elementary schools with encouraging results.

Citation

Ogden, T. (2014), "Special Needs Education in Norway – The Past, Present, and Future of the Field", Special Education Past, Present, and Future: Perspectives from the Field (Advances in Learning and Behavioral Disabilities, Vol. 27), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 213-238. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0735-004X20140000027012