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This chapter focuses on the participation and social interaction of pupils with low-incidence disabilities in the Swedish educational system with the goal of relating policies and practices in education for learners with low-incidence disabilities. Sweden has a welfare system that ensures that all low-incidence learners and their families receive support in education and in their everyday life. The research section concentrates on studies that focus on participation and social interaction in an educational context (training school), which is an adapted education program for low-incidence learners characterized by its high staff ratio and individualized forms of teaching. Despite legislation, policies, and intentions that Swedish schools shall include all pupils, it is still a challenge for the Swedish school system to provide education for low-incidence learners in inclusive environments. Research shows that low-incidence learners primarily have vertical relations with teachers and assistants in school, and that there is a lack of horizontal relationships with peers. The greatest challenge is to create learning environments that contribute to building relationships between low-incidence learners and learners without disabilities.

This chapter aims to further conversations around child-centred practice by considering the potential role of pupil voice within education. It explores the impacts of creating space for authentic pupil consultation in my own primary classroom upon my understanding – as teacher-researcher – of my class' experiences of teaching and learning. It outlines my use of pupil views templates (PVTs) (Wall & Higgins, 2006) to gain insight into children's thoughts, feelings and spoken interactions, and how this informed my professional practice as an educator, in order to move beyond pupil consultation as mere ‘lip-service’, and towards developing more meaningful engagement based on an acknowledgement of children's perspectives, as well as their right to express these views freely in all matters pertaining to them (UNCRC, 1989). As such, this chapter provides an exemplar of the reflections that can be gained through using PVTs to ‘listen’ to children, and the impacts this had upon the co-construction of our classroom culture, with implications for pupils' metacognition, the role of educator as a metacognitive role model and ultimately for children's agency and control over their own learning. Whilst my own use of PVTs is situated within an education context, the description of the ways in which this approach can be used has relevance for professionals in other fields who wish to gain greater insight into children's perceptions and experiences.

The canonical narratives (Bruner, 2004) of contemporary research with children include participation, agency and voice. This inclusive language has saturated research literature throughout the development of the “new” social studies of childhood (James, Jenks, & Prout, 1998). Their presence was highlighted as illuminating greater understanding of the social realities of children’s lives but they mask and mute as much as they reveal. Heralded as the holy grail of emancipatory research with children, participatory methods have come to be recognized almost exclusively as the route for ethical practice and valid data. The absence of substantial, critical evaluation results in these concepts being little more than “cherished conceits” (Segal, 1999, p. 118). There has been a lack of thorough interrogation of what participation actually means and the data and social relations it produces. Participation implies collaboration and reciprocity but is counter-intuitively used to seek and promote the agentic child enshrined in neoliberalism. Children as social beings negotiate complex social relations (Richards, Clark, & Boggis, 2015) but this is often lost in research encounters which privilege the individual voice, informed by an under-interrogated definition of agency. Instead of following the neoliberal agenda we argue that recognizing the ways in which participatory methods, agency, and voice can and should promote reciprocal and relational social realities is vital to a better understanding of the worlds of children. We call not for their expulsion from research methods but for a re-evaluation of the assumptions that lie beneath and what is produced in their name.

Children are often side-lined in both national and international provisions. Whilst the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development mentions children, it does so not as World citizens but rather as subjects; this replicates their position in most state constitutions. The chapter considers the use of Amartya Sen's justice theory to deliver the 2030 Agenda to children who offend. For Sen, justice requires the identification and removal of sociostructural barriers which limit the life chances and impede the ability of many children to pursue legitimate and meaningful goals. He prioritises choice for all, including children. This chapter uses these ideals to consider the delivery of justice whilst respecting human agency. It takes as its example Wales, where children are central to a sustainable future and embraced as citizens with full human and fundamental rights. In particular, the Welsh Government's emphasis on ‘universal’ entitlements places a moral and political imperative on agencies to promote the well-being of all children, including those in conflict with the law; it seeks to deliver well-being to all children. The Welsh example is suggested as a just solution that might be replicated elsewhere and so result in a true delivery of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

This chapter describes a precollegiate course designed to encourage high school students of color to explore teaching and presents the findings from case studies on two Black male students enrolled in the course who are now preparing to pursue a career in teaching. The research questions guiding the two case studies include: (a) What factors influence Black males to consider teaching? (b) What roles do race, ethnicity, and school experiences play in Black males’ exploration of teaching? and (c) What aspects of the course are most influential in Black males’ exploration of teaching and related fields? The results of these case studies expose the complexity of effective recruitment of Black male teachers. The insights provided by these two teens can provide substantial guidance for the improvement of educational policy and practice in order to increase the recruitment and retention of Black male teachers.

This chapter provides a comprehensive presentation and discussion of special education in Sweden. The presentation and discussion are tied deeply to the country’s general education system which incorporates social and political aspects as well as beliefs in equity for all.

The municipalities in Sweden have a large degree of independence as such special education can be organized in different ways. Yet, within each municipality’s educational structure is the common theme that students are different therefore teaching cannot be the same for everyone. The following chapter sections provide the reader with a better understanding of Sweden’s general special education system today: legislative acts that ensure equal access to education; the special education context; the history of special education and service in Sweden; the expansion of special education starting in the 1960s and early 1970s; current prevalence data; a clarification of differentiation, inclusion and categorization; teacher preparation advances; problems in schools and student’s difficulties; a description of inclusive education; and current challenges to inclusive education.

Hillyard argues that Irving Goffman’s mixing of detailed study, an evocative writing style and interjection as social commentator can legitimately be defined as social science research because it highlights inequalities. His approach is seen not as a systematic model but as a appreciation of the rhetorical nature of ethnographic writing and argument, whilst maintaining a critical theoretical agenda. Debates over the legitimacy of partisan research and in particular critical ethnography are a feature of the last decade in education (Hammersley, 1992) and Irving Goffman, in particular, is held in high esteem for his work on inequalities which is why the debate at the Oxford 2002 conference was so pertinent.

This chapter explores the use of three different approaches to capturing other perspectives in lesson study: lesson artefacts, pupil voice and pupil participatory approaches. Lesson artefacts and pupil voice appear to be the more common, whereas pupil participatory approaches are more recent initiatives in a lesson study context. Observation of pupils provides one perspective, but is limited because, among other things, it does not include the pupils’ perspectives. These approaches, especially when used together in triangulation, can provide a broader and potentially deeper understanding of pupil learning.

This chapter will take a case study approach to partnership in Higher Education (HE), highlighting good practice and showcasing FOCUS West as a model of innovative collaboration. FOCUS West is a government-funded, regional access organisation in the west of Scotland (http://www.focuswest.org.uk). The region comprises roughly 5,000 square miles with a population of around 2.2 million. Delivered by a partnership of the Universities of Glasgow, Strathclyde and the West of Scotland, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow School of Art and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) it works with schools and local education authorities to increase progression to HE from the 37 lowest progression secondary schools in the area. It delivers a programme of guidance and support to pupils from S3 to S6 (14–18 year olds), targeting activity to those young people who have potential to achieve HE entry. FOCUS West, as a partnership organisation, addresses vital issues of social mobility in Scotland, where progression to university and all of the attendant opportunities, remains stubbornly linked to socio-economic circumstances.