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alleged shortcomings onto the school system’s shortcomings.
It does however seem that this environmental perspective in line with an inclusive
school only partly characterizes the compulsory school. A tendency to individualize
school problems rather than contextualize them is evident in the way both
municipal executives (Nilholm et al., 2007) and head teachers (Giota & Emanuelsson,
2011; Göransson et al., submitted) within the comprehensive school explain
school problems. In the three studies a majority stated that the reasons for school
problems arre pupils´ individual deficits and factors outside the school, for instance
defective home environments. There does not seem to be any difference between
independent and municipality schools in this respect. Results from Giota’s and
Emanuelsson’s study indicate that between 97-99 % of the head teachers in municipality
and independent schools state this. The study by Göransson et al. report that
81.3 % of the head teachers in independent schools state pupils’ individual deficits
as the reason for school problems. Results from the municipality survey (Nilholm
et al., 2007) suggests that a similar attitude to reasons for being in need of special
support exists within municipalities’ school organizations, with a focus on individual
deficits and factors outside the particular school. There does however seem
to be a greater tendency to challenge this deficit perspective on municipality level
than on school level. A greater amount of the municipal executives stated that poor
adaption of the schools to cope with diversity, teacher ability or functioning of the
classes as common or very common reasons for pupils being in need of special
support (ibid.).
Organization and placement of pupils
On a national level, there is a division of responsibility between the Swedish National
Agency of Education and the National Agency for Special Needs Education
and Schools (SPSM), regarding special groups of pupils. Although Skolverket has
responsibility for coordinating national initiatives for pupils with disabilities, it is
the SPSM that coordinates state support for special needs education for pupils with
disabilities. Consequently, there is a special agency whose main responsibility is
pupils with disabilities.
The Education Act further excludes pupils in terms of dividing the school system
in different types of schools for different categories of pupils 1 . The compulsory
school is divided in comprehensive school, the Sami school, compulsory school for
pupils diagnosed with intellectual disability, special schools – for pupils who are
deaf or hard of hearing, who have impaired vision and additional disabilities, who
are deaf or hard of hearing in combination with an intellectual disability, pupils
with congenital deaf-blindness, and one school for pupils with profound speech
and communication disorders. A majority of the pupils, 98 %, attend the comprehensive
school.
1 According to the law it is possible for parents to choose between comprehensive school
and the different forms of special schools, except in the case of schools for pupils diagnosed
with intellectual disability if there are exceptional reasons and with the child’s best at focus
(Public Law SFS 2010:800, Chapter 7, § 5).
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