This thesis aims to contribute to knowledge about how teachers can develop their practice to enable students with intellectual disability (ID) and autism to participate in education. Pragmatism, situated learning, and variation theory have been guiding the studies. The research program follows an iterative design with an exploratory sequential design. The initial phase synthesized findings from practice-based research in the educational context of children with ID and co-occurring autism. In the next step, an intervention using Lesson Study, inspired by identified gaps in the research, targeting teachers' professional development and students' learning, was explored through quantitative and qualitative analyses of pre-and post-test data. After the initial examination, the intervention was adjusted and implemented in compulsory schooling for pupils with learning disabilities (CSPLD), for pupils with ID and autism. The main research question was: What, in a professional development program, contributes to enhancing teachers' abilities to develop teaching to increase educational participation for pupils with ID and autism?The narrative synthesis discerned six factors of importance to developing teaching practices in the Swedish CSPLD and thereby promoting contextualized inclusion for pupils with ID and autism. Namely, a. the inportance of collaborative work, b. focus on the pupils' participation in learning situations, c. distance to own teaching by video-based reflections, d. structured observations, e. analyses of how the design of lessons affects pupils' learning, f. changed focus from pupils' behavior to teaching and learning, and more generally, continuity regarding professional development over time. In conclusion, to gain further knowledge of teaching and learning in the context of CSPLD and achieve sustainability in the community where teachers share knowledge and curiosity about teaching and learning, Lesson Study is recomended as part of the SEND teacher commitment.

Enabling functional communication is critical for accessibility in school and society for all pupils. This systematic review analyzed the results of educational studies on developing communication skills for learners (<= 21 years) with autism spectrum disorder and comorbid intellectual disability. Systematic database searches were conducted using ERIC, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO. Seventeen of 208 peer-reviewed articles in English published between 1990 and 2020 met the inclusion criteria. The analysis identified various educational approaches, ranging from using alternative linguistic tools (e.g., signs and gestures) to physical devices (e.g., visual cues), and also examined instructional approaches used by educators. The synthesis shows heterogeneity of methods used, resulting in weak evidence for any model's impact on this pupil group's communication skills development and concomitant possibilities to affect their school situation. In addition, the analysis demonstrated that personnel performance crucially affects children's opportunities to learn regardless of the approach used. Directions for future research are concluded.

Purpose This research explores lesson study as a way to enhance the quality of teaching for pupils with learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorder by observing changes to one pupil's (Wilma) active educational participation. The study also investigates if and in what ways the professional development impacted teaching practices.

Design/methodology/approach Five teachers met with the author on four occasions. Between these meetings, the teachers delivered the lessons they had planned together. The author video recorded the meetings to discern how the teachers' expressions developed. The author shared their thoughts with another researcher to enable an interrater validity examination.

Findings The implementation of the lesson study vehicle enabled the teachers to transform their thinking from mainly focusing on pupils' deficiencies to instead focusing on their strengths. A relationship was found between teachers' understanding of central coherence, their skills in adapting received instructions and pupils' abilities to process and contextualize information or discern the whole picture.

Research limitations/implications Research that involves teachers in the learning process emphasizes the relation between teachers' thinking and their potential to enable the contextualized inclusion of pupils with learning disabilities.

Originality/value This research offers important insights into how school-day navigation for pupils with severe intellectual disability and autism can be understood through the lens of variation theory; the teachers' repeated and adjusted use of the frame on the schedule strip enabled Wilma to discern what would happen next during the school day.

Purpose

This study aim was to analyze how lesson study can enhance learning for students with intellectual disability, and how teachers' collaboration affects the design and analysis of the intervention.

Design/methodology/approach

Lesson study was used as a methodological framework. Ten special educational needs teachers met the researcher for three collaborative meetings. Between meetings, teachers performed and adjusted a lesson on a particular mathematical issue: quantity and size judgment. To evaluate the lesson design, students completed pre- and post-lesson examinations and attitude tests with Likert-type scales.

Findings

Students' knowledge increased during the study. The mean scores for the first group (six students) were 4.3 in the pre-test and 6.5 in the post-test (effect size 0.9). For the second group (four students), the mean score was 3.8 in the pre-test and 4.3 in the post-test (effect size 0.2). Attitude measurement showed split opinions; seven students had a positive experience and three had a predominantly negative experience. Assessment of teacher certainty using transcribed audio recordings of teachers' statements during the collaborative meetings indicated a positive relation between teacher expressions of certainty and student learning. The teacher–researcher collaboration increased teachers' focus on student learning and deepened the researcher's analysis.

Originality/value

There is an urgent need to explore collaborative development in special educational needs teaching. Lesson study is an effective way of examining teachers' collaborative processes using data on teachers' reasoning about teaching and students' learning.

This study used video feedback in a collaborative development study to help improve teachers’ perceptions of the learning needs of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual disabilities (ID) and enhance their active participation in the classroom. Crucially, teachers need the necessary skills to discern students’ subtle communications, as students with ASD and co-occurring ID may have reduced or non-existent verbal language and may express their needs mainly through behaviours. The first author video recorded ten classroom lessons and collaborated with three teachers to discuss the recordings in six meetings over the course of one semester.

The data used for this analysis were taken from the first (February) and last (June) collaborative meetings of the semester. The results show how collaborative video feedback can influence teachers’ judgements about students’ learning and further their professional development; the subtle signals that students use to communicate become more visible when the video recordings are viewed multiple times. The collaborative discussions facilitated the teachers’ understanding of students’ behaviours and actions. In addition, the teachers’ focus shifted from identifying general aspects of their students’ behaviours to their skills and knowledge.