Sådant som var svårt, blev plötsligt lätt : Upplevelser av grundskolan och grundsärskolan ur ett elevperspektiv

Sammanfattning: The purpose of the study was to investigate some pupils' experiences of learning situations, support for learning and peer relations in compulsory school compared to compulsory school for pupils with learning disabilities. The study aimed to highlight the advantages and disadvantages, support for learning and peer relations the pupils experienced in the two school forms. The study is based on six qualitative semi-structured interviews with inspiration from life history interviews. There were three informants in the study, who have experience of teaching in both the compulsory school and the compulsory school for pupils with learning disabilities. They were interviewed twice.   The result was analyzed based on the socio-cultural theory and its concepts of artifacts, mediation, appropriation, zone of proximal development and scaffolding. The result shows that in compulsory school the pupils were given individual special education, and in the compulsory school for pupils with learning disabilities the pupils were only taught together with the classmates. The pupils experienced both teaching situations positively, but the teaching together with the classmates in the compulsory school for pupils with learning disabilities was seen as a more socially and academically supportive environment, where the students developed new knowledge.  In compulsory school, the students were offered customized teaching material and concrete material, which only pertially perceived to support the learning. The teachers' explanations were perceived as the best support when something was difficult. In the compulsory school for pupils with learning disabilities, the teachers had time and ability to explain. In the compulsory school for pupils with learning disabilities, the students experienced that they had more and more genuine friends than in the compulsory school.