”… mycket mindre ’distractions’ …” : Elevers upplevelser av särskilda undervisningsgrupper som undervisningsform utifrån ett välmåendeperspektiv

Sammanfattning: In recent years there has been an increased focus on the concept inclusion within the area of pedagogic research. This has led to recommendations that it’s better to give pedagogical support within the regular schoolroom, rather than placing pupils with different abilities and needs to another classroom. There are studies that suggest that placing pupils in remedial classes may have negative consequences for those pupils. It is said that it can be an ineffective and expensive way of giving pedagogical support and that the pupils in remedial classes may not be given as qualified support there as in the regular classroom. Placing pupils in remedial classes also risk effecting their self-esteem in a negative way, making them feel as though they must be in a remedial class because there is something wrong with them. Another criticism against remedial classes is that the pupil will miss out on the sense of community of being with the rest of the class. But being placed in a remedial class may also be a help. According to the Swedish schools inspectorate, Skolinspektionen, being placed in a remedial class can have a positive impact for some pupils regarding school results, school presence and social development. This study has an exploratory approach and aims to find out how pupils in remedial classes feel about that form of education. I’ve made semi-structured interviews with six pupils from four different schools. This study has an exploratory research approach which aims to develop hypothesizes or questions for further research. The study focuses on the pupils view of positive and negative aspects of remedial classes, how it’s different from being in the regular classroom together with the rest of the class, how the pupils would like to develop the education in the remedial classes and in the regular classroom and in what way the remedial class has affected their wellbeing in school. I’ve used PISA:s four dimensions of wellbeing as a definition of the concept wellbeing.  The result from the study show that all the pupils that I interviewed feel good about being in a remedial class. They all expressed that there’s a better and a quieter work environment in the remedial classes as opposed to the work environment in the regular classroom. They also expressed that they receive more pedagogical support in the remedial class than in the regular classroom. According to the pupils, the teachers have more time to help them there and they are given more additional adjustments in the education. Some of the pupils feel that the remedial class allows them to have a certain amount of flexibility regarding the schedule, school subjects and assignments, which they view as something positive. All the pupils expressed that they feel more satisfied with the schoolwork they do in the remedial classes than the schoolwork they do in the regular classroom. All the pupils in the study says that they are satisfied with the extent of their placement in the remedial classes. None of them are hoping to return more to the regular classroom in the future. However, almost all the pupils expressed that they like their classes and that education in the regular classroom can be good too. They appreciate talking to friends and asking them for help in class. None of the pupils talked about the other pupils in the remedial classes as something either positive or negative. In the remedial classes the pupils are more focused on their own work as opposed to joint activities together with the other pupils in the classroom. Some of the pupils missed the communal activities that usually is a natural part of school, such as to present assignments in front of the class. Although negative aspects of the remedial classes were mentioned and that most of the pupils had positive things to say about education in the regular classroom, the placement for these pupils in the remedial classes seem to have a mostly positive impact on their wellbeing in school, mostly for giving them a quiet place to work in and therefore allowing them to perform better at their schoolwork. It shall be mentioned however that the external validity can be regarded as relatively low because of the low number of participants in this study.