Att göra högre studier tillgängliga – ett lärarperspektiv

Abstract

Politically, there is today a clear intention that students with disabilities should be included in university educations. This article addresses what hinders and enables the implementation of these political intentions. The analysis is based on a case study of a social science department at a Swedish university and the research questions are about whether the teachers want, understand and can implement these intentions. The study demonstrates that even though there is a clear will among the teachers and the administrative support staff that these students should be able to participate in and benefit from the education, there is no consensus on why it is important to have diversity in the student population. The pedagogical support available to individual students is considered valuable, but not very flexible. The more general adaptation teachers make in their teaching is described as important but time consuming. The understanding of students’ needs is based more on personal experiences of teachers than on a pedagogical discussion between colleagues at the workplace. Making adjustments and participating in a pedagogical discussion takes time and requires priorities. Here, teaching is often less prioritized than research-related activities.