Collaborative Pathways: Bridging Research and Practice in Special Education

The aim of this symposium is to display and critically reflect on the current development of approaches and methods in specialeducational research, policy and practice. The symposium is also part of two 2.5 credit doctoral courses.

Symposium February 19-20, 2025

This is the third international symposium on Special Education at Umeå University. In order to strengthen researcher-school practitioner collaborative pathways, school-based practitioners are encouraged to resister and attend the first day of this symposium. The second day is research focused and the number of attendees is limited. The symposium is also part of a 2.5 credit doctoral course in special education. The program will be continuously updated, and the registration will open soon.

Background and content for the symposium

In what ways can we strengthen networking, cross-national interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration, close to practice research, and stimulate the dissemination of research in the field of special education? How can we understand the relationship between methods and the articulation of special educational knowledge? The invited speakers from Sweden and other countries will help us articulate the traditions, approaches, conditions and differences between research projects conducted in cooperation between universities and schools.

For the second day of the symposium, we invite research paper submissions relating to collaborative pathways in the field of special education. We welcome contributions focusing on the development of language, writing and reading, mathematics, and research on learning disabilities.

Symposium Program

More information will follow.

Keynote

Prof Roger Slee, University of Leeds, UK
Dr Eirini Sanoudaki, Bangor University, UK

DrVeerle Garrels, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway

BRIEF BIO VEERLE GARRELS

Dr. Veerle Garrels is professor in special education at the Department of Vocational Teacher Education at Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet) in Oslo, Norway. At OsloMet, Veerle teaches a postgraduate course in special needs education. She holds a doctoral degree in special education from the University of Oslo and wrote a doctoral thesis on self-determination for students with intellectual disability. Veerle recently concluded a four-year research project on the school-work transitions of youth with intellectual disability, which was funded by the Norwegian Research Council. Current research projects include a self-determination intervention for young adults with intellectual disability and their parents, a NASA Hunch project for students in vocational education, and a collaborative project with the Norwegian police academy and the National Criminal Investigation Service about people with disabilities in the legal system. She is also involved in the development of higher education studies in inclusive education at two universities in Nepal. Before entering academia, Veerle worked for 14 years with children and youth with special needs in school, residential care, and health services.

ABSTRACT KEYNOTE PRESENTATION

What does employment mean for young people with intellectual disability? Is there room for people with intellectual disability in the labour market? And how can we help prepare students with intellectual disability for future employment?

During this keynote presentation, I will present findings from a four-year research project on effective school-work transitions for young adults with intellectual disability. In this project, we used a quantitative survey to explore what 478 Norwegian employers think of hiring employees with intellectual disability and which experiences they have with doing so. Moreover, we explored ten “best case scenarios” in a qualitative case study, in order to identify the characteristics of young people and their context and what made them successful in gaining employment shortly after finishing upper secondary school.