Living and Learning in a Special Education Group - Pupils’ Experiences of Everyday School Life and the Significance of Art Education Practices Over Time
An increasing number of pupils receive part or all of their education in special education groups. At the same time, more research is needed on how pupils themselves experience and describe everyday school life in these settings.
In her doctoral project, Hanna Andersson investigates pupils’ experiences of special education groups, with a particular focus on learning, participation and social belonging. The study follows pupils’ everyday school life over time and explores how teaching, relationships, support and different forms of participation take shape in everyday school practice.
A central part of the research concerns recurring art educational practices. Through work with art, design, visual and material forms of expression, the study examines the significance creative processes may have for pupils’ opportunities to participate, communicate, develop ideas, express experiences and contribute knowledge.
The study has an ethnographic and participatory approach. Data are generated through observations, conversations, interviews and art educational work in the school environment. Questions and phenomena that become significant during the fieldwork can then be explored further together with the pupils through visual and material processes of inquiry.
The project aims to contribute new knowledge about how pupils experience life and learning in special education groups, and about how art educational practices can become part of schools’ work with learning, participation and social belonging.
Hanna Andersson is a PhD student in Aesthetic Learning Processes with a focus on Educational Science at Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design and HDK–Valand, University of Gothenburg.
She holds degrees in Art and Design - Teacher Education from Konstfack and in Special Needs Education from Stockholm University. Her professional experience from special education has fostered a strong commitment to exploring how creative processes can promote learning, participation, and inclusion. As the founder of Den Pedagogiska Designbyrån she has developed practice-based projects in collaboration between schools, society and cultural institutions, forming the foundation for her research interests. Her professional practice moves between pedagogy, art, design, participation, and social inclusion.
Main supervisor: Simon Ceder
Co-supervisor: Maria Eriksson
Admitted to: HDK-Valand
Project period: 2025 - 2029