Research

Mothers voice their perceptions about their children's educational placement

Authors: {'first_name': 'Lise', 'last_name': 'Roll-Pettersson'}

Abstract

In 1995, the Swedish Parliament passed a bill which stated that parents of children with intellectual impairments have the right to choose whether or not their child should be enrolled in a special education school during a trial period. This paper presents a qualitative interview study which examines how the mothers of seven children with mild to moderate intellectual impairments perceived the school placement process and whether or not the mothers believed that they had a choice in selecting their child's placement The results indicated that the parents were not always informed of the placement options. Some mothers of the children who attended special education school classes reported feeling that their child was socially isolated and that they wished he/she had more contact with other children. On the other hand, some parents of children who were educated in regular classes claimed they had to struggle for their rights. The interviews suggest that more explicit guidelines are needed to define the parameters of parental involvement policies.
Keywords: Article has no keywords
DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/15017410109510769

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