LT1091 Social relations and special education 7.5 credits

Social relations and special education treat the school as an arena for social interaction and learning. Special attention is paid to the teacher's role as a leader, but other relationships that are important for school work are also addressed: students' relationships with each other and relationships between teachers, school leaders, other school staff, students and guardians. The course addresses the importance of communication for a good learning and working environment, including potentially sensitive topics such as sexuality, discrimination and gender roles. Finally, strategies and methods for both proactive and reactive conflict management are discussed as tools for creating good social relationships.

The course is based on the school's responsibility to provide all students with opportunities for learning regardless of disability, ethnicity, gender and social class, and how the organisation of teaching can have consequences for processes of social inclusion and exclusion. The course addresses the importance of being able to identify, analyse and manage special educational needs, including neuropsychiatric variations, at the individual, school and societal levels, in collaboration with guardians, teachers and other professional groups inside and outside the school.

The course focuses on leadership to promote all students' learning and development, which includes the view that all students can benefit from special educational support. Establishing a good working and learning environment also involves focusing on communication and conflict management, as well as psychology and cognitive science.

After completing the course, students should be able to:

1 describe strategies and models for leadership and communicate in a respectful and ethical manner through listening, speaking and writing
2 analyse and evaluate their communication with pupils, their guardians and school staff, based on science and proven experience
3 discuss methods for preventing and noting conflicts in work groups such as school classes
4 describe the democratic mission and the school's core values, their constituent parts and how these could be integrated into subject teaching in practice
5 describe, based on steering documents, the school's and the teacher's responsibility for all pupils' participation and learning in relation to teaching
6 explain and reflect, based on the literature, how teachers, in collaboration with relevant parties, can identify and manage special educational needs, including neuropsychiatric difficulties, in teaching
7 account for and problematise curriculum-driven teaching content beyond subject content, such as gender equality, equality, gender, ethics, language-integrated working methods, and sexuality and relationships

Basic eligibility

• PRO1 - Project work , 5.0 credits, grading scale: A, B, C, D, E, FX, F
• SEM1 - Seminars, 2.5 credits, grading scale: P, F

Based on recommendation from KTH’s coordinator for disabilities, the examiner will decide how to adapt an examination for students with documented disability. The examiner may apply another examination format when re-examining individual students. If the course is discontinued, students may request to be examined during the following two academic years.

• All members of a group are responsible for the group's work.
• In any assessment, every student shall honestly disclose any help received and sources used.
• In an oral assessment, every student shall be able to present and answer questions about the entire assignment and solution.