Meningsfull kunskap

: en intervjustudie med utgångspunkt i det individuella programmet på en gymnasiesärskola

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to study and contribute with new insights about what is meaningful knowledge for the students who study the individual program on a special needs upper secondary school. The reason I want to investigate this is that I, in my work within this school form, almost daily meet a dilemma in the question about what´s the most important for the specific student to learn to get the best possibilities in their future adult life. The control documents regarding the special needs upper secondary school gives great opportunities to individual adjustments, concerning both support and learning and thereby the interpretation space is large. Therefore, I want to investigate the opinions of teachers and students, amongst others, about what is meaningful knowledge for the students to bring along into the adult life.

To find answers to my questions I have used a phenomenologically inspired method including qualitative, semi-structured interviews. In the analysis of the results of the interviews I have applied theories about SOC together with duty ethics and impact ethics to help me illuminate and get perspectives on the empirical.

The main results of the study indicate that meaningful knowledge for the students of the concerned special needs upper secondary school depend on the student’s future needs regarding adult life and future pursuits. Consequently, it is important to have an understanding on what the adult life and future pursuits of the specific student may consist of. Since the main part of the students, after leaving secondary school, continues in daily activities it also appears important to work with abilities linked to this kind of employment. Therefore, there is also a clear picture of the fact that the cooperation between school and daily activities would need to be strengthened, for instance to create consensus about what knowledges are relevant to the individual student regarding potential future pursuits.