Preventing Challenging Situations in the Swedish Adapted Compulsory School: A Collaborative Intervention Study within Pedagogical Work

I den anpassade grundskolan möter lärare och elevassistenter ofta utmanande situationer som kan eskalera till konflikter och påverka elevers delaktighet och lärande. Forskning visar att dessa situationer är påfrestande för personalen och kan bidra till exkluderande arbetssätt, samtidigt som forskningsbaserade strategier för att förebygga sådana situationer är begränsade. Enligt Arbetsmiljöverket (2023) tillhör personal i anpassad utbildning de yrkesgrupper som oftast utsätts för hot och våld, vilket understryker behovet av systematiska och förebyggande arbetssätt.
Syftet med doktorandprojektet är att utveckla praktiknära kunskap om hur skolpersonal kan stödjas i att förebygga utmanande situationer genom kollektiva, teambaserade interventionsstudier. Projektet omfattar fyra delstudier: en systematisk forskningsöversikt (delstudie 1) samt interventionsstudier genomförda i nära samarbete med skolor (delstudie 2–4). Dessa omfattar samskapande workshops och fokusgruppsintervjuer, simulationsträning (TeachLivE) och videoobservationer kopplade till iterativa Plan–Do–Study–Act-cykler. En blandad metodansats används med både kvalitativa och kvantitativa data, inklusive mätningar av självupplevd kompetens hos lärare och elever.
Projektet förväntas ge ny vetenskaplig kunskap om hur skolor kan utveckla kollektiva och förebyggande strategier för att hantera utmanande situationer på ett hållbart och inkluderande sätt. Resultaten bidrar till utvecklingen av det pedagogiska arbetet som forskningsfält och kan användas för att stärka lärarutbildningens fokus på relationsskapande och förebyggande pedagogiska förhållningssätt.

Aim and Research Questions:
In the Swedish adapted compulsory school (anpassad grundskola), teachers and support staff frequently face challenging situations that may escalate into conflicts, hindering pupils' participation and learning. Reports from student teachers and professional experience indicate that such situations are stressful for staff and can lead to exclusionary practices, yet systematic, research-based strategies remain scarce. Large-scale studies confirm the high prevalence of challenging behaviour among students with intellectual disabilities. Dworschak et al. (2016) found that over half (52%) of students in special schools exhibited such behaviours, with contextual and interactional factors accounting for most of the variation. These findings underscore the need for pedagogically grounded approaches that prevent and manage challenges within the educational environment. The project aims to develop practice-near knowledge on how school professionals can be supported in preventing challenging situations through collaborative, team-based interventions. Conducted in close partnership with schools, this initiative will produce results that are both scientifically robust and immediately applicable in practice. Specifically, the project will explore:

• How teachers and support staff understand and address challenging situations in adapted compulsory schools.
• How collaboratively developed, team-based interventions can be designed and implemented to strengthen preventive practices.
• How teachers, support staff and students describe changes in experiences and practices over time.

Background:
International research shows that teachers in special education often experience high stress due to pupils' challenging behaviours (e.g., Hastings & Brown, 2002; Dworschak et al., 2016). Behavioural and classroom management strategies have been widely studied, but mainly in mainstream schools. In contrast, preventive, collective approaches in adapted compulsory schools remain scarce. In Sweden, the adapted compulsory school provides education for pupils with intellectual disabilities, often combined with other neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism. According to LgrA22, education shall promote pupils' health, well-being, and development. Preventing challenging situations is therefore not only essential for teachers’ working conditions but also a prerequisite for fulfilling the school’s mission of supporting pupils’ learning and participation. According to the Swedish Work Environment Authority (Arbetsmiljöverket, 2023), staff in the adapted compulsory school are among the occupational groups most exposed to threats and violence. Employees in these settings report a markedly higher rate of work-related injuries caused by such incidents compared with many other professions. This highlights the importance of preventive and systematic approaches to ensure a safe and sustainable working environment in adapted education.
In 2024/25, 17,200 pupils (1.5%) attended the adapted compulsory school, mostly in separate settings, with only 14 percent qualified teachers compared to 73 percent in compulsory school, and a pupil–teacher ratio of 4.3 to 1 compared with 12 to 1 in mainstream schools (Skolverket, 2025). These figures illustrate the specific conditions under which staff work and highlight the importance of developing preventive, team-based approaches tailored to this educational context.
While Swedish research has addressed participation and subject didactics in the adapted compulsory school, studies examining how entire work teams – teachers and support staff – collaboratively develop preventive strategies for challenging situations remain limited. Recent reviews (e.g., Petersson-Bloom et al., 2025) have identified school-based strategies for autistic pupils, but also highlighted significant research gaps, including a lack of longitudinal studies, a limited focus on learning environments, and minimal inclusion of pupil and parent perspectives. However, to the best of our knowledge, no systematic review has yet examined preventive strategies for pupils with intellectual disabilities. The doctoral project, therefore, begins with a systematic review, followed by a practice-near intervention co-developed with professionals. Following Petersson-Bloom et al. (2025), the project adopts the concept of challenging situations rather than problem behaviours. Whereas the latter terms typically refer to undesirable or disruptive actions demonstrated by the pupil, challenging situations are understood as any context or interaction that becomes stressful or confrontational for both the pupil and the environment (e.g., teachers or classroom setup). This conceptual shift directs attention away from ‘fixing the child’ towards understanding the interactional and situated nature of difficulties, emphasising the responsibility of the surrounding learning environment.

Significance and Scientific Novelty:
Building on the identified research gaps, the project introduces a new line of inquiry in Sweden by focusing on preventive, team-based approaches within the adapted compulsory school. It is innovative in two key ways. First, its scientific contribution lies in synthesising international research and evaluating a novel, practice-near intervention that advances understanding of how challenging situations can be addressed proactively in special education contexts. The combination of systematic review and intervention research ensures both breadth and depth of understanding. Second, its practice-developing contribution involves designing and implementing the intervention in collaboration with entire work teams – including teachers and support staff – to ensure that the strategies tested are grounded in everyday educational realities. This participatory approach avoids imposing pre-defined solutions and instead develops contextually adapted strategies that are tested and refined in real school environments.
Although the project focuses on the adapted compulsory school, its implications extend well beyond this context. Insights into how teachers and support staff collaboratively develop strategies, such as preventing and de-escalating conflicts, are directly relevant to teacher education. Strengthening teachers' professional capacity to manage challenging situations and promote a calm, supportive learning environment is a central concern in contemporary Swedish schooling. The project therefore contributes valuable knowledge for teacher education programmes aiming to prepare pre-service teachers for relational, inclusive, and ethically grounded classroom leadership.

Theory, Method, and Ethical Considerations:
The project combines a systematic review (Substudy 1) with a collaborative intervention study within the subject of Pedagogical Work, which emphasises practice-near research on teaching and learning. Drawing on inclusive education and participatory approaches, the theoretical framework emphasises the school environment's responsibility to adapt to pupils' needs and foster their participation.
A collaboratively developed, team-based intervention refers to an intervention designed, enacted, and evaluated by entire educational teams – comprising teachers and support staff – that mobilises collective professional knowledge and fosters shared responsibility (Van der Akker, 2014). The project is informed by theories of situated learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991) and communities of practice (Wenger-Trayner et al., 2015), which suggest that professional knowledge develops through joint activity.
Methodologically, the project adheres to the principles of improvement science, employing Plan–Do–Study–Act (PDSA) cycles to test and refine strategies in authentic classrooms (Langley et al., 2009; Bryk et al., 2015). It follows a multi-phase, mixed-methods design (Creswell & Creswell, 2018) across four substudies, combining surveys, interviews, workshops, and video-based analyses to capture both process and outcome dimensions of change. Quantitative instruments include the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES; Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001), used at multiple points to assess teachers’ professional confidence, and an adapted Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (SEQ-C; Muris, 2001) to examine pupils’ perceived social, academic, and emotional competence (Bandura, 1997).
Substudy 2 employs co-design workshops and focus-group interviews with teachers, teaching assistants, and school leaders to collaboratively develop research-based approaches for promoting participation and preventing conflicts. It focuses on collective learning processes and shared professional responsibility and may include baseline measures to capture changes in attitudes and perceived efficacy over time. Substudy 3 employs a virtual classroom simulation (TeachLivE) that enables teachers and assistants to practise conflict prevention and de-escalation strategies in a feedback-rich environment. Substudy 4 employs video observations and stimulated recall to investigate how team-based strategies are refined through iterative PDSA cycles, thereby linking professional learning to pupils' participation and classroom interactions. Data from quantitative and qualitative components will be integrated to track changes in practice and collective efficacy over time.
The doctoral student will lead design, data collection, and analysis across all phases, ensuring independence and scholarly development. All empirical substudies (2–4) will undergo ethical review under Swedish law (Etikprövningslagen 2003:460, amended 2019:1144), with particular attention to informed consent, confidentiality, and the protection of vulnerable participants.

Timeline and Potential Additional Funding:
The project is planned to start in the autumn of 2026. During the first year, a systematic review will be conducted, and the intervention will be co-designed in collaboration with participating schools. The second year will include pilot testing and baseline data collection, followed by full implementation of the intervention in year three. The fourth year will focus on post-measurements, analysis, dissemination, and dissertation writing. This timeline is preliminary and may be adjusted in dialogue with the doctoral student and the participating schools. No additional funding beyond the doctoral position is planned.

Year Substudy / Activity Main focus and activities
Year 1 Substudy 1 – Systematic research review and ethical approval Literature search, selection, analysis, and synthesis of international research on evidence-based strategies for preventing and managing challenging situations. Preparation and submission of the ethical review application. Preparation for Article 1.
Year 2 Substudy 2 – Co-design with schools Implementation of focus groups and workshops with teachers and teaching assistants to collaboratively develop and plan research-based approaches. Data collection before and after the workshops. Preparation for Article 2.
Year 3 Substudy 3 – Simulation training (TeachLivE) Implementation of simulation-based training. Data collection before and after the training. Analysis of self-efficacy and reflections. Introduction of the PDSA (Plan–Do–Study–Act) cycle to guide small-scale testing and reflection on practice. Work on Article 3 begins.
Year 4 Substudy 4 – Iterative teaching development Teachers and teaching assistants apply and refine strategies in repeated PDSA cycles—planning, testing, analysing, and adapting teaching practices. Includes classroom observations, analysis of professional learning processes, and writing of Article 4.
Year 5 Comprehensive summary (kappa) and completion Compilation and synthesis of results from the substudies. Writing and finalisation of the comprehensive summary (kappa), as well as final seminar and dissertation preparation.

Local, National, and International Collaboration:
The project will be conducted in close collaboration with adapted compulsory schools in southern Sweden. Nationally, collaboration will involve researchers focusing on inclusive education and intellectual disability. Internationally, the project will connect with researchers who have expertise in intervention studies, intellectual disabilities, and autism, thereby situating the study within a broader scientific network.

Publications and Research Dissemination:
Results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journal articles, conference presentations at both national and international levels, and practice-oriented publications aimed at teachers and school leaders. Knowledge exchange will also occur through workshops and seminars with participating schools. The doctoral thesis will be composed of scientific articles and a comprehensive summary (kappa).

Relevance to Kristianstad University and the Doctoral Subject:
The project is directly relevant to Kristianstad University's strategic profile in education and special needs education. It contributes to the doctoral subject of Pedagogical Work by combining scientific inquiry with practice-based development, addressing challenges that are central to the professional lives of teachers and support staff. The participatory design strengthens the connection between research and practice, supporting the university's mission to generate knowledge that makes a difference in schools and society.

The supervisor Daniel Östlund, has extensive experience in special education and pedagogical work, with a focus on teaching and learning for pupils with intellectual disabilities. His research highlights participation, collective professional development, and policy enactment within the adapted compulsory school, and includes a large-scale programme aimed at strengthening collective teacher efficacy and sustainable teaching practices. https://researchportal.hkr.se/sv/persons/daniel-%C3%B6stlund/
The co-supervisor Linda Petersson-Bloom brings expertise in inclusive education, autism, and participatory intervention research. Her work includes teacher-focused interventions and a recent scoping review identifying key strategies and research gaps in preventing challenging situations for autistic pupils. This combined expertise provides a strong empirical and methodological foundation for the proposed doctoral project, which integrates systematic review with collaborative intervention research. https://researchportal.hkr.se/sv/persons/linda-petersson-bloom/

References
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