Att använda och anpassa ett kommunikationsstödjande observationsverktyg i grundsärskolan

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate how a research-based communication-supporting observation tool could be used and adapted for compulsory school for children with severe learning disabilities, focusing on interaction and communication between staff and students with mainly non-verbal communication. The research questions were intended to answer how the tool could be adapted and why, and how the participants experienced the collegial learning meetings and their communication with the students before and after them. The socio-cultural theory formed the basis of the study, which was action research inspired and carried out in our own teams. Observations by video recordings have been carried out, which have since been analysed with the observation tool in each team. The method was based on triangulation in the collection of the qualitative empiri, which consisted of both questionnaires before and after the study and field notes from the learning meetings. The results showed that the observation tool needed to be adapted in language and concepts, alternative and complementary communication were added to recognize communication in the student group, as well as representative examples of activities in the compulsory school for children with severe learning disabilities. The participants felt that the collegiate learning meetings contributed to their learning from each other and gained an increased awareness of their own role and strategies to support students' communication, as well as increased consensus in the team. When comparing interaction and communication with students before and after the collegiate learning meetings, all participants expressed that this had evolved. In conclusion, the outcome of the study suggests that the observation tool, with adaptations, can be used for competence development in compulsory school for children with severe learning disabilities and help to make visible and support interaction between staff and students with intellectual disabilities, and provides a good basis for collegial discussions, which in turn leads to increased communicative skills.