The challenges provided by social disability scholarship for inclusive schooling and special teacher training are explored in the context of a small Nordic society. The paper addresses the question "What is the promise, and what are the limitations of social disability theories for the understanding of the educational contexts of learners with intellectual disability labels?" The paper outlines significant changes in society which is becoming increasingly heterogeneous, but where schools still take their reference from the idea of the "normal". It moves on to examine and discuss how three different theoretical underpinnings (social constructionism and an interpretive approach, activity theory, and post structuralism) help in exploring and interpreting the contexts of inclusive schooling in relation to learners with intellectual disability. Finally the paper address issues and changes identified for the training of special education teachers for the 21st century. Background: The paper builds on social disability scholarship and theories of inclusive education. It draws on data from an ongoing study of the education of pupils, age 2-18 years, with intellectual disability in Icelandic schools. We seek answers to questions such as how does social disability scholarship help us understand and explain to what extent the official policy of inclusive education is realized. Further; what lessons can be learnt from our theoretical underpinning of this data analysis for the education of future special educators/inclusion experts? It is argued that the perspective provided by the new disability studies (particularly from the point of view of social constructionism and a relational model of disability) can provide both theoretical understanding, and practical insights for teachers, teacher trainers and policymakers with an important focus for their work with students and adults in the context of the school and community.