Following the international standards for the inclusion of children with disabilities that were set in the 1994 Salamanca Declaration by UNESCO, many countries have developed educational policies towards inclusion of students with special educational needs. This means that countries require schools to be inclusive of children with disabilities, but this is organised in different ways throughout Europe (Ferguson, 2008; Savolainen, 2009). Although inclusive education can be considered to be a philosophical and pedagogical goal for students with disabilities, inclusion is framed by approaches, resources and organising systems (Michell, 2005). The goal of special education is to give students with disabilities the chance to achieve at levels similar to peers without disabilities, and, in achieving this, the accommodations within the environment that support students with disabilities are of paramount importance (Burkhardt, 2014).

The Swedish law of education offers children who have been diagnosed to have intellectual disabilities to receive their education in a special school form with its own curriculum. This school form is called Compulsory School for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (CSSID) and most often these schools are segregated from regular schools. In some cases, pupils with mild intellectual disabilities choose to attend regular school in inclusive education, although they still study according to the CSSID curriculum.

The aim of this study was to explore the learning situation in school for students with mild intellectual disabilities (MID) aged 9-15 who were either in inclusive education in regular school or who attended special school. This was explored through the perspectives of lower compulsory school teachers and special school teachers. A particular interest was focused on obstacles and opportunities for learning for students with MID in the areas of literacy, Swedish language and Mathematics.

The theoretical framework for this study was relational pedagogical approach as developed by Aspelin (2013; 2015). This approach is concerned with relational processes in direct educational situations. The relational process is regarded as an inherent aspect of educational life and the foundation for encouraging performance. It focuses on dyadic relationships and on the teachers’ active and purposeful work to understand the educational situation for children. The research question was: What are the perceptions and experiences of lower compulsory school teachers and special school teachers about the learning situation for students with mild intellectual disability?

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