SPED4001 Historical and contemporary paradoxes in special education

    • Course code
      SPED4001
    • Number of credits
      15
    • Teaching semester
      2025 Autumn
    • Language of instruction
      English
    • Campus
      Lillehammer
    • Required prerequisite knowledge

      None

Course content

This course provides the history of the field of special education. The purpose of the course is to provide students with knowledge and understanding of how the field of special education has been shaped and developed by different perspectives and paradoxes throughout history and how that has shaped our understanding of special education today.

In this course, students will challenge to reflect critically upon how we understand the history and how it has shaped our personal and collective understanding of special education today.

Learning Outcome

Upon passing the course, students have achieved the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

Students

  • have a conceptual understanding of perspectives that has been driving forces in the development of the field of special education 
  • have a comprehensive understanding of how the historical development of special education relates to contemporary paradoxes and dilemmas in research and practice
  • have a systematic understanding of the characteristics of special needs education and emerging differences between countries
  • have a comprehensive understanding of the development of integration and inclusive policies
Skills

Students

  • can demonstrate an ability to engage in epistemological discourses concerning paradoxes in the history of special education.
  • can critically reflect upon how the history of special education is constructed from different perspectives and how the consequences for how the field appears today.
  • have the ability to engage in critical self-reflection/evaluation about their own beliefs, perceptions, and experiences of special needs education.
General competence

Students

  • are able to critically examine historical and contemporary perspectives and paradoxes in the field of special education.
Teaching and working methods
  • Lectures and seminars
  • Independent study      
  • Group work
  • Literature studies
Required coursework
  • 75% compulsory attendance and participation in lectures and seminars
Assessments
Form of assessmentGrading scaleGroupingDuration of assessmentSupport materialsProportionComment
Home exam
ECTS - A-F
Individual
  • All
Form of assessment

Individual written essay that the students will be working on throughout the course and submit at the end of the course.

Reading list

Course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Historical and contemporary paradoxes in special education
Faculty
Faculty of Education
Area of study
Special education
Programme of study
Master in Special Education - Practical Skills Transformative Learning
Course level
Second degree level (500-HN)