Editor: Viv Edwards (University of Reading, UK)
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Volume: 12 Number: 2 Page: 81–98
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Discourse about Children with Mental Disablement: An Analysis of Teacher-Parent Conferences in Special Education Schools
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Viveka Adelsward and Claes Nilholm
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This paper analyses discourse in six teacher-parent conferences in Swedish special schools, focusing on work around moral values by parents and teachers in the conferences as well as possible threats to
such work. It is argued that the discourse is to a large extent consensus oriented. The notion of idealisation is invoked in order to account for the apparently implicit premises of these talks, i.e. the
treatment of parents by teachers as morally responsible and the treatment of teachers by parents as proficient professionals. Explicit moral work is oriented towards the children. This work involves celebration
of the ideal pupil, one who is work-oriented, independent and socially competent. Less emphasis is put on knowledge and skills. Divergences concerning the notion of the ideal pupil are negotiated in two
of the conferences.
© Multilingual Matters 1998
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