Joacim Ramberg

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to enhance learning and increase student participation, yet its incorporation in teaching depends heavily on teachers’ perceptions. This study draws on a survey of 285 teachers to explore their perspectives on the use of AI in education for students with special educational needs. Using statistical analyses and summative content analyses, the results revealed that 15.8% of teachers reported using AI in their schools, while only 7.4% felt confident in their ability to use it. Although current use is limited and familiarity with AI remains low, teachers acknowledge its potential to support student learning and enable innovative teaching practices. However, they also express concerns about equity and the credibility of AI tools, indicating a hesitation to fully embrace AI in the classroom. These findings highlight the importance of targeted professional development to equip teachers with the competencies needed to incorporate AI into their practice.

The digitalisation of education has introduced new possibilities for inclusive teaching practices, particularly in supporting students with special educational needs (SEN). While digital tools have demonstrated potential to enhance learning outcomes and engagement for these students, the role of school leadership in fostering teachers’ digital competence remains underexplored. The aim of the study is to investigate the association between school leadership, as rated by teachers, and teachers’ self-reported digital competence in supporting students with SEN. To this end, cross-sectional data from 285 Swedish teachers enrolled in special education training programmes have been used. The data were collected through the SELFIE survey, a European Commission tool designed to assess schools’ digital capacity. A stepwise linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the association between perceived school leadership and teachers’ self-reported digital competence in supporting students with SEN, controlling for teacher collaboration, infrastructure and equipment, and demographic variables. The results show a consistent and significant positive relationship between school leadership and teachers’ digital competence, even when other factors are accounted for. Teacher collaboration also contributed positively, though to a lesser extent, while infrastructure and equipment and demographic variables showed no significant effect. The study contributes knowledge by showing that teachers’ digital competence development depends not only on individual efforts but also on organisational factors, such as supportive school leadership, highlighting the importance of recognising school leadership as vital alongside digital resources in schools. Given the cross-sectional design, the findings should be interpreted cautiously and not as evidence of causal relationships. These findings suggest that school leadership is important in enabling teachers to use digital technologies to support students with SEN, highlighting practical and policy implications for strengthening school leadership in developing teachers’ digital competence in supporting students with SEN.

It is a well-known fact that family background characteristics affect school achievement, and according to Swedish law, school should play a compensatory role to outweigh such differences. Previous research has demonstrated that a strong school ethos is associated with higher student achievement, but whether school ethos can play a compensatory role for family background has not been investigated to the same extent. This study examines whether the predictive capacity of students’ family background on school achievement is moderated by school ethos. Data were derived from 9,349 ninth grade students (15–16 years) and 2,176 teachers in 159 school units in Stockholm. Multilevel linear regression analyses showed that family background characteristics, as well as school ethos, were associated with student achievement. School ethos did not, however, moderate the association between family background and school achievement. The results suggest that school ethos does not play a compensatory role, but rather, promotes school achievement for all students alike.

Parental support is an important factor affecting young people’s mental well-being, but the school climate also plays an important role. However, few studies have previously examined whether the school climate serves as a mediator for adolescents’ mental health problems. This study aimed to investigate the association between parental support and students’ psychological complaints, while also examining the possible mediating role that a good school climate may have. Data derives from 5783 senior-level students (age 15–16) distributed over 152 school units in Stockholm municipality. Regression linear analysis was used for the analysis and Baron and Kenny’s four-step mediation model has been applied. Sobel’s test was conducted in order to test the significance of the mediation effect. The results show that there is a significant negative association between parental support and students’ psychological complaints, and that school climate has a mediating role in this association. It can be concluded that school climate has a partly mediating role in the association between parental support and students’ psychological complaints. Therefore, it seems important to develop the school climate in order to strengthen this source of support to reduce mental health problems among adolescents.

Background: Teachers constitute an occupational group experiencing high levels of stress and with high sick-leave rates. Therefore, examining potentially protective factors is important. While prior research has mainly focused on the link between teachers’ own experiences of their work environment and stress-related outcomes, it is also possible that colleagues’ perception of the work environment and their possibilities for dealing with work-related stress contribute to influencing individual teachers’ stress. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate how teachers’ reports of high job strain (i.e. high demands and low control) and sense of coherence (SOC), as well as the concentration of colleagues reporting high strain and high SOC, were associated with perceived stress and depressed mood. Methods: The data were derived from the Stockholm Teacher Survey, with information from two cross-sectional web surveys performed in 2014 and in 2016 (N=2732 teachers in 205 school units). Two-level random intercept linear regression models were performed. Results: High job strain at the individual level was associated with higher levels of perceived stress and depressed mood, but less so for individuals with high SOC. Furthermore, a greater proportion of colleagues reporting high SOC was associated with lower levels of perceived stress and depressed mood at the individual level. Conclusions: High SOC may be protective against work-related stress among teachers. Additionally, the proportion of colleagues reporting high SOC was related to less individual stress, suggesting a protective effect of school-level collective SOC.

School absence has been identified as a severe problem in Sweden, both at the individual level and for society as a whole. Despite the multitude and complexity of reasons behind school absence, health-related problems are likely to be one important determinant. This indicates that knowledge about factors that may contribute to preventing health-related absence among students is relevant. The aim was to investigate whether a higher level of teacher-reported school ethos was associated with less recurring sickness absence among students. Data from four cross-sectional surveys performed in 2014 and 2016 were combined. The Stockholm School Survey was carried out among 9482 ninth-grade students (ages 15–16 years) in 150 school units, and the Stockholm Teacher Survey was performed among 2090 teachers in the same units. School ethos was operationalised by an index of 12 teacher-reported items that was aggregated to the school-level. Recurring student sickness absence was captured by self-reports and defined as absence on >10 occasions during the current school year. Two-level logistic regressions were performed. The results show that about 9.5% of the students reported recurring sickness absence. Students attending schools with higher levels of teacher-rated school ethos were less likely to reporting recurring sickness absence than those attending schools with lower levels of ethos, even when adjusting for potential confounders (OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.65–0.97). In conclusion, recurring sickness absence was less common among students attending schools with higher levels of teacher-rated ethos. The findings suggest that schools may contribute to promoting student health.

The European Agency Statistics on Inclusive Education (EASIE) work focuses upon the collection and analysis of longitudinal, comparative national data related to inclusive education systems and learners with officially recognised special educational needs (SEN) among its 31 member countries. In this article, the EASIE work is discussed in relation to the key concepts of presence, placement, participation and progress within inclusive education systems.The findings of the EASIE work indicate differences and variations between countries in how they respond to all learners

Stress and stress-related complaints such as fatigue and depressed mood are common among teachers. Yet, knowledge about the links between the overall level of teacher stress within a school and individual student outcomes is scarce. This study investigates if the levels of teacher-reported stress, fatigue and depressed mood within a school are associated with students’ ratings of their school satisfaction and perceived teacher caring, respectively. Data derives from two separate data collections performed in upper secondary schools in 2016, the Stockholm School Survey (SSS) and the Stockholm Teacher Survey (STS), which were linked together (5367 students and 1045 teachers in 46 schools). Two-level linear regression analyses were performed. Results showed negative associations between school-level teacher stress, fatigue, and depressed mood and students’ school satisfaction and perceived teacher caring, even when controlling for student- and school-level sociodemographic characteristics. The findings suggest that teacher stress may have negative implications for students.