Student participation in dialogue in individual subject curriculum meetings: students' and parents' perceptions

While there has been considerable research on students with special educational needs and their parents' participation at individual subject curriculum (ISC) meetings at school, less attention has been paid to their perception of the dialogue between students and professionals. The aim of this study has been to investigate whether the dialogue taking place in ISC meetings is deliberative. The data for this study are based on individual, semi-structured interviews with 12 Norwegian lower secondary school students with specific learning difficulties, and 10 parents. Findings show that the professionals' use of technical jargon made it challenging for students to share their views in the dialogue, as they did not understand everything being said. Moreover, findings show that professionals only exceptionally asked to know the students' views. The study shows that the levels of student agency is poor and needs to be addressed.