Abstract
In this research project attention is given to special education as an academic discipline in universities and colleges of higher education, and the links between research and professional education. The main objective is to obtain a better understanding of collective assumptions and perceptions, rules and regulations, and of values and norms that over time have become the discipline's conventions and more or less are taken for granted. In other words, the intentions are to gain insights into the institutional self-understanding of special education.
The study investigates peer review assessment/peer evaluation in relation to applications for academic posts in special education. The leading research question is: Which subject perspectives dominate the field's institutional standard for evaluation, and how do such perspectives shape special education's self-understanding?
The study is embedded in a heuristic framework of institutional theories (Stinchombe 1968, March & Olsen 1996, Searle, 1995, Selznich 1996, Dewey 1938, Douglas 1986, Foucault 1970, Giddens 1984, Habermas 1982). Document analyses are conducted through a systematic hermeneutic strategy. Results from the synthesizing analyses will be presented and discussed. Emphasis is put on the discipline's options and obstacles for knowledge generation, and for its contribution to social integration and inclusion in the light of current trends of change in society.
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