Thomas Barow
Thomas Barow Position: Professor School/office: School of Humanities, Education and Social SciencesEmail: dGhvbWFzLmJhcm93O29ydS5zZQ==
Phone: +46 19 303808
Room: F3229
About Thomas Barow
Thomas Barow is a Professor in Education specialising in special education at Örebro University. He received his doctorate in 2007 at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany, with a thesis that addressed the situation of people categorised as “feeble-minded” in Sweden during the first half of the 20th century. Since 2008, Thomas has been working at the Swedish universities in Borås (2008-2013), Halmstad (2013-2015) and Gothenburg (2015-2022). During the same time, he was also active as interim professor of special education at the German universities of Siegen (2011), Erfurt (2017/18) and Cologne (2021/22).
Thomas started his position as a professor at Örebro University in October 2022. He leads the research environment SpecEDL (Special Education, Development and Learning). His research concerns special education and inclusion, focusing on pedagogical, didactical, social, and historical aspects from national and international perspectives. For example, he did research on pedagogical assessment and special pedagogical categorisations. He is currently studying the cooperation of professionals in special schools for pupils with intellectual disability. Two new collaborative projects with researchers in Ukraine and Poland aim to improve the educational situation for children in vulnerable life situations, primarily in Ukraine.
At Örebro University, Thomas teaches in the general teacher education program and the special education program. He supervises and examines at the bachelor's, master's, and PhD levels.
Research projects
Active projects
- Enhancing the Participation of and Ensuring the Right to Education for Children with Intellectual Disability: Developing Capacities and Opportunities (EPERE)
- Quality Education and Welfare for Children in Vulnerable Life Situations: Developing and Assuring Staff Competences for Holistic Support Systems in Ukraine, Poland, and Sweden (QEW-CVLS)
- Collaboration for education in compulsory school for pupils with intellectual disability
Research groups
Publications
Articles in journals
- Barow, T. & Magnússon, G. (2024). Var står vi och vart är vi på väg? Inkluderande utbildning i Sverige 30 år efter Salamancadeklarationen. Paideia (28), 38-47. [BibTeX]
Articles, book reviews
- Mackenzie, A. , Magnússon, G. & Barow, T. (2024). Book review: International perspectives on inclusive education: In the light of educational justice. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 39 (2), 327-336. [BibTeX]
Chapters in books
- Barow, T. (2024). “Excluded from the Outside World”: Planning and Discarding Island Institutions for ‘Degenerated Feeble-Minded (Asocial Imbeciles)’ in 1920s Sweden. In: Bjørn Hamre; Lisa Villadsen, Islands of Extreme Exclusion: Studies on Global Practices of Isolation, Punishment, and Education of the Unwanted (pp. 107-119). Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers. [BibTeX]
- Östlund, D. , Barow, T. , Dahlberg, K. & Johansson, A. (2023). In-between special needs teachers and students: Paraprofessionals' work in self-contained classrooms for students with intellectual disabilities in Sweden. In: Rob Webster; Anke A. de Boer, Teaching assistants, inclusion and special educational needs: International perspectives on the role of paraprofessionals in schools (pp. 29-45). London: Routledge. [BibTeX]
Conference papers
- Barow, T. , Sjölin, M. , Jonasson, A. , Hallgren, N. K. & Taneja Johansson, S. (2024). Fostering Professional Collaboration in the Education of Pupils with Severe Intellectual and Multiple Disabilities: an Action Research-inspired Project in Sweden. Paper presented at The European Conference on Educational Research (ECER 2024), Nicosia, Cyprus, August 27-30, 2024. [BibTeX]
- Barow, T. & Taneja Johansson, S. (2024). The collaboration paradox: continuity and change in Swedish contemporary historical green papers concerning education of students with intellectual disabilities. Paper presented at 17th World Congress of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IASSIDD 2024), Chicago, USA, August 5-8, 2024. [BibTeX]
- Barow, T. & Taneja Johansson, S. (2024). The collaboration paradox: continuity and change in Swedish contemporary historical green papers concerning education of students with intellectual disabilities. In: Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. Paper presented at 17th World Congress of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities(IASSIDD 2024), Chicago, USA, August 5-8, 2024. (pp. 800-800). Blackwell Publishing. [BibTeX]
- Barow, T. (2023). “Useful instead of just being employed”: Vocational training, work, and social usefulness regarding young people with intellectual disability in Sweden, 1945-1989. Paper presented at 63rd History of Education Society Annual Meeting (HES 2023), Loews Hotel, Atlanta, USA, November 2-5, 2023. [BibTeX]
Daily newspapers
- Barow, T. (2023). Ensidig bild av Vipeholm. Skånska dagbladet (22 februari). [BibTeX]
- Barow, T. (2023). Historia är en urvalsfråga. Skånska dagbladet (2 mars). [BibTeX]
Other
- Barow, T. (2023). En inkluderande skola förblir den stora utmaningen. Stockholm: Skolverket. [BibTeX]