‘Challenging Pupils’: Positive Discrimination for the Sake of Inclusion

This paper explores whether positive discrimination can be conceptualised as a tool for inclusion within the context of the Nordic educational model. The case in this paper is an alternative educational practice in Norway that ‘removes’ pupils from their traditional educational arena one day per week. The data material consists of individual and focus-group interviews with educators engaged in the practice and a diverse group of representatives from the local municipality and schools. Through the analysis of the data, the study sheds light on how positive discrimination materialises conceptually and practically in working with pupils who otherwise struggle in traditional education. The authors find that positive discrimination can be considered as a tool for the inclusion of challenging pupils if a persistent interrelation with traditional education is present and the potential undesirable facets of positive discrimination are carefully accounted for.