Maria Glad
About me
Master in Social Work and halftime Ph.D. student in Special Education at Stockholm University. Halftime working as special school expert officer and advisor at the municipality level.
My research interest departs from a theoretical understanding of children's development as an interplay between biological conditions, social relations, and environmental and social contexts. For these contexts, policies formulated in the broader field of education, as well as special education practices and measures, become important. According to several previous national and international studies, children with disabilities and other special educational needs could be at risk of becoming less involved in play situations with other children due to barriers in early childhood education learning environments. Removing these barriers is crucial for inclusion quality and calls an imperative for special education research.
My thesis, including three articles, aims to investigate the implementation of a peer-based social play intervention, in Swedish inclusive preschools. The intervention aims to stimulate and support children's social skills and play interactions between children and includes an observation instrument for children's play interactions, which is examined separately in one of the articles.
Publications
A selection from Stockholm University publication database
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Supporting children’s social play with peer-based intervention and instruction in four inclusive Swedish preschools
2022. Maria Gladh (et al.). Frontiers in Education
ArticleRead more about Supporting children’s social play with peer-based intervention and instruction in four inclusive Swedish preschoolsThis multiple case study investigated a peer-based intervention and instruction (PBII) for social play, Play Time/Social Time (PT/ST), in four inclusive Swedish preschools. PT/ST contains 28 learning activities where children playfully practice six social skills with significance for social play and friendships. One teacher in each preschool was trained and instructed to implement PT/ST, two with coaching early in the implementation, and two without. At each preschool, one child with special educational needs (SEN) in social play (n = 4) and one or two socially skilled peers (n = 6) participated. The study aimed to explore how the teachers perceived the influence of PT/ST on social engagement and social play skills in the children with SEN, with/without coaching, and if PT/ST supported social play between the children with and without SEN. It also aimed to examine the feasibility of PT/ST and the influence on preschool inclusion quality in the preschools, with/without coaching. Observational assessments and video observations were used. The results indicate that PT/ST was beneficial for the children with SEN to engage in social play with peers and practice social skills, and for the preschool’s inclusion quality regarding involvement in peer interactions and guidance in play, both with/without coaching for the teachers. However, the coaching strengthened the intervention fidelity. Social play occurred between the children with and without SEN in activities where they seemed similarly attracted by the toys and play materials and when they all could engage in the play goals, tasks, and roles. For this, they sometimes needed instructions and encouragement from the teachers.
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Social validity and psychometric properties of Teacher Impression Scale – A pilot study
2021. Maria Gladh (et al.). European Journal of Special Needs Education
ArticleRead more about Social validity and psychometric properties of Teacher Impression Scale – A pilot studyTeachers of inclusive early childhood education (ECE) are responsible for monitoring children’s social skills achievement, and promoting social play between children with and without special educational needs (SEN). The Teacher Impression Scale (TIS) is an observational assessment developed for this purpose. This study aims to explore the social validity of the Swedish version of TIS, TIS-S, and to evaluate its effectiveness in identifying participants for peer-mediated interventions in Swedish preschools; by also testing the internal consistency, and the construct and criterion-related validity of the scale. The teachers (N = 16) observed children with SEN (n = 16) and without SEN (n = 16) in social play situations with TIS-S and subsequently answered a survey. Data were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results demonstrate that the TIS-S has high internal reliability. The TIS-S also discriminated between the groups of children with and without SEN, which provided evidence of construct and criterion validity. Social validity was verified as the teachers reported that TIS-S was suitable for recognising individual children’s need for support in interactions with peers, planning for adaptations for all children in the social learning environment, and reflecting on the complexity of children’s social behaviour in play.
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Perceptions of Members in Parents’ Associations for Children with Disabilities of their Children’s Opportunities to Play
2017. Mara Westling Allodi (et al.). Users' Needs Report on Play for Children with Disabilities, 29-41
ChapterRead more about Perceptions of Members in Parents’ Associations for Children with Disabilities of their Children’s Opportunities to PlayThe Action “LUDI. Play for children with disabilities” developed the survey about the views and needs of users in various contexts in 2016, asking members of Parents’ Associations for Children with Disabilities (PACDs) their opinions and views when it comes to their children’s opportunities to play. The voices of children should be heard through representatives of associations because they have a wide knowledge on many cases and can report the playing conditions in disability, showing the influence that the political and cultural aspects have on this issue. In each country participating in the Action, a member responsible for the data collection on users’ needs was asked to contact parents’ associations of children with disabilities in order to elicit the experiences and views within their organisation, concerning the children’s opportunities to play and to submit their answers in the web-survey. The answers were reviewed and analysed by members of the Action “LUDI” Working Group 4 and subsequently compiled in the present report.3.1.1. Countries participating in the survey were Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, FYR Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey (N=24).
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