The aim of this thesis is to increase knowledge about sloyd education in compulsory school for students with intellectual disability (CSID). The thesis is based in critical-constructive didactic theory and takes an interest in how sloyd education can create conditions for students to acquire Bildung, in terms of self-determination, co-determination and solidarity. Teaching and learning are understood as complex processes of social interaction involving the teacher, the student and the content at stake. Classrooms and schools are seen as subsystems of the society, thus, conditions for Bildung are manifested on several levels.

Two part-studies produced the empirical material. A web survey asked questions about how arts education in CSID is valued and organised and was answered by 124 principals. A multiple case study examined the didactic relation, that is the teaching-studying-learning process. Teachers’ and students’ joint actions were analysed, as well as four aspects of content knowledge: practical, theoretical, social and aesthetic. A total of 4 sloyd teachers, 19 students and 12 paraprofessionals participated. In all, 43 sloyd lessons were video-recorded and 28 interviews with elements of stimulated recall were conducted.

The results highlight factors at two levels related to students’ acquisition of Bildung. At school level, sloyd differs from music and visual art regarding teaching facilities and teachers’ competence. Conditions also vary depending on students’ age, the extent of students’ disability and principals’ school responsibility. At classroom level, five pedagogical situations exemplify how different didactic relations emerge through the joint actions of teachers and students. The conditions for Bildung vary depending on the content knowledge and the teachers’ and students’ moves in the joint actions, in the sense of who chooses and takes responsibility for developing the content and whether or not there is room for changes of the content over time.

The intersection of arts education and special education as a field has been described as lacking in unity, partly because the practices of its different stakeholders are embedded in either special education or arts education. This paper investigates how principals prioritise teachers' qualifications when organising arts education in compulsory school for pupils with intellectual disabilities (CSID) in Sweden, what they perceive the value of arts education in CSID to be and how they organise arts education in relation to cooperation between pupils from CSID and compulsory regular school (CRS). These questions were investigated using a questionnaire, which was answered by 124 principals. The results show that around three times as many principals prioritised specialised arts knowledge over competence in special education. However, the degree to which this occurred varied across arts subjects. A majority of the principals valued arts education for the opportunities it offers pupils to develop generic abilities, such as communication skills, creativity, and imagination. Cooperation between CSID and CRS for arts education appeared to depend on how school leadership was organised. The article concludes with suggestions on how the organisation of arts education could be improved in relation to the two areas of expertise and the idea of inclusion.