Inclusive special needs practices in action: an analysis of a pilot project on school based psychological support

Inclusive education has drawn increasing attention to how psychological and special educational advisory services can move beyond deficit-oriented assessment towards more collaborative, context-sensitive, and participation-oriented forms of support. This article examines school-based psychological advisory work through a qualitative case study of a School Psychologist Pilot Project in the Faroe Islands, informed by Situational Analysis. Drawing on interviews, project documents, and contextual quantitative indicators, the study examines how school-based psychological support is organised and enacted. The findings suggest that embedding psychological expertise within the school improved professionals’ perceived access to support, closer professional relations, and opportunities for contextual dialogue, while advisory work remained predominantly organised around individual cases and established psychological and classificatory understandings. Organisational proximity thus created possibilities for more situated and collaborative practice without necessarily transforming established advisory logics. The study contributes to Nordic discussions on inclusive special needs education by showing that the inclusive significance of school-based psychological expertise depends not simply on where expertise is located, but on how specialised knowledge is positioned, negotiated, and connected to teaching, participation, and learning environments. The findings distinguish organisational proximity from inclusive advisory practice and highlight the conditions through which its inclusive possibilities are produced.