'We kind of do not dare to tell everybody that we are in a program for disabled students, because some are afraid that they will be made fun of.' : mapping students’ power relations and resistance within the discursive norm of special education

Implementing inclusive education has proven problematic all over the world. The reasons are multiple, but one of them can presumably be related to the way students with disabilities are “created”, viewed, and responded to as “special education students” within schools. To challenge this, we need to understand students’ position within the school. In this article, the focus is on identifying the position of students who receive special education in schools in Iceland by mapping their power relations and resistance within the discursive norm of special education. We use the method of thinking with theory and read data in accordance with Foucault’s theories of power relations and resistance and Deleuze and Guattari’s concepts of line of flight and becoming. Findings show that power relations affect students variously and although students’ resistance is manifested differently between individuals, a common thread is visible when resisting their static position as special education students.