The Danish state school is an ongoing starting point for debates in the Danish society. Particularly in recent years the increased focus on inclusion has become apparent in the Danish state school and has entailed a lot of attention. In April 2012, law L103 was signed. A law with the purpose of including several more pupils with special needs in the state school. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the consequences of the increased focus on inclusion in the Danish state school. Furthermore, to explore how this affect the work performed by the teachers and the tasks they must solve.

This study is based on an empirical collection of data, which includes six semi-structured interviews with six teachers, one of them today working as a pedagogue, though educated as a teacher. The scientific theoretical approach in this thesis is a philosophic hermeneutic one. This entails an understanding of science as part of a specific context and time, additionally that the scientist himself always must be seen as part of the study. However, in this approach it is possible to use the bias of the scientist in a constructive way by transparency about the methods and findings, as well as the pre-understandings which inspired the study.

The main theoretical approaches are the concept of social work and the concept of inclusion. In the second chapter these two concepts are unfolded, to give the reader an understanding of how they are to be understood in this thesis. The concepts are then applied in the two following analytical chapters, where the empirical findings are analyzed and discussed. The focus of the third chapter is on the teachers own experiences with and characterizations of their work. First on a more general level, then in connection to their work in relation to vulnerable pupils. Finally, the work the teachers do is illuminated by using concepts of social work, to examine at what extent the work performed by teachers can be characterized as social work. In the fourth chapter the concept of inclusion is applied, to examine how the teachers experience their everyday practice and the challenges they face in their work including vulnerable pupils.

The thesis concludes that Danish teachers today are faced with issues when they are to include more vulnerable pupils in the Danish state school. The teachers do not have the qualifications and competencies which are required when solving this task. I therefore suggest that it could be helpful to find inspiration in social work by drawing on knowledge, qualifications and competencies connected to this field.