What is individual in individualised instruction? Five storylines of meeting individual needs at school

The purpose of this narrative case study was to examine the meanings and practices of individualised instruction narrated by two seventh-grade Finnish pupils with mild learning difficulties, their mothers, their special education teacher and researchers. The data comprise narrative interviews and field notes. The analysis showed that the narrators had various, even conflicting, experiences of individualisation, which was narrated through five storylines: individual needs as difficulties and limitations; individualisation as the ideal principle for inclusive education; individualisation as a bureaucratic procedure; individualised instruction as making room for emotions, and individualised instruction as nothing special. These storylines constructed individualised education as an ideal and eligible pedagogical practice in principle but challenging to properly implement in practice.