The work of the special education teacher was thus divided into three categories: teaching, consultation and background work. When using the special education teachers’ estimated mean of the working time spent on these three main catego- ries, a picture of a common work profile can be constructed (Figure 2). This figure represents the work of a typical special education teacher in compulsory school as a whole,
including both the primary and secondary stages. However, it must be kept in mind that the ratio of consultation and background work varies during the year, and the amount of consultation is probably slightly higher and the amount of background work slightly lower.