Browsing by discipline "Erityispedagogiikka"

In my bachelor’s thesis I examine the development of special education in Finland. My research questions are what kind of stages special education has gone through to develope into its present form in Finland and how it has evolved from segregation towards a more inclusive style. My bachelor’s thesis is a descriptive literary survey. I have searched the data from a book called Erityispedagogiikan perusteet and from its references. In addition to this, I have used Google Scholar and Helka’s article search with entries inkluusio, erityisopetus, teacher, attitudes and inclusive education. Based on the data, it became clear that special education in Finland was arranged mainly separately from other teaching for a long time. At first, special education was given to sense disabled and “idiotic” ones. After this, it was offered to children with intellectual disabilities and behaviour disorders. Eventually, it was given to pupils with minor, such as reading and speech, problems. In the 1970’s people started to discuss how much separate special education should be offered in relation to other teaching. Gradually inclusive education, where support is brought to the pupil, became to be the goal through integration. The congress reports and the declarations for the more equal school system of the UN especially affected the pursuit of the inclusion. Dividing pupils into mainstream and special education was thought to be against equality and no study could prove special education was more effective. In Finland National Board of Education and Finnish National Agency for Education have gradually promoted integration, but no law obliges municipalities to carry out the local school policy or physical integration with exact regulations. However, Basic Education Act and core curriculum for basic education contain the principal themes of inclusion. Some of the other changes towards inclusion have been the decrease in separate learning environments and the increasing number of pupils receiving special education full-time or part-time in mainstream classes. (Moberg & Savolainen, 2015.)

When designing and executing the school program of a forster child, it is very important to cooperate between foster care and child protection services. The term foster child means a child placed outside of home environment either as a support of the non-institutional care, as an urgent investment the children and young people taken to the custody or as aftercare. These children will continue their education within the city there are placed in foster care. Usually the course of their school program is very disruptive; Moving between schools and classes happens frequently while the need for support and the responding to these needs varies from case by case. Doing well is school protects the child for the rest of their lives. Therefore, school program of a foster child is integral part of their future. Throughout the school program multidisciplinary cooperation is needed because the foster care is the home of a placed child and adolescent during the investment especially between school and home. The study carried out as a integrating literature look, to study the cooperation between the school and fostercare and find out the challenges and opportunities it includes. Five international scientific articles were chosen as a research material. The material was dealt with by analysing the results of earlier studies with respect to set research questions. As a conclusion of this study it can be said, that the cooperation between the foster care and school happens through concrete actions like organized meetings and communication with phone and messages. The enabling factors of such level of cooperation are; mutual trust between both parties, the understanding of a child and adolescent in the foster care, the impartial treatment and the part and activity of foster parents. During the study it came apparent that communication effectively between foster care and schools was the biggest challenge, since both parties saw the situation through their own perspective. This is important issue to discuss, since the goal of this type of cooperation is after all, the wellbeing of the foster child.

Tutkimuksessani selvitetään minkälaisia osallisuuden kokemuksia autismikirjon korkeakoulu- opiskelijoilla on arjessaan, sekä missä konteksteissa nämä kokemukset syntyvät. Osallisuus voidaan määritellä monella eri tavalla näkökulmasta riippuen. Tässä tutkimuk- sessa osallisuus määritellään Maslowin tarvehierarkiaan, Learyn sekä Baumeisterin osalli- suuden teoriaan sekä Laursenin ja Yazdgerdin osallisuuden teoriaan perustuen. Heidän nä- kemyksiensä mukaan osallisuus voidaan määritellä ihmisen sisäsyntyiseksi tarpeeksi kuulua ryhmään, saada arvostusta ryhmässä sekä kokea itsensä tarpeelliseksi ryhmän jäseneksi. Näiden täyttymiseen vaaditaan edes yksi positiivinen pysyvä vuorovaikutussuhde. Aiemmat autismikirjon opiskelijoita koskevat tutkimukset osoittavat, että autismikirjon opiske- lijoilla on haasteita opiskelujen aikana nimenomaan vuorovaikutustilanteissa, ryhmätöissä sekä sosiaalisen kanssakäymisen aiheuttaman kuormituksen kanssa. Akateemisilta taidoil- taan osa opiskelijoista on kykenevä suoriutumaan korkeammankin asteen koulutuksesta, mutta usein muut tekijät, kuten vaikeudet vuorovaikutustilanteissa heikentävät myös opin- noissa suoriutumista. Tämän vuoksi autismikirjon opiskelijoiden osallisuuden tukemiseen opiskelujen aikana tulisi kiinnittää erityistä huomiota. Tutkimuksen aineisto kerättiin osana The IMAGE projektia vuonna 2019 ja tähän tutkimukseen valikoitui seitsemän suomalaisen opiskelijan haastatteluaineistot. Haastatteluaineisto analysoitiin sisällönanalyysia apuna käyttäen, teemoittelemalla aineisto neljään pääteemaan, jotka vastasivat asetettuihin tutkimuskysymyksiin. Tutkimukseen osallistuneilla oli pääasiassa vuorovaikutussuhteita korkeakoulun ulkopuolella harrastuksissa tai yhdistystoiminnassa. Koulukontekstissa vuorovaikutussuhteiden syntyminen oli hankalaa ja moni vastaajista koki joutuvansa muuttamaan käytöstään luennoilla ja ryhmätöitä tehdessä. Merkityksellisten ja mielekkäiden vuorovaikutussuhteiden syntymiseen edesauttoi yhteinen mielenkiinnon kohde ja selkeä agenda tapaamiselle. Näiden kautta autisminkirjon opiskelijan oli helpompi osallistua toimintaan ja saada positiivisia osallisuuden kokemuksia.

Selective mutism is a rare childhood disorder that is characterised by the persistent failure to speak in select social settings (e.g. at school) despite the ability to speak in other, more familiar settings. There is a strong link between selective mutism and anxiety. Speech is a natural part of everyday social interaction and thus staying silent may interfere the social and emotional development and peer relations of a child. The lack of peer relationships and feelings of loneliness are harmful for the socio-emotional well-being of children. The purpose of this study was to explore social interaction and peer relations of children with selective mutism. The possible feelings of loneliness and peer victimization were also explored. There has been little previous research on the social impact of selective mutism. The study was conducted as an integrative literature review. The data were compiled of five research articles that differed from each other in their study designs and methods. This review compiled and synthesized international study results focusing on core issues to answer to the research question. Results from the study show that social skills of children with selective mutism were significantly deficient in comparison to controls. The failure to speak made it difficult to make friends, socialise and join in activities with others. Some children with selective mutism had experienced feelings of loneliness and isolation. Based on the results of this study, selective mutism negatively affects the social interaction.

Tiivistelmä - Referat – Abstract Objectives. This literature review examines how dance and movement therapy might be applied in increasing the well-being of children and adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Individuals diagnosed with an ASDs experience social and communicational difficulties every day. They have difficulties in expressing their feelings. Dance and movement therapy is based on interactional movement. The focus is to build and strengthen the relationships between the participants. Earlier studies have shown that dance and movement therapy can increase the well-being of participants. This review examines can dance and movement therapy contribute to the well-being of individuals with autism spectrum disorder Research method. Research articles were searched on Ebscohost and Helka databases. The criteria for inclusion were that articles were published between years 2010–2017, articles were written in English or Finnish and peer review -publications and abstracts were available. The criteria for exclusion were 1) the whole text was not available, 2) the study was not a research article, 3) the study examined other than individuals with ASDs, 4) the form of the therapy was other than dance and movement therapy, 5) the research articles were published before year 2010 ja 6) the study was a literature review. Based on the 40 research studies that were found only five research articles were selected in the study. These five articles were analysed by using content analysis method. Conclusion. This review consists of five research articles that examined the possibilities of dance and movement therapy in increasing the well-being of individuals diagnosed with ASDs. The conclusion of the study is that dance and movement therapy increases the well-being of the participants by increasing interaction between the participants and strengthening feelings of empathy. In addition to this therapy supported the self-control of the participants as well as socially acceptable behavior. Therapy helped the participants to build a positive self-image and body-image. Many studies have already examined the positive effects of the dance and movement therapy in Europe and United States. The effects of the dance and movement therapy in increasing the well-being of individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder has not yet been studied in Finland.

Mathematical word-problem-solving is proven to be a problem type which most low-achieving schoolaged students experience difficulties with. Solving word-problems requires recognizing and utilizing many skills, such as arithmetic skills, algebraic skills, reading comprehension, cognitive and metacognitive skills. Research based knowledge on how to help secondary school students with mathematical difficulties to solve word-problems is limited and focuses on the phenomenon behind the difficulties rather than on effective pedagogical ways to support learning. The purpose of this research is to gather current research evidence and to answer the question of which are the most effective evidence based word-problem-solving intervention programs for low achieving students in secondary school. The research method used was a systematic review of the literature. All the intervention studies had to meet the criteria for inclusion to be selected in the review. The analysis of the effectiveness of the programs was based on effect size calculations. In addition the intervention studies, which met the adjusted criteria for the required research method used in the study, were viewed separately, and the evaluation of the effectiveness of these intervention programs was based on the effects reported in the original studies. Four intervention researches met the original criteria for inclusion, and three of these examined the same problem-based-learning intervention program called Enhanced Anchored Instruction (EAI). EAI was the only intervention program, which was effective for low achieving students based on self-developed tests and standardized test. Eight intervention studies met the adjusted criteria for inclusion and the intervention programs in these were divided into strategy instruction programs for problem solving and instruction method programs. There were studies in both groups, which reported positive effect for students with mathematical difficulties. Two shared characteristics was found in all the interventions, which were dividing the educational content into smaller components and guiding the students focus on the usefulness of the strategies used to solve the word-problems.

Goals. The purpose of the study was to research the effect of the ThinkMath intervention pro-gramme on the mathematical skills of pre-school students. ThinkMath is based on the meta-analysis of Aunio and Räsänen (2016) where they identified the core numerical skills of 5–8-year olds. The skills are 1) symbolic and non-symbolic number sense, 2) understanding of mathematical relations, 3) counting skills and 4) basic skills in arithmetic. This study determines the starting level of low achieving pre-school students and the effect of the intervention on their development compared to the control groups. Methods. The data was collected as a part of the ThinkMath project during autumn 2013 and spring 2014. A total of 189 pre-school students from Northern and Southern Finland participated in this as-sessment. After the first assessment children were divided into four groups: very low achieving (VERY LOW, N=20) and low achieving (LOW, N=18) intervention groups, and low achieving (LOW C, N=14) and typically achieving (TYP, N=137) control groups. During autumn 2013 chil-dren who scored under 25 percentile were given additional training, except for the group LOW C. In December 2013 the children had a final assessment and in March 2014 a delayed assessment. The differences in skill development between groups were analysed by ANOVA. Results. In the beginning of pre-school VERY LOW differed from both LOWs in total scores and counting skills, and from LOW C in understanding mathematical relations. Immediately after the in-tervention both intervention groups had improved their skill level more compared to control groups in mathematical relations and counting skills. In the delayed assessment the same difference in im-provement in mathematical relations was still found compared to both control groups, and in count-ing skills to TYP. VERY LOW increased their total scores faster than both control groups and LOW faster than TYP. Despite of the greater skill development VERY LOW didn’t catch up TYP starting level during the half year assessment period. Both LOWs reached the TYP starting level in all other sections except for mathematical relations. The results of this study indicate that the intervention programme supports the development of relations and counting skills but is unable to close the gap between low achieving and typically achieving pre-school students

Lasten levottomuus ja sitä myöten opettajien haasteet luokanhallinnassa ovat lisääntyneet viime vuosina. Levottomuutta aiheuttavat muun muassa kiireinen elämäntyyli, perheiden erilaiset tilanteet sekä erityisesti tämän hetken ilmiönä teknologisten laitteiden räjähdysmäinen kasvu sekä niiden aiheuttama ärsyketulva, joka kuormittaa aivojamme ennennäkemättömällä tavalla. Vastaiskuna elämän hektisyydelle on jalansijaa saanut mindfulness eli tietoinen hyväksyvä läsnäolo. Mindfulness-ohjelmista on saatu positiivisia tuloksia aikuisilla tehdyistä tutkimuksista ja ohjelmia onkin hyödynnetty viime vuosikymmeninä monipuolisesti muun muassa terveydenhuollon parissa. Lapsilla tutkimusta on toistaiseksi tehty vähemmän, sillä mindfulness-ohjelmat ovat vasta viime vuosien aikana levinneet myös kasvatuksen kentälle. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää, millaisia tietoisen läsnäolon taitoja lapsille lisääviä interventiotutkimuksia on kansainvälisesti toteutettu vuosina 2017–2018. Tutkimuksessani halusin luoda katsauksen siihen, miten interventiot on toteutettu, keitä ja mitä asioita tutkimuksissa on tutkittu sekä siihen, millaisia tuloksia interventioilla on saavutettu. Tutkimus toteutettiin systemaattisena kirjallisuuskatsauksena. Aineistoksi valikoitui tarkkojen rajauskriteereiden perusteella kaksitoista vertaisarvioitua englanninkielistä artikkelia vuosilta 2017–2018. Kirjallisuuskatsauksessa kävi ilmi, että interventioissa oli runsaasti vaihtelua harjoitusten, toteutustavan ja keston osalta. Yleisimpiä harjoitustyyppejä olivat hengitysharjoitukset, tunnetaitoharjoitukset ja aistiharjoitukset. Suurin osa interventioista toteutettiin tutkijan tai muun ulkopuolisen ohjaamina viikoittaisina tuokioina. Interventioiden tyypillisin kesto oli kuusi viikkoa vaihtelun ollessa kolmesta viikosta 12 viikkoon. Kohderyhmänä olivat yleisimmin yleisopetuksen oppilaat tai oppilaat, joilla oli käyttäytymisen haasteita. Suurimmalla osalla interventioista saavutettiin positiivisia vaikutuksia. Vain kahdessa tutkimuksessa vaikutus oli neutraali ja yhdessä tutkimuksessa negatiivinen. Intervention sisällöllä, toteutustavalla tai kestolla ei havaittu yhteyttä intervention vaikuttavuuteen. Positiivisia vaikutuksia saatiin erityisesti suhteessa yhteisölliseen keskusteluun sitoutumiseen, keskittymiskykyyn, käyttäytymiseen, akateemiseen sitoutumiseen ja stressiin, mikä mukailee monilta osin myös aiheesta aikuisilla tehtyjen tutkimusten tuloksia. Osassa tutkimuksia selvitettiin vaikuttavuuden lisäksi oppilaiden ja opettajien kokemuksia interventio-ohjelmista. Kommentit olivat lähes pelkästään positiivisia, eli interventiot olivat hyväksyttäviä sekä helposti toteutettavia. Tämän katsauksen perusteella voitaisiinkin todeta mindfulness-taitojen interventioiden olevan sekä hyödyllisiä että helposti sovellettavissa koulun käytäntöihin. Lisätutkimusta aiheesta kuitenkin tarvitaan.

The goal of this study was to find out, which ways second language proficiency affects social competence of children with immigrant backgrounds. Language proficiency not only affects the success in school and work life but also helps create social relationships, communicate and become part of society. Language barrier may be an obstacle for children with immigrant backgrounds and it may complicate coping with academic and social situations. Previous studies have proved that the second language proficiency has an impact on academic skills and school performance of children with immigrant backgrounds. In this study I examine, which dimensions of social competence can be found in research and how good second language proficiency affects different areas of social competence. I have defined social competence dimensions by Poikkeus (2008), which includes social skills, socio-cognitive skills, lack of negative behaviour and positive peer relationships. The study used the method of systematic literature review. The research material was limited based on precise criteria and four peer-reviewed, English-language research articles for 2010-2015 were selected. Based on the results of this study it can be concluded that the second language proficiency has an impact on the social competence of children with immigrant backgrounds. Several dimensions of social competence were found in each research. Second language proficiency had the most contact with social skills and socio-cognitive skills that were combined into one category in this study. Second language proficiency also had an impact on the lack of negative behaviour and positive peer relationships. Good language proficiency positively affected especially social skills and peer relationships and reduced retreat behavior.

The goal of this study was to look into how social integration of students with special educational needs has come true. The study explores social relationships and social participations of students with special educational needs in school and the impact of school on achieving social integration. The research focuses on the child's own perspective on their situation. The topic is current because integration is coming more general all the time. Based on previous studies it is known that social relationships with peers has an impact to both on the child´s adaptation and well-being. The study was conducted as a systematic literature review. During the review, six studies were found as the research material. The studies examined social relationships of school age children with special educational needs. The data were collected following the principles of a systematic literature review. After that the data were analyzed. The theoretical background of this study is the concept of social integration. Based on previous studies it can be divided in four parts by themes: interaction, acceptance by classmates, friendships and the perception of children with special educational needs. Those themes were used as the basis for the analysis. Results from the study show that social participation of students with special educational needs is comparatively weak. Students with special educational needs got worse results than their classmates in every area of social integration. They had less friends, they were less accepted and their interaction was weak. However, students with special educational needs felt themselves that their situation was fairly good. Self-image of students with special educational needs was mostly good. Based on the results of this study, it seems that school has a major impact on achieving social integration.