Browsing by Subject "erityisopetus"

Home-school collaboration has become a truism in educational policy and practice. Cooperation between home and school is considered particularly important when a child has challenges with school attendance. However, not much critical research has been conducted on the quality of that cooperation. The point of view of the parents, in particular, has often been overlooked. In my study I examined how negotiations between school and parents are seen from the parents' perspective in cases in which a decision concerning special support is being considered. I interviewed eight parents with children in special education. I analyzed the data by drawing from discursive theories. In my analysis I asked how the parents position themselves in the interview talk when they tell about negotiations between home and professionals. I also explored how "special needs" and special education are seen and made understandable from the positions available to the parents. The negotiations between parents and professionals were described as strained in the parents' narration. The parents described experiences of having been set aside in decision-making processes and told that getting information about the support system was difficult. The interviewees also talked about experiences of having been evaluated as parents. In their narration, the parents also constructed resistance in relation to the definitions and positions offered to them by the professionals. On the basis of my analysis, I suggest that it is hard for the parent to achieve the position of a knowing subject in the power/knowledge relations between the parents and the professionals. The professional knowledge produced within medical and psychological discourses is considered as predominant at school, whereas the parents' knowledge is understood as informal and inferior. I suggest that schools should critically examine their practices of labeling children as "having special needs" and locating challenges with school attendance primarily within the individual. In addition, the asymmetric nature of the power relations between professionals and parents should be recognized. In my view, this would contribute towards a home-school cooperation in which parents feel that they are heard better.

Social integration consists of the four following elements: interaction, friendships, the student’s own perception and acceptance by classmates. The subject is relevant in developing special education system, as social integration is known to play a key role in pupils’ education and wellbeing. It is also known that the level of social integration is weaker within students with special education needs, than with other students. The aim of this master’s thesis was to find out how social integration appears in a certain primary school in Helsinki from the teaching staff’s point of view. The participants in this master’s thesis were a principal, a special needs teacher and six class teachers from grades 1-6. The research data was collected by interviewing the participants with a thematic interview in May 2020. The data was transcribed and then analysed qualitatively with both theory-based and material-based content analysis. The results of this study showed that the level of social integration within students with special needs is described to be lower than within other students. However, the teachers were aware of the methods supporting social integration, and were implementing these actions in their classroom work. The participants felt it was one of their most important tasks to support students’ social integration, and according to this study, the ways of supporting it were for example pedagogical co-working with colleagues, mutual pedagogical structures in teacher committee, and practical classroom work.

The current Act on Upper Secondary Education does not provide any specific information on the organization of special education. This is why the special education programs vary between upper secondary schools. Not all secondary schools have special education teachers and this might place students with special needs at a disadvantage. There have been only a few researches on special education in upper secondary schools in Finland during the last decade and the studies have focused on the need of special education in upper secondary education or, the job description of a special education teacher. The purpose of this study is to describe the perceptions of the students’ regarding the challenges that they face in their studies and the support they have received. The aim is also to look at the special education from a student point of view and clarify, how the need for support is recognized, what kind of challenges does the student with special needs meet and who provides the support and how. The data for this qualitative study was collected by inteviewing 14 upper secondary school students over the age of 18 with special needs. They all studied in the same upper secondary school in southern Finland under the guidance of the same special education teacher. The topic was approached by using phenomenography which enables clarification of variations in individual views and investigates different understandings of reality. Students view on the recognition process of special needs in upper secondary school was based on a reading assesment and diagnostic evaluation done by the special education teacher. The recognition of reading difficulties was a relief for most of the interviewed students. They felt that early recognition gives them more time to benefit from the support. The interviewed students found it hard to work with the subject teachers, because they felt that the teachers could not offer them enough support. The results showed that the amount of the support depends on the attitudes and skills of the subject teacher. Other challenges were problems with concentration, reading difficulties and fatigue. Students found the special education teacher to be the keyperson that provides them support. The new Act on Upper Secondary Education secures everyone´s right to special education and the services of a special education teacher. In the future, special education teachers will have an important role as consultants or intermediators between the students and subject teachers, so that students with special needs get the help they are entitled to.

Problems might emerge in the learning of students and support is then needed. In order to give sufficient support for students, several different instructions and regulations have been made to insure this, for example the model of Learning and Schooling Support. This model is meant to act as a guide for organizing the support and also to enhance early recognition of difficulties through assessment. Teachers are expected constantly to assess learning and difficulties in learning process of the students, and therefore tools of assessment are important in the supporting process. This thesis examines the tools of assessment used by special education teachers. It also examines how they evaluate these tools and what kinds of differences there are in the use of the tools between schools in the city of Espoo. In addition, this thesis studies the processes of Learning and Schooling Support, what kind of measures the special education teachers take if difficulties in learning or schooling are detected. The data in this study consist of questions answered by special education teachers working in primary schools in the city of Espoo. An electric questionnaire was used to collect the data. Questions were answered by 35 special education teachers who represent almost 50 % of all primary schools in Espoo. The data has been analysed in the means of quantified qualitative analyse. Both qualitative and quantitative information has been collected. Microsoft Excel software and manual arrangement has been used to produce different categories and to construct models of supporting. The intention was to create a description of the changes in the utilisation of diagnostic tools during the past 10 years and how well the procedures of the special education teachers were in line with the given instructions and regulations. The study points out that there is a variety of different assessment tools in use in Espoo and that there was no common policy for assessment tools in use even if the school had a plan for assessment. The city of Espoo only demands the use of Ala-asteen Lukutesti, and therefore schools and teachers were allowed to choose which tools of assessment they utilised. Despite the miscellaneous tools and the lack of precise instructions, special education teachers found these tools important when defining learning difficulties. Teacher also had mostly positive attitude when talking about assessment tools. The processes of support differed between teachers and subjects. Some deficiencies in the supportative processes were found even among those special education teachers who acted according to laws and regulations. In my opinion more time is needed for the correct procedures of supporting seen in the model of Learning and Schooling support to become established. In order to give effective support to students I suggest that teachers are trained and co-operation between different professionals is enhanced.

Previous research proved that problem behavior is related to academic success and dropping out from school. (Kauffman 1997, Goldstein 1995; MacMillan & Reschly 1998). Sup-porting studying of this dropout group is a vital part of preventive action against social exclusion. In Finland Education law enables support and special education in schools for those in need. There are students in special education whose teaching take place out of the school with special scheme. This small marginal of students will be educated by the school. Studying take place in extracurricular time. This study surveys this specific phenomenon and terms it home schooling. Its purpose is to clarify the process of home schooling from the teacher's point of view.This study will resolve what kind of goals do the teachers set for this kind of teaching activities. Additional purpose is to gather information of the reasons teachers name to be significant to process of home schooling. The research is qualitative by nature and can be characterized as a qualitative case study. Research data consist of five theme interviews. Two of the teachers were from elementary school and three from the Finnish primary school. All of them had experience of the process of home schooling. The stories describe overall home schooling of twenty-one students. Material was collected in Southern Finland 2012. Transcribed interviews were analyzed by using content analysis. This study clarifies that the aims of home schooling are different in elementary school and in the upper comprehensive school. Upper comprehensive school priorities are to secure getting graduation diploma from primary school and prevent social exclusion. In elementary school the main goal was to secure the child itself and its surrounding. The prior reason for home schooling in elementary school teacher named outwardly oriented behavior. Behaving was directly aggressive. Upper comprehensive school the main problem was inwardly oriented behavior. Students did not come to school or did not do school work. This scientific research reveals that in the teacher's point of view problem behavior, unstable home environment, weak academic performance and problems in social skills were the reasons that led to home schooling. Problems were often multifarious and imbricated. The teachers experience was that home schooling made studying possible, when the support in the school system was not enough. The information offered will further the process of developing home schooling.

The purpose of this study was to describe, analyze and interpret what kind of experiences and what contact with the use of Satukantele (a traditional Finnish instrument) is to linguistic skills, to creativity and musical action of pupils, and to pupils` other activities in school. Research is a qualitative case study in a first-class special education group. The theoretical framework of the thesis presents earlier studies of music connections to learning and other activities and human well-being. In addition, the development of reading and writing skills, teaching methods of reading and challenges of learning to read are considered. This first study included eight firstgraders in a special education group and a special education teacher. During the study, the pupils participated in eight Satukantele classes designed and driven by the researcher during spring 2019. In the sessions, the pupils invented their own texts and composi-tions, which were then adapted to a single finished work. The texts were adapted to the tone by syllables. The finished works were played and sung together during the Satukantele studies. At the beginning of every class pupils first played ready-made notations (Leikkinuotti) to increase the understanding of the reading direction and ensure motivation and concentration. At the be-ginning and end of the study period, syllable analysis of the first-class autumn evaluation materi-al was carried out from the LukiMat test, the analysis of which aimed to gain an understanding of linguistic skills during the study. At the end of the study, students and teacher were inter-viewed. The interview material was transcribed and analyzed by material-based content analy-sis. The topics highlighted in the interviews were supported by the findings of the study journal and the mean of the answers in the LukiMat-tests. Based on the results of the analysis of the material, three themes emerged: 1. Satukantele as a Learning Tool 2. Satukantele as a Produc-er of pleasure and 3. Satukantele as the Enabling Creativity and Own Thinking. In this study, the use of Satukantele was connected with learning to play the instrument itself, learning musical lit-eracy and reading direction, gaining an experience of success, enabling the pupil's own creative activity (inventing), producing positive emotional experiences, and strengthening linguistic skills. In particular, the results of this study related to pleasure and creative activity were in line with previous music-related studies.

The basis of this research is the situation of educational equality in Finland. Previous research shows the strong heritability of education and the differentiation of students' skills according to socio-economic backgrounds. The influence of socio-economic backgrounds on learning outcomes has become even stronger in recent years. The skills learned and the competence achieved in primary and lower secondary education (basic education) can be defined as human capital. Capital deficits are linked to intergenerational disadvantage. Previous research suggests that there is a connection between receiving support at school and a weaker social background. This study, carried out with a qualitative research strategy, aims to answer what kind of work practices in special education in primary and lower secondary education aim to influence the learning and educational differences linked to the students' different socio-economic backgrounds. The research data consists six interviews (semi-structuded) of special education teachers working in the region of Southern Finland. The interview material is analyzed using qualitative content analysis. A key finding of the study is that the work of special education teachers reveals practices that seek to address learning and educational differences that are linked to students' socio-economic backgrounds. The work practices are divided into five categories: cooperation in student networks, understanding education and teaching as a broad entity, student-orientation as the basis of the teacher's work, and special education in the school's operational culture. The work practices have a close connection to the framework and concepts of the sociology of education and to the key factors of educational equality.