Browsing by Subject "inclusion"
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(2017)The purpose of my previous research (minor laudatur thesis, year 2005) was to clarify how the comprehensive school and the Steiner school approach the special education pupil as well as to examine what sorts of similarities and differences there are between the Steiner education and special education. Through my thesis I also attempt to examine how the ideologies/intellectual worlds and teachings of the Steiner school and the comprehensive school could be combined and brought closer to one another as well as how the best parts of both schools could be combined in order to take advantage of them in both schools. The research was implemented as a review of literature. At the beginning of my research the ideology and development of inclusion, integration and inclusive upbringing are examined as the basis for the next chapter, in which the concept of man is examined from the viewpoint of special education. I discuss the idea of man on the basis of four central principles. These principles are human dignity, integrity, the right of self-determination and participation in life and society. The fourth chapter provides a detailed introduction to the concept of man from the viewpoint of the Steiner education. First the points of departure and bases of value of the Steiner education are discussed, and then on the basis of these the idea of man and man's different aspects of being in the Steiner education are discussed, as well as the development rhythms and the seven year stages of the child. I examine the differences between these two educations by comparing their ideas of man. The Steiner education is based on Steiner's educational views and the concept of man, upon which these views are based. The concept of man guides the raising and education of the child and is thus also strongly connected to how the special education pupil is approached in the Steiner school. I consider the fourth chapter to be of particular importance for the reader because it is there that I discuss the concept of man of Steiner education as well as the development rhythms of the child, among other things. Without becoming acquainted with the concept of man of Steiner education it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to understand methods used in approaching the special education pupil, such as temperament training and form drawing. The concept of man of special education also creates the basis for how a pupil requiring special support is approached in the comprehensive school. The fifth chapter discusses methods used in approaching a pupil requiring special support in the Steiner school. The sixth chapter discusses methods used in approaching a pupil requiring special support in the comprehensive school. At the end of this research I attempt, on the basis of the comparison between these two educations, to disclose the similarities and differences of them in approaching the special education pupil. I complemented my minor laudatur thesis by taking in account the 3-phased support model.
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(2015)The aim of this master's thesis is to examine the formation of special in the speech of teachers. The theoretical framework is based on the stance that people try to make sense of the world by perspective of normal. However, to be normal is possible only if something is deviant from it. When it comes to schools, these lines between normal and deviant have been seen to be linked to the relation of mainstream education and special-education. The interest of this study is to analyse, how the special is formed in the speech of teachers when there is more and more students in special education and when the official direction is to bring mainstream education and special-education together by constructing teaching of all students in the same classroom. The research data is formed by interviewing special- and class-/subject-teachers. The interviews were constructed as groups, one included special -teachers and the other one class-/subject-teachers. There where total of seven interviewees. The interviews followed the rules of theme interview. I have analyzed the data by using discourse analysis. According to my results the special were formed as maladjustment, certain problems, imperfection and change. The lines between normal and special operated on the other hand between all students and on the other hand the lines were situated only between certain students, them being the students in the special education class and the students in the mainstream class. When it comes to the consequence of special it was the situation of the student that were concerned. The conclusions of this research suggest the persistence of some categories in schools and the place as an essential component for defining the lines between normal and special. Worth noticing is also the ways that showed the possibility of negotiation.
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(2012)Aims. In the year 2010, the Finnish national core curriculum for basic education went through some amendments and additions when it comes to support for learning and schooling. A new three-step support model was introduced. The new support model contained general, intensified and special support. The aim of this thesis is to find out how primary school teachers execute the three-step support model at Vantaa: what support measures are most valued and who fills out the support model's pedagogical documents? The support model's aims and goals are also examined. The last aim is to compare the three-step support model to the idea of an inclusive school. Can we say that our education system is now more inclusive than what it was before? Methods. The research began with an interview with the person who is responsible for the planning of education in Vantaa. After the interview, part of the primary school teachers of Vantaa (N=61) answered to a questionnaire about the three-step support model. The research was conducted as a mixed method research because it has elements from both qualitative and quantitative research. The interview answers were analyzed by using content analysis. Quantitative methods were used while analyzing the questionnaire answers with the IBM SPSS Statistics 20-program. Results and conclusions. The study showed that the primary school teachers value differentiation, collaboration between school and home and part-time special education the most. Special education was valued as a part of the special support. Pedagogical documents were most likely filled by the class teacher or the special needs teacher although the work is assigned to class teachers . Collaboration between teachers was valued when filling the pedagogical documents. It's difficult to estimate how the goals of the three-step support model have been achieved. During the time of this research the new model had been used only for six months. The teachers admitted that more pupils are studying in mainstream education because of the new support model. Nevertheless the teachers felt that the education system needs special education schools and classes. They did not agree with the idea of shutting down all the special education schools.
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(2019)Goals of this study. The goal of this study is to examine, interpret and analyze the perceptions that elementary school teachers hold concerning the fulfillment of inclusion and integration of immigrant students studying in general education class. Aim of this study is to answer the following research problems: 1. According on elementary school teachers how well the goals of inclusion are being fulfilled concerning immigrant students? 2. What kind of representations do elementary school teachers hold concerning the inclusion and integration of immigrant students in general education class? Theoretical background of this study is based on litera- ture handling of inclusion and representation. The experiences teachers have, are being com- pared to the theoretical framework. The concept of representation and othering are repre- sented also in the empiric part of this study. The purpose of this study is to take a stand in the general conversation dealing with inclusion. At the center of this study is the inclusion and integration of students with an immigrant background because of the linguistic questions. Methods. The material of this study was produced by implementing two group interviews. Both interviews consisted four elementary school teachers who had been teaching students with immigrant background within the last five years. Material was analyzed with the means of discourse analysis. Research questions were answered by the representations which were brought up from the material of this study. Results and conclusion. According on the material of this study the goals of inclusion have not been seen fulfilling among immigrant students. It was stated that the resources, like learn- ing materials, time and assistance from special education teachers are not sufficient. Based on the experience of teachers seven repertoires were constructed. These repertoires repre- sent those representations that teachers hold concerning of the inclusion of immigrant stu- dents.
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(2018)Goals. Along inclusive thinking ever more students’ equality and participation has been higlighted in Finnish education system. Finland like numerous other countries has signed many international agreements, such as Salamanca statement and United Nations convention on the rights of persons with disabilites. The development of education according to these agreements has been exposed in many public records in last decades. Variable school culture sets new challenges to teachers and above all requires collaboration between teachers. Co-teaching is one way to react to the challenges of school culture. Goal of this study is to set co-teaching into larger context and investigate what kind of meanings class teachers give to co-teaching and how they react to co-teaching. The purpose of this study is in co-teaching between special education teacher and class teacher. Methods. This research is qualitative research. Research material has been obtained by interviewing three elementary school teachers in Oulu area. Interviews were carried out as theme interviews. The duration of interviews varied between 25 minutes to 45 minutes. The material has been analyzed with qualitative content analysis. Results and conclusions. In this study class teachers’ attitude for co-teaching was found positive. They saw co-teaching to be compatible with inclusive teaching. Teachers emphasized the role of pedagogical leadership in executing the co-teaching. School’s pedagogical administration can support co-teaching by structural arrangements, changing the working culture and by increasing awareness of co-teaching. Co-teaching also caused contradictions. The teachers saw, that disagreements were induced by division of roles as well as interactional contradictions. Conflicts were mainly clarified by discussing. The key points of solving contradictions had been changing the way of acting, self-improvement and support from principal.
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(2023)Multilingualism is an inherent characteristic of human societies around the world, which is continuously reinforced by recent societal events such as migration or globalization. Yet educational contexts have only recently started to dedicate more attention to multilingualism in education. Education systems still fail to fully recognize and value multilingual learners’ competences, sometimes resulting in language-based exclusion. To address this, the present study examines the issue of continuities and discontinuities in terms of language use, between familial and educational contexts in multilingual contexts. Special attention is also given to language attitudes and ideologies, to investigate their impact and influence on linguistic practices. With the help of a sociolinguistic questionnaire giving insights into language ecologies in educational and familial contexts, a cross-cultural comparative analysis is conducted along with an in-depth analysis of one situation of languages in contact. This in-depth analysis addresses the educational policy level, questioning how policies can establish bridges to build continuity with the familial domain. The findings suggest that diverse situations occur across different sociocultural contexts. Nevertheless, some similarities emerged in the analysis, revealing that certain educational contexts promote continuity with the familial domain to a certain extent, while others do not promote continuity at all. Language attitudes and ideologies have a strong role on language practices and can contribute to the maintenance and vitality of certain languages, or jeopardize others. The in-depth analysis of one contact situation suggests that, in this context, the educational policy level attempted to promote some continuity, putting emphasis on mother tongue education and the development of multilingual competences for children. Nonetheless, explicit references to promote continuity between familial and educational contexts in terms of language use was missing. In addition, several sources pointed to the challenges of implementing such educational policies due to practical constraints such as the lack of qualified teachers or of a sufficiently high number of pupils participating in these initiatives. The analysis confirms that sociolinguistic questionnaires focusing on eliciting information on the ecology of languages can be a valuable source of data for education and policy-making. Although not designed for educational purposes, the data provided extremely insightful information. Therefore, this thesis highlights that tailored sociolinguistic questionnaires can represent a rich source of information for evidence-based policymaking. Overall, this study acknowledges the advancement and positive consideration given to multilingual education in different sociocultural contexts, and at different educational levels. However, more efforts are needed in order to meet multilingual learners’ needs, provide equitable chances and promote social justice in education. Reconsidering multilingualism not only as a right but also as a richness for individuals and society is a concrete example of the goals ahead. This study thus concludes by pleading for more action at all educational levels and beyond, to promote truly inclusive multilingual education and contribute to the important endeavor of changing education.
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(2011)Teachers work is changing from independent work towards a collegial cooperation, and one form of cooperation can be co-teaching. Co-teaching is also discussed in the three level model of supporting in Special education strategy (Ministry of Education 2007). Efforts have been made to increase co-teaching in Helsinki with the help of a merit pay system. The purpose of this study is to describe teachers' roles in planning, implementing and evaluating co-teaching and to resolve how teachers have ended up with these roles, what advantages and disadvantages there are in different roles and what kind of roles are experienced meaningful. This study is made from a class teacher or a special class teacher point of view. The research material was collected using a qualitative web-inquiry in Autumn 2010. The questionnaire was answered by 35 teachers. The material was studied using content analysis methods. Three different co-teaching roles were formed on the basis of the research material. These roles differ in the way of dividing responsibility of planning and implementing co-teaching. Responsibility Sharers divided the responsibility evenly, Primary Responsible had one teacher with main responsibility and Single Responsible had only one teacher having all the responsibility of planning and teaching. The more responsibility the class teacher had, the more the special education teacher was limited to answer for students with special needs. Distribution of work with Responsibility Sharers was mostly based on good cooperation, while Primary Responsible and Single Responsible had work distribution mostly affected by absence of common planning time. The most satisfied with their co-teaching roles were the Responsibility Sharers, while the Single Responsible were the most unhappy group. However, it seems that individuals' persona affects to what kind of co-teaching was experienced meaningful.
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(2016)This thesis inspects how community music workshops may affect self-perceived work ability in the disabled, immigrant, mentally ill, or otherwise disadvantaged participants. Community music workshops had statistically significant positive effect on self-perceived work ability in all the subgroups, except the immigrant participants.
Now showing items 1-8 of 8