Browsing by study line "Specialeducation"

The aim of this master’s thesis was to describe special education teachers’ perceptions of the ways to support their students’ reading-related self-concepts. Reading difficulties and reading related learning disabilities create a risk for the development of students’ reading-related self-concepts. Students reading-related self-concept is in many ways related to students’ reading skills and performance in school as well as general well-being. Thus it is important to pay attention to the students’ reading-related self-concepts’ significance and to find means to support it. The theoretical framework used in the study consists of the main themes of the study, which are learning and teaching to read, reading difficulties and reading-related self-concept. The aim of this study was to examine special education teachers’ work in relation to reading difficulties and reading-related self-concept. The purpose was also to find out how special education teachers comprehend the connection between reading difficulties, school-performance and reading-related self-concept. This study focused on describing the ways in which a part-time special education teacher can support students’ reading-related self-concept. This study was a qualitative study and it was carried out using a phenomelological research method. The data was produced by interviewing part time special education teachers in elementary schools. The method of analysis was content analysis. The results showed that part-time special-education teachers’ work was multifaceted and focused on taking into account students’ individual needs and reading difficulties. Reading-related self-concept was seen to have a strong influence on students’ studies and well-being. Part-time special-education teachers used several different methods of supporting their students’ reading-related self-concept: improving students’ reading skills, motivation, collaboration with other teachers and students’ guardians, teacher-student-interaction, differentiating teaching and enabling the feelings of success as well as emotional support and positive working climate.

The aim of this study was to examine what is relevant to education regarding adolescents' experiences in relation to mental health protective and risk factors, and how their speech reflects their future plans. This study examined factors that are related to well-being and mental health, which were adolescents' strengths, successes in school, experiences and atmosphere in upper comprehensive school, friendships, teacher-student relationships, and future plans. This study was conducted in collaboration with This life of mine -project. The study is qualitative and its data was collected from two schools in the Uusimaa region through free-form questionnaires (n=16) and thematic interviews (n=4) in 2019. Adolescents' in this study consisted of 8th and 9th grade students who have earlier participated in the This life of mine -workshops. Thematic design was used as the method of data analysis. The results indicated that there were many protective and risk factors of mental health in adolescents' experiences. Protective factors included the presence of friends at school, ability to name one's own strengths and successes, positive school experiences and the presence of an adult at school that adolescent can discuss with. Mental health risk factors included lack of friends at school, stress, negative school experiences, for example due to poor teacher-student relationship or too easy school assignments, and the inability to name one's own strengths and successes. It is a sign of wellbeing for adolescents' to plan their future, and most of the people in this study were able to name some of their future plans. Although 65 % of the adolescents' in this study had many protective factors in their lives, it should be noted that up to 20 % had multiple risk factors in their experiences, and 15 % had something in between. Also links between different themegroups emerged. For example, there was a clear connection between naming one's own strengths and experiences of success. Those who named their own strengths were also linked to positive and diverse plans for their future. Teacher-student relationships also had a connection with the positivity of the school experiences. Those adolescents' who did not have a close adult in school also had negative school experiences. As a conclusion there should be more strength-teaching in schools, and versatile feedback methods should be used in all school work. This would help adolescents' in the process of noticing and naming own strengths and successes at school, which would have a impact on the school experiences and well-being. Investing in teacher-student relationships also supports the well-being of students. In addition, the level of school assignments should be adjusted to the needs of each student so that the assignments would support the adolescents’ learning.

Most of the world’s population is either bilingual or multilingual. Schools also face multilingualism, and Finland has not escaped the challenges of multilingualism either. Various programs have been developed around the world for the teaching of multilingual students. Mathematics is one of the most important subjects in school, and success in it facilitates access to postgraduate studies, and contributes to employment placement. Language skills also affect the study of mathematics. The aim of this dissertation was to investigate the effects of different bilingual programs on the achievement and development of mathematics among students of different ages. Data were collected from scientific studies. The study included CLIL programs and various immersion programs. The studies were divided into three parts: cohort studies, interventions, and studies on cognition, language exchange costs, and the use of different methods in bilingual curricula. In this dissertation, the material has been compiled by means of a systematic literature review. The research material has been collected from various databases (Eric, EBSCO, PsycINFo, Springer). 31 previous international and 2 Finnish studies were selected as research material, which dealt with the use of different bilingual programs and their effects on mathematics competence. The research material was analysed based on data. The use of CLIL and immersion programs in almost all studies had a positive effect on students ’academic achievement in mathematics. The most positive results were obtained through interventions. The results contributed to confirming the contribution of the Cummins Threshold Hypothesis to the use of bilingual curricula, i.e., learning a second language requires reaching a certain minimum level of language before a learner can benefit from language use while also studying mathematics. Teaching through a foreign language seemed to support and promote students ’mathematical thinking and learning processes. Once thought processes have evolved, the use of a foreign language as a tool for learning appears to be an advantage in cognitive development.

Objectives. The goal of this thesis is to examine methods in which a teacher can prevent challenging behaviour of the students in the classroom and intervene in challenging behaviour in the classroom. Previous research has shown that it would be important for the teacher to try to keep a safe environment in the classroom and to create a warm relationship with the students. Teaching distinct models for interaction in the classroom has been proven to be effective. A goal was to find out how teachers understand and perceive challenging behavior in the classroom. Methods. The research for this thesis was done as a qualitative study based on interviews. The research material contained 8 interviews, with 4 subject teachers and 4 special education teachers. The interviews were made with Zoom, Skype or teams and the teachers who took part were found from different facebook groups that teachers use. The questions about different methods were analyzed through content analysis, and the questions about the teachers’ perceptions about challenging behaviour were analyzed by using discourse analysis. Results and conclusions. The teachers’ perceptions about challenging behavior varied a lot. Some of them brought up factors about the different students when others thought more about their own ways to support the behaviour. The answers were categorized into categories or discourses based on their answers. The results cannot be generalized since the nature of this study, but many different methods were mentioned. A warm relationship and respectful attitude from the teacher towards the students has been proven to be important in preventing challenging behaviour in the classroom.

Teachers play a key role in putting education system reforms into practice. An attempted change may remain superficial or not happen at all unless the teachers commit to it. Therefore, when looking at the implementation of a reform, it is useful to determine how it appears from the point of view of the teacher's work. Since 2011, Finnish primary schools have implemented a three-tier support system which is based on key principles such as the early identification of students' need for support and flexible support arrangements. Changes in support arrangements are reflected in schools, for example, as new forms of collaboration, support planning and monitoring. The public debate surrounding the change has been triggered, in particular, by the inclusion of students in need of support in mainstream classes, which has led to an increase in implementation of support measures in class and subject teachers' jobs. According to national surveys, the implementation of support seems to vary between localities and between occupational groups. The purpose of this study was to describe a city's teachers' work and community characteristics which make it difficult to implement the support as dictated by the regulations. The study used secondary data, which was originally collected as part of an electronic questionnaire given to the staff of the city's Education and Learning Department. The answers of teachers in grades 1-9 (N = 850) were analyzed by means of theory-driven computer-assisted content analysis. The results were structured and interpreted using theoretical models based on the theoretical frameworks of cultural historical activity theory and developmental work research. The results showed that barriers to the implementation of support experienced by the teachers were strongly linked to community characteristics. The structural factors and operating culture of the schools were not developed to a level that would allow the use and development of new working methods. Problems with scheduling appeared as disturbances of work. Lack of resources was seen as a factor that reduced the speed with which the implementation and planning of support could be done in all areas of the work community. Efforts were made to improve the implementation of support by improving the distribution of support and introducing new ways of working. Differences between the occupational groups were observed both in the problems of implementing the support and in the attempts to solve those problems.

Positive pedagogy relies on seeing the good in people and focusing on strengths. In addition to learning, the pedagogical trend aims to increase well-being and happiness. Character strength education, which is closely attached to positive pedagogy, supports everyone to grow into an incomparable person with their own unique set of character strengths. Previous research has shown that character strength education is widely associated with success in life in many different areas. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of character strength intervention based on See the good! -pedagogy developed by Finnish researchers Lotta Uusitalo and Kaisa Vuorinen. The study focused in particular on six character strengths, which were perseverance, self-regulation, perspective-taking ability, creativity, social intelligence, and teamwork skills. The study observed the possible change in students' understanding and development of the strengths during intervention. In addition, the study examined the importance of sex in possible changes produced by the character strength education. This longitudinal research was part of a larger project in Finland called #uuttakoulua. The research data was collected from students in basic education (n = 240) in two different parts with an electronic questionnaire. The study included both test group that received character strength education (n = 184) and a control group that participated in traditional education (n = 56). IBM SPSS Statistics 24 was used for data analyzes. The analysis methods were the analysis of variance of repeated measurements and the t-test of repeated measurements. The analyzes revealed that both the understanding of social intelligence and perseverance in the test group increased statistically significantly compared to the control group. There was no statistical significance in the development of strengths between the test and control groups. Despite this, self-regulation, perspective-taking ability and social intelligence improved regularly with the participants in test group. According to the analyzes, gender was not a determining factor in the study. The results suggest that the program has the potential to increase students' understanding of character strengths and develop related skills regardless of gender.

This article-based master’s thesis describes and examines the debate around the comprehensive school through the concept of inclusion. The material was obtained from the opinion pieces, published in the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat in 2009-2019. The dissertation was inspired by the international MAPS (Mixed classes And Pedagogical Solutions) project, which explores the opportunities of schools to meet the challenge of inclusion from a societal perspective. The cornerstone of the dissertation was the Salamanca Statement signed in 1994, in which Finland made a commitment to improve the educational inclusion. The aim was to find out, how inclusive school is constructed in opinion pieces, how the views of different groups of writers differed from each other, and how the core of the idea of inclusion – human rights and dignity – were reflected in the writings. An essential - and also timely - topic of discussion for the dissertation was the three-tier support model that came into force in 2011, which took the comprehensive school into more inclusive direction. In total, 94 opinion pieces was analysed in this study, to increase under-standing of how inclusion is defined in public discussion. Based on the opinion pieces, the inclusion was strongly linked to the relationship between the special and general education. The school was described as a place where the resources available, as well as the resilience and adequacy of teachers, do not meet the challenge of inclusion. In the end, relatively little attention was paid to the core of the idea of inclusion, human rights and dignity. The most challenging barrier for implementing the inclusive school was the behavioral problems. Based on the research data, inclusion was not opposed as an endeavour, but it seems that there are no possibilities to implement it due the lack of resources. This seems to cause a backlash, that turns many thoughts to the opposite, an exclusive direction. To secure everyone’s learning, new ways of discipline are needed. Research article “Savings and non-compliance with international agreements. Inclusion discussion of comprehensive school at the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper opinion column in 2009-2019” is to be published in the NMI-Bulletin magazine in autumn 2020.

The aim of this study was to provide visibility to everyday life challenges caused by the Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome. Through the experiences of the parents of children and adolescents with Tourettes, this research has aimed to examine what kinds of challenges Tourettes causes, how it is recognized within welfare and education, and what kinds of support are available. When compared to other neuropsychiatric disorders, very little re-search on Tourettes exists. Likewise, there is not much literature about Tourettes availa-ble in Finnish, so herein lies a need for a study such as this. Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome is a common neuropsychiatric disorder with onset in childhood, characterized by multiple motor tics, and at least one vocal (phonic) tic. A symptom called coprolalia, the utterance of obscene words, has made Tourettes, other-wise quite a rare syndrom, famous. Symptoms of Tourettes are usually divided into mo-tor and vocal tics. This research represents a new way to divide its symptoms and high-light its challenges, i.e. internal and external symptoms. The data was collected from Facebook peer-group volunteers by using Helsinki Universi-ty’s e-form. A qualitative study of a total of 23 participants' experiences of the challeng-es of children and adolescents with Tourettes emphasizes multiple symptoms and every-day life challenges. The results indicate that most challenges are caused by internal symptoms, like aggression and tantrums. The frequency of these should be pointed out in literature. Most challenging in schools was the lack of understanding with regards to the involuntary nature of tics, and the demand of authorized diagnoses before granting pupils support for their studies. The Finnish support system is not based on medicaliza-tion, so this aspect is in need of development, since a child who has Tourettes is chal-lenging not only for their parents’ relationship, but also for their own relationship with their siblings. Therefore, more support for the family should be provided.

The purpose of this study was to describe and produce novel information on the special needs of general upper secondary school support. The new Act on General Upper Secondary Education obligates general upper secondary schools to provide stronger support for learning, studying and well-being. Previous research has focused more on identifying special support needs of students in general upper secondary schools. The research has been also focusing on revising the Act on General Upper Secondary Education. On the other hand, students' own views on the subject have been relatively little described. In the previous research, support received by general upper secondary school students has shown to be uneven: for example, the size of a school or regional difference have influenced access to support. This study aims to describe the support students have received, their experienced need for support, and to present the factors contributing to learning, studying, and well-being at school as narrated by students. 29 students from three general upper secondary schools in the metropolitan area of Helsinki participated in the study. The research material consisted of focus group interviews and electronic questionnaire. The students participated in both. The analysis was made by qualitative content analysis, which enabled the students' own views and experiences to show. The students who participated in the study described their received and experienced support similarly. Also, the factors described in more general terms that promote learning, studying and well-being at school were similar to these. Support for learning and studying was described with concrete examples and wishes, which were often focused on a particular school personnel. Responses to school well-being, on the other hand, emphasized the whole school community more broadly, and the wishes for a better school well-being were not always directed for certain personnel. Common to all these research results was the need for time and presence of staff, the support allocated individually, and functional information about the support possibilities to promote learning, study and well-being at school. At the same time, the importance of one's own know-how to get support was highlighted. The results of this study were in line with previous studies.

Goals. The aim of this study was to examine the challenges autistic university students face when searching for a job, and the supporting structures that universities offer. Research on autistic graduates’ transition between university and employment is scarce. The numbers of autistic students are on the rise in higher education. It is important to evaluate the structures that universities have in place to support their transition into employment. The autism spectrum condition manifests differently with every individual but there are some common characteristics: challenges in social interaction and communication, as well as repetitive and/or restricted behaviour. These characteristics can present challenges during job application. Research shows that especially job application and the processes involving it can create barriers for autistic graduates. Methods. The data is collected as a part of the IMAGE Project. Participants were Finnish autistic university students or recent graduates (n=7) and career advisors (n=5). Data was collected through semi-structured interviews during spring 2019. The interviews were transcribed and then analysed using grounded theory. Results and conclusions. This study shows that many autistic students didn’t use career services even though they recognized needs for support in searching for a job. Three aspects affected students seeking support from career services: 1) need for support and recognising it, 2) meeting the need for support and 3) accessibility of support. Many of the support needs expressed by autistic students were met by services offered by universities, but problems with accessibility of career services created barriers which hindered students from using the services. There were structures in place that guided students into career services but often getting help demanded that students actively seek it. This demand for self-directness may form a barrier for many autistic students. Based on this study universities should create systematic structures that guide students into services as effortlessly as possible.