Browsing by study line "Specialpedagogik"

According to research, teachers starting their careers face many challenges in the school world, one of which is the challenging behaviour of students. Previous studies have also shown that, in order to survive the first years of work, teachers need the support of others. The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of special education teachers at the beginning of their careers relating to working with students with challenging behaviour. The study examines how special education teachers build their competence when dealing with students who behave in a challenging manner. The study also examines what kind of support special education teachers at the beginning of their careers need when working with students with challenging behaviour. The research data was obtained by interviewing five special education teachers at the beginning of their working career. They had a maximum of three years of work experience, and all of them had graduated with a master's degree in special education. The interviews were conducted as semi-structured interviews and the collected data was analysed using data-based content analysis. The results of the study show that the special education teachers felt insecure about their own competence when working with students who behave in a challenging manner, especially as newly graduated teachers at the very beginning of their career. Through work experience they felt that their competence had developed. The special education teachers starting their careers built up their competence in working with students with challenging behaviour with the help of work experience, work community, education, model learning, self-reflection and knowing their students. They needed support especially in dealing with violence, intervening in bullying, dealing with students' psychological symptoms, cooperating with different parties, limiting the amount of work and building self-confidence. Support was required from work communities, mentor teachers, university studies, the schools’ operating cultures and further education. The most important conclusion is that teacher training should be developed in such a way that it would give more competence in dealing with the challenging behaviour of students. The support of the working community should already be present in the structures of every school and working community, so that it is available to all special education teachers from the beginning of their working career.

Bullying and conflicts between peers have been a topic of discussion and research for years. Although a lot of attention is paid to bullying in particular in our society, and measures to prevent it are constantly being developed, it still occurs in many schools. Research has shown that bullying is a multi-faceted phenomenon that is influenced by a variety of risk factors at the individual, class and school levels. It’s important to address conflicts and bullying immediately and by adequate means. Sometimes, however the situations escalate and especially then they can threaten both the well-being of the individuals involved as well as the school community. Aseman Lapset provides support for schools in resolving challenging and prolonged bullying and conflict cases in the form of K-0 project. The purpose of this study is to examine bullying and conflicts in the school context from the viewpoint of K-0 employees and to find out what kind of factors may influence the prolongation of these cases. This study was conducted as a qualitative study with phenomenological-hermeneutic features. Thematic interviews were used to collect the data. The interviews were conducted in the autumn of 2021, and a total of nine (N=9) K-0 employees participated in three group interviews. The data was transcribed and then analyzed using data-driven content analysis. The themes that were described by the interviewees in this study were related to school culture, students and their families, and more broadly to society in general. These included school climate and anti-bullying/conflict practices, peer relationships, individual needs of the students, strong emotional responses of the parents involved, and the availability of community support services. Especially school culture and its different aspects were emphasized in the interviews.

Objectives. The goal of this thesis was to examine the assumptions of an inclusion that personnel in early childhood education have. The theoretical context of this study is the ecosystem model of inclusive early childhood education. Model is developed based on Urie Bronfenbrenner´s ecological systems theory. In the ecosystem model is described macro-, meso-, ecso- and microsystem factors that has to be considered when early chilhood ecucation is developed as more inclusive. Concepts are also explained. Methods. The material of this thesis was collected in research that clarified the state of special support in early childhood education. In this thesis was analysed one question´s answers of that research. Answers was given 572. From these answers was chosen five personnel groups whose answers was received more than 15. From these groups (early childhood special education teacher, early chilhood education teacher, childminder, nursery nurse and day care center manager) was chosen 15 answers each, based on discretionary sample. The answers that were chosen told about inclusion from works point of view. The answers were analysed and categorized in themes. Fenomenografi and dialogical theme-making was used as methods. Results and conclusions. Seven themes were made from the answers: the pedagogical solutions and tools that support inclusion, inclusion as a value, associates who support inclusive early childhood education, inclusion as a child´s right, inclusion as a child’s place, the challenges that inclusion has and enough education and know-how for inclusion. Themes were divided in between personnel groups. Inclusion as a value and inclusion as a child´s right were mentioned in every groups answers. The pedagogical solutions and tools that support inclusion was mentioned mostly by early childhood education teachers and early childhood special education teachers. Inclusion as a child´s place was mostly mentioned by early childhood special education teacher and day care center managers. Inclusion´s challenges were mentioned mostly by nursery nurses and day care center managers. Enough education and know-how for inclusion was mentioned by day care center managers, early childhood education teachers and nursery nurses. Associates who support inclusive early childhood education was written by early childhood special education teachers and early childhood education teachers.

The objective of the thesis is to find out what kind of factors can be observed in the background of psychological stress of students studying in hospital school and which methods are used to regulate the psychological stress. The mental health challenges of children and youth and mental symptoms have been a social topic for a fairly long time. Effects can be seen both in individual´s free time and in everyday school life. The topic of the thesis is important, because successful schooling makes it possible for the student to learn and grow and provides the good basis for success in the future. The thesis was carried out using qualitative research. The material of the thesis consists of interviews with five teachers which were carried out using a semi-structured thematic interview. The research method is data-driven content analysis. In the hospital school pedagogy, the students' psychological stress showed symptoms both internally and externally. The research results show that teachers identify both internal characteristics and environmental factors behind the students' psychological stress. Among the students' internal characteristics that caused psychological stress, neuropsychiatric challenges, special sensitivity, weak stress and pressure tolerance, challenges in self-regulation and low resilience were identified. Among the environmental factors that caused psychological stress, the demands set by adults, school, modern society, social factors, corona pandemic, home and institutional conditions, and social media were identified. The research results show that the manifestation of psychological stress and the regulation of psychological stress are strongly linked to each other. A certain type of psychological stress symptomatology leads to the use of certain methods of support. One of the main observations of the thesis is that the methods of support can be divided into two types of activities: activities in which the activity and interaction between adults is at the center of the support and activities in which the activity and interaction between the adult and the student is at the center of the support. Regardless of the method of support, the objective is the same in all of them: individually meeting the student, calculating the psychological stress, rehabilitating and, in the context of hospital school pedagogy, returning the children and youth back to the standard basic education.

The starting point of this master’s thesis is the Act on General Upper Secondary Education, which entered into force in 2019, and the subsequent general upper secondary school reform, which obligates general upper secondary schools to provide special needs education and learning support for their students. The purpose of this thesis is to understand the job description of general upper secondary school part-time special needs teachers, as described by the special needs teachers themselves. In addition, the purpose of this thesis is to understand what kind of support students in general upper secondary school need. The aim of this thesis is to make the job description of general upper secondary school special needs teachers clearer and more approachable. Also, the goal is to make the support needs of general upper secondary school students understandable. Only little research has yet been carried out on these themes. This thesis was qualitative, and the thematic interviews formed the material of the thesis. The data was analysed through data-driven content analysis. Seven general upper secondary school special needs teachers participated in the interview. The results of the thesis conclude that the job description of the general upper secondary school special needs teachers is divided into three categories, each of which have various subcategories. In the job description, the following three categories stood out: identifying support needs, support for studying, and co-operation. Out of the job description, the most amount of the time was spent identifying reading difficulties and writing statements following the identification. Support for studying appeared in the job description as both support for learning and support for general well-being. The job description also essentially included co-operation between different actors. Students needed support in studying relating to both learning and well-being. Students especially needed support in time management and with problems concerning concentration as well as being able to identify and deal with learning difficulties. Students also needed widespread support in maintaining well-being, of which anxiety and depression were especially highlight

With the amendment to the Act on Upper Secondary Education that came into force in 2019, students have the right to receive special needs education in upper secondary school, which is why the need for upper secondary school special education teachers will increase in the future. In the last decade, there have been only little research on special education in upper secondary schools in Finland. The purpose of this study was to find out the work assignment of upper secondary school special education teachers and the challenges they experienced in carrying out their work. The aim of the study is to look at high school special education from the perspective of high school special education teachers and to create an overall picture of what kind of tasks the job description of a high school special education teacher consists of and what kind of challenges they face in their work. This is a qualitative study, where was interviewed six high school special education teachers who worked in three different municipalities. The research material was collected through semi-structured thematic interviews, which were analyzed using content analysis. Based on the results of the study, the job description of special education teachers consisted of three broad areas, which were collaboration, student support, and written work. In the job description of a high school special education teacher, the most employment-related tasks emphasized issues related to supporting reading difficulties, making reading statements and writing learning support plans. The most challenging things for high school special education teachers were the lack of resources and time in their work, as well as the ambiguity of their own job description. According to special education teachers, these results show that current resources are not sufficient to provide ongoing and adequate support in upper secondary school. In order to organize special education in upper secondary school, clearer frameworks would also be needed to make the provision of support more uniform and equal in every upper secondary school throughout Finland.

Immigrant mothers are at greater risk, compared to other immigrants, of being excluded from the integrative structures of the employment market and education. Immigrant mothers integrate into society by learning a second language. In this thesis, the subject of interest is the language learning of immigrant mothers in the integration training implemented, partly with their own children’s classroom, in the Parents to school! and the Our turn, Mothers! -projects. Based on previous studies, it is known that immigrant adults’ second language learning is affected by length of stay, background continent, mother tongue, educational background, age, and the amount of use of the new language. The aim is to study how these above-mentioned background variables and the number of children affected the initial Finnish language skills of immigrant mothers in terms of reading comprehension, writing, and speaking. In addition, it is examined how language proficiency developed in the project and whether the initial level of the language skills sub-areas was related to the final language skill level. The data was collected from immigrant mothers who did not speak Finnish well and who participated in the Parents to school! and Our turn, Mothers! -projects in the academic years 2017–2020 (N = 33). The data consisted of group A (n = 16) initial language tests and data collected with the background form, as well as group B (n = 17) initial and final language tests. Group A data was analyzed by examining the correlations between initial language proficiency and background variables. Group B data was analyzed by examining the development of language proficiency in Common European Framework for Languages (CEFR) and by examining the correlations between language skills sub-areas in the baseline level and the final level of language skills. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26. Results revealed that the Finnish language proficiency of immigrant mothers had already developed before the start of official integration training, and the development had been influenced by the length of stay and the active use of the Finnish language. In the integration training, language skills developed on average of half CEFR language proficiency level and language skills developed most among those, who scored lowest in the initial test. From language skills sub-areas, the development of language was best predicted by the initial test of speaking. The results of this thesis were in line with previous studies. The results show that integration training with children has developed the Finnish language proficiency of immigrant mothers and that the project has reached a target group that has been outside of the usual integration training.

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.

The purpose of this study is to explore how the educational arrangements of foster children are executed according to different professionals working in the school context. The aim was also to discover whether there are differences in the views of different professionals. The foster children may regard additional support in learning, well-being and participation in education. Multiprofessional collaboration that is well executed is one way of supporting the special needs. (Saariluoma, Eriksson & Korhonen 2021; Olsson ym., 2023.) To implement multiprofessional collaboration, a shared interpretation of the situation is needed (Isoherranen, 2012). Research material consisted of data drawn from surveys of three different groups of professionals working with foster children in education: the school administration and management, teaching and educational work and student welfare (N = 40). The professionals assessed how the educational arrangements of foster children are executed. The survey was conducted by VIP-verkosto in spring 2022. VIP-verkosto is a network of professionals aiming to better support students with additional needs that has a subsection representing children placed in care. The analyse was conducted using quantitative methods. The results show that according to professionals working with children placed in care, the educational arrangements were executed with varying degrees of success. The three groups of professionals seemed to share a view of how the educational arrangements are implemented and the differences were more visible inside the groups rather than between them. However, small differences can be distinguished. There was more variation in responses of student welfare professionals and in this group they were more likely to report that the educational ar-rangements are not well executed. The group of school administration and management had the most positive view of how the educational arrangements are implemented whereas the responses of teaching and educational work professionals appeared to be more neutral. The results cannot be generalized due to the small sample size and the differences in the sizes of the groups examined. However, the somewhat shared interpretation of the situation between the groups of professionals may indicate that conditions for multiprofessional collaboration are, from this point of view, good. According to previous research, together with this study, further research is needed to better understand and to develop the multiprofessional collaboration in education when working with children placed in care.

The thesis should highlight the instrument teachers' experiences of work as teachers of the Tempo Sistema children's orchestra from a social point of view. The purpose of Tempo orchestras is to enhance the interaction of children and young people of various backgrounds in the orchestra through joint music and to reach out to music hobby especially children living in more socioeconomically challenging conditions. The activity is inspired by the El Sistema music education activity aimed for social change. Tempo orchestras include children who have needs of pedagogical support or behavioral challenges. In this thesis, I will examine how the social starting points and goals of the activity are manifested in everyday teaching and how teaching in Tempo Orchestra differs from so-called traditional instrument teaching. The second research question concerns the professional skills experienced by instrument teachers for teaching students with need of pedagogical support and with regard on demands of Tempo teaching. The theory of the research is based on social pedagogy and the basic principles of El Sistema action. The thesis is a case study guided by the researcher's reflective approach and the researcher's personal experience as a Tempo teacher. The data collection was carried out as separate focus group interviews of three different Tempo teaching teams. The material was analyzed by using qualitative content analysis and thematization. The results emphasized educational teaching that strives to meet students individually. The challenges in Tempo teaching were related to students' different pacing and social goals of participation, as well as restless control, primarily in the orchestra rehearsals of a larger group of students. A kind of special pedagogy was considered to be a natural part of the Tempo work, but the teachers still strive the capabilities for teaching students who need support. The results showed a picture of Tempo teaching as a multidimensional social-pedagogical work, where the picture shows a balancing act with the traditions of social and instrumental pedagogy. Adding special educational expertise to the field of social pedagogical work can support children and young people who need support more strongly to achieve growth and development.