Browsing by Author "Chibani, Erika"

Preparatory education for upper secondary qualification (TUVA) has been offered since 2022 as a transition phase education for people of compulsory school age and others who need preparatory education. TUVA program has also been one of the changes in vocational prison education. There is scarcity of studies on prison education and new preparatory education and training (TUVA). The purpose of this study was to generate new information and understanding about preparatory education (TUVA) in prison education. Differentiation was understood as a comprehensive basis of teaching, which considers the individual and diverse needs of students. The research analyzes, interprets and describes the perceptions of TUVA teachers working in prison education about the individual needs of prisoners and the experiences of differentiation. The research explains which means of differentiation teachers use, how differentiation is justified and what challenges arise in differentiation in the prison education of preparatory education.  The data of the qualitative study was collected through a semi-structured theme interview from seven TUVA teachers working in vocational prison education, two of whom worked as teachers in the work-based TUVA. The research material was analyzed with a qualitative content analysis and a theory-guided content analysis. The views and experiences of TUVA teachers were examined using Roiha and Polso's Five O-model. The needs of those studying in the prison's TUVA were seen as diverse, and the teachers justified their differentiation especially with the needs related to the students' school history, school motivation and life changes. All the dimensions of Roiha and Polso's Five O's differentiation model emerged in the data. The teachers felt that the differentiation of the psychosocial environment was the most important and considered the students' individual needs by supporting their self-efficacy with differentiation. Differentiation was implemented reactively as soon as the need for support appeared, and proactively as a planned part of the TUVA. The challenges of differentiation were the social challenges between the prisoners, the hectic everyday life of the prison, the absence of a work partner and the limited availability of ready-made differentiation material. Based on the results of the study, TUVA teachers consider the individual needs of those studying in prison based on their strengths and implement differentiation comprehensively.