Browsing by Author "Eerolainen, Emma"

The basis of this research lays in the developing school life, where the number of students with a migratory background is rising. This also increases the number of students who need special education. There is not a great number of research done about adult students with a migratory background in special education, as previous research is mostly related to chil-dren and adolescents. The research task of this study is to describe, analyze, and interpret the experiences of special education teachers in teaching adults with a migratory back-ground. The research aim is to find out, how the teachers describe their work and aspects related to teaching, and how the various background factors of an adult with a migratory background affect teaching and learning. The research material is based on six interviews with special education teachers. All teach-ers work or have worked with adult students with migratory backgrounds. The interviews were held and recorded on Teams platform. The transcribed interview material was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The key result of the research is that there is not a specific way of teaching students with a migratory background, as the student body is very diverse. The teachers described their work in various ways. Language awareness and a clear structure in the lessons were seen to be important. The teachers emphasized the importance of knowing the students both in approaching the students and in identifying possible learning difficulties. Testing for learning difficulties was not seen very useful, whereas giving direct support to challenges was felt to be a more effective method. Teaching was also seen as a way of integration. The teachers felt that they learned their job mostly though their work itself, but they also wished for more training especially in language and trauma awareness. Different factors of the students’ background effects on teaching and learning were found. Adulthood emerged as a special feature, as an adult’s previous experiences in life strongly influence learning. In addition, cultural differences, importance of language skills, previous schooling background and the student’s perception on learning were seen to affect learning and teaching. Experienced traumas were also mentioned as a way that can weaken learning. The research clearly revealed a need to develop teacher training programs, so that they would better consider students with a migratory background. As the student body changes, so does the school world’s need for continuous education. The heterogeneity of adult stu-dents with a migratory background creates a unique challenge for teaching, as background factors have a great impact on learning.