Browsing by Author "Uzun, Leyla"

The focus of this research is to study the experiences that special class teachers have with students with immigrant backgrounds. The number of students with immigrant backgrounds has increased tremendously over the past few years. The statistics indicate that students that speak foreign languages end up getting special support more often than the students that are native speakers. This is especially significant, as the students with immigrant backgrounds that need special support represent a double minority, in which case their risk of exclusion is higher than in the case of the native Finns. The aim of this study is to find out what factors lie behind a student with immigrant background resulting in studying in the special class or in the flexible basic education, what is the support like and how the teachers feel in regards to its effectiveness. The goal is to also to evaluate how the teachers experience their own culture-sensitive evaluation- and behavioral patterns. The material for the research was collected by theme interviewing five special class teachers that work in the metropolitan area and the content was analyzed using content analysis. The results indicate that the reasons for studying in the special- or basic flexible education class didn’t lie only in language but that there were always other problems involved, such as problems regarding learning. The research also strengthened the idea that the students with immigrant backgrounds need special positive treatment, which for instance means differentiation and individual targeting of support. Studying in small groups was experienced as a good resource and it enabled the option of individual support. Also, the motivation of an individual student played a significant role in terms of the success of the support. Studying in special- or in the flexible basic education class might limit the student’s possibilities in second-degree postgraduate studies, as the students that study in special or JOPO-class usually continue attending a vocational school after primary school. The teacher’s experiences in their own multicultural skills varied and those teachers that felt that their skills and knowledge we good, saw that their skills came from their own personal lives rather than from their training.