Special needs Education in Finland

How is the vocational special needs education fulfilled in the Finnish educational system?

There is a differentiation in special needs education between general support, intensified support and special support in the Finnish school system. Education is seen as a lifelong journey and special education is given to most students in the Finnishs system. “Early intervention and sustained individual support for every student are keys to educating the whole child in Finnish schools”, says Pasi Sahlberg (CIMO) in this interview produced by Edutopia. 

Special support is offered to students who cannot reach their growth, development or learning objectives through other support measures. Students in need of special support may apply to ordinary vocational institutions and get integrated support or to educational institutions with special education specialization with other students with special needs. Student counsellors in basic education and vocational education and training, aim to find a suitable place for each student according to the student’s wishes.

With this range of support functions, all students can continue their studies in vocational schools. According to Statistics Finland Intensified support was received by 3.3 per cent and special support by 8.1 per cent of comprehensive school pupils in autumn 2011

How is the special needs education carried out specifically in the field of vocational education? 
An individual education plan (IEP) is drawn up for each student receiving special education and training in vocational or special vocational schools. Cooperation with the previous school and previous special needs teacher/s is essential for making a workable plan. The IEP includes personal goals and requirements for reaching a competence based qualification and the needed support for the student to reach the qualification. The vocational schools are required to organize special education and training, every student has a right to education. 

There are many special needs students in Finnish vocational schools since getting a job and being part of a working community is very important to all of us. According to Statistics Finland  the share of special education students was 6.9% among all students and 13.8% among young students attending vocational education in year 2010. 

The majority, 77% were integrated to groups in vocational schools. Thirteen per cent attended special vocational education institutions and 10 per cent studied in special groups of other institutions providing vocational education. Nearly one-half of the special vocational education students studied in the field of technology and transport.


Which Finnish legislation governs special education?
According to the Constitution of Finland, everyone is equal before the law. No one may, without a valid reason, be treated differently from other people on grounds of sex, age, origin, health, disability or any other reason that concerns her/his person. by economic hardship.

According to the Basic Education Act (628/1998), “all education must comply with national core curriculum. Instruction is to be organized to meet the age level and abilities of pupils so as to promote pupils’ healthy growth and development.” Some provisions were made to the Basic Education Act in 2011 with focus on early intervention and providing general and intensified support as first means of special education. 

The Government and the Ministry of Education and Culture implement these principles at the central government level. In matters related to pre-primary, comprehensive and upper secondary schools, vocational institutions and adult education, the ministry is assisted by Finnish National Board of Education. A central development document in the educational sector is the Development Plan for Education and Research, which the Government approves every four years for the year of its approval and for the following five calendar years. 

The local governments are in charge of implementing education in accordance with the applicable laws and the national core curriculum. The local governments have to make sure that there are sufficient funding and resources for fulfilling its tasks. 

How are special needs students present in the present system in comparison to previous years?
The main idea is that special needs education is integrated into general education as much and often as possible. The division into general support, intensified support in addition to special support was implemented in 2011. Early intervention and possibility for any student to get general support any day at school has made special education accessible for all students without separate bureaucracy. This is a clear improvement from previous support functions. 

Since the 1970s, integration of special needs students into general education has been the praxis but with insufficient resources, it often didn’t work out so well. I remember from my first years in school in the 1980s that we had two students with special needs that were moved to a special class in 3rd grade. There were not enough resources to support their needs. I remember that they were bullied during the breaks. During that time, special ed was an earmark and carried out outside normal class. However, once you were “freed” from special education, you were quickly seemed as normal again. 

Nowadays, co-operation with a team of experts is continuously following up situations that occur and that might need some sort of intervention. I think this is working well in comprehensive schools. My gut feelings says though, that vocational education is a grey zone and not sufficient in vocational education. Students with learning disabilities go to vocational school since special education is not provided in high school. This means that there should be more special education teachers there than in comprehensive schools. My dear Statistics of Finland tells me that school year 2010-2011 9.1% of young people dropped out of vocational education. That is nearly one out of ten students. In my opinion, the lack of special education is one reason. 

Thanks to your assignment, I found the special education plan for my local vocational school. I know from working life that they have a lot of problems with motivation, cutting classes and getting tests approved in e.g. dwelling. Since one of my professional interests lies in student counseling, understanding the big picture is essential. 

I also want to thank you for making a smart concept by keeping all material in one prezi. My contribution is a mix of reflecting and digging into the theme since I only had time to do this assignment after the deadline. My apologies for that!  

Sustainable development Program

Sustainable Development Program at Work

1. The main points of my workplace's sustainable development program
My work place aims to be sustainable in its internal and external operations.
Firstly, it supports sustainable growth by providing financing to projects that are environmentally sustainable. All projects are scrutinized from a environmental and social point of view. Secondly, corporate governance is of high priority, promoting transparency, predictability, accountability, responsibility and disclosure of financed projects. Thirdly, the work place is part of the WWF green office network.

2. How does it affect employees' day to day life or does it

The external operational elements have a daily effect since part of the work is to prepare transactions for decision-making that are sustainable. The policies give you the tools and and frameworks and it is easy to follow the guidelines.. The internal sustainability woudl have to do with use of .e.g electricity, recycling, travel etc. There the individual's choices make the difference. 

   

3. What are the challenges in sustainable development in my field of work?
The challenges would be to keep up with current best practices in many sectors. Luckily there are environmental analysts doing the analysis but all employees need to be aware of the developments in order to be able to finance the best projects. I think offices always can do more, but in comparison to many other work places I've seen, I think my  work-place is doing very well.

4. How could I teach the principles of sustainable development in my own subject?
I'm teaching young adults right now in business skills in a European context. I have included corporate social responsibility (CSR) as one core area in the course. For a corporation to survive, it needs to be competitive, but it also needs to take responsibility in its actions. I like to reflect responsible business operations against e.g. the ISO 26000 (acceptable labour conditions, fair operational practices, environmental considerations etc). It takes much more time to fully understand what CSR is about. We only touched the surface in the course and in the future I will have a more profound angle and slower pace.   

Global and cultural competence - task 1 and 2c

In the process of lifelong learning, global and cultural competence has gotten a more profound meaning for me during my teacher practice. I have been aware of global and cultural competence before, but the application and the difficulty to sometimes see another perspective has been challenging. In my teacher practice, and now digging into global and cultural competence groups material, has given me some hints and direction forward. Thank you for that!

Here are my contributions for iVET.

 

Task 1. 

You are the teacher for an introductory finnish language course that help newly arrived foreigners to learn survival skills. How will you prepare yourself for a group of students from different cultures. Among the students one of them cannot speak any language other than her own mother tongue which is arabic. What will you do to help her to learn Finnish?

I would find out from what countries the students come from and read a bit about their cultures. I found the Iceberg concept of Culture (Weaver) interesting and would use that in my own reflections and search for knowledge and understanding. 

As to survival skills, I would write down a course outline including survival skills that I would find necessary for surviving in Finland. After writing my outline, I would reflect against the students nationalities, and add some particular skills that the participants do not necessarily know from before based on their backgrounds. This could include based on e.g. gender. 

I would put emphasis on trying to make the learning environment relaxed and comfortable for all students and try to help them build friendships, since they are all in a new situation. 

I have studied Arabic for 6 months, and my arabic is basically non-existent. But that would help me in understanding the situation of the student. Using expressions would be essential and giving feedback and trying to give confidence to all students in using Finnish would be of my highest priority. 

2. As a part of your training in global competency, you are asked by your school authorities to travel to three different countries, Thailand, Cambodia and Pakistan. You have to spend two months each in these countries.

c. In Pakistan you will be working in a school with a group of students who aspire to pursue studies in states or similar countries in the west. How will you plan your course to help them acclimate into the new culture?

I will learn about the way of studying & cultural dimensions  in Pakistan prior to leaving. I would also visit  a local school in my country prior to leaving and interview a few students and teachers about learning in Finland and life in Finland.

In Pakistan, I would teach a course that would be based in a subject (e.g. European Union). For the course planning I would use the Cultural Dimension of Learning Framework that was not familiar to me from before. I would teach the subject in a mixed Finnish vs. Pakistani way (Finnish being more equal, individualistic, nurturing, more uncertainty acceptance etc) and make the students aware that learning is in some ways different in the west. I would put emphasis on some differences and encourage students to go outside their comfort zone in course assignments and in class tasks. I would raise their intercultural awareness, and encourage them to see their own cultural background as a strength.

Working community

Task 3: A mini reflective paper on the takeaways of this study module.

How do you interact with your working community?
I am a quite active communicator in my working community. I am not afraid to talk to people and i befriend people easily. Since I am very new in the schools working community, it is difficult to know the borders. I do not want to push my ideas or experiences, but at the same time I want to share e.g. my experience from a class with someone with more experience. Since I have managed to get to know many teachers already, they give me the space. I am a sensitive communicator, but sometimes I give my opinions to strongly. I communicate face to face, but some e-mailing is also done. I haven't called anybody yet.

What could you do differently to enhance the spirits of your working place?
I think I am a positive spirit in my working community. I have been outside a working community for a couple of years, therefor I am very happy to be part of one.

Is there someone in your working community who brings positive energy to you; why is that?
There are many people who brings me good energy. I share a room with 3 other staff members and we have very fun and interesting discussions. Laughing definitely gives an extra energy kick when trying to concentrate. I think the reason for the positive energy is that we give each other space to discuss our own interests and listen to each other. We have all a good social competence.

Reflect on the quality of the interaction in the light of where and why is the interaction fruitful to you to lift up your working spirit.
 I don't take part in any formal meetings, my meetings are more one-on-one and informal coffee table discussions. I have started to put extra emphasis on focusing on the subject and respecting other peoples time. Interaction that brings new ideas or encourages a particular way of working or communicating lifts my spirit. Also mutual respect of everybody in the work place is important to me. I emphasize on that when I interact with people.