Students in higher education with reading and writing difficulties

Peer reviewe

Erityisopetusta ilman avustajia? : Kehitysprosessi oppilailla, joilla on autismin kirjo

Many children may need the help of another person to attend school. It is common for children with disabilities to receive help from a teaching assistant at school. Assistants are provided in many countries as a legal right and are often publicly funded. It is also widely assumed that having teaching assistants in the class is an effective and cost-efficient way to support students with disabilities. In this study, the research task was to monitor and document the development process carried out by the teacher, with the aim of making visible the development of a more dynamic classroom interaction. The focus in this development process was the teacher’s idea of minimizing the contacts between students and assistants to increase students’ opportunities to optimize interaction and learning. This was to happen by strengthening commitment to their activities and taking responsibility. The data include video excerpts, which originate from video recordings from a special education class, and transcripts of three stimulated recall-type interviews with the teacher of this class. In this article, the experimental development process is described as presenting an unorthodox approach to teaching assistants and their position in special education.Peer reviewe

Learning about Students’ Receiving Special Educational Support Experiences of Qualification, Socialization and Subjectification in Finnish Vocational Education and Training: A Narrative Approach

This paper airs the experiences of eighteen students with special educational needs completing their studies at a Finnish vocational institution, which has a mandate to provide intensive special support for the students. It contributes to the national and international discussion of education’s purposes and elaborates on students’ descriptions. The study frames a research question: To what extent are Biesta’s domains of good education—qualification, socialization, and subjectification—audible in the narratives of Finland’s VET special educational needs students? The paper adopts a narrative approach and uses narrative positioning analysis as a methodical tool to drill down into the themes produced in deductive content analysis. According to our analysis, subjectification and socialization were the most important domains of VET. The qualification domain of education did not appear as professional self-confidence in students’ narratives, but it served as subjectification and socialization. VET must be an inclusive process that provides all students with the opportunity to become balanced and civilized citizens and assist them in entering the world. To this end, instead of emphasizing measurable outcomes such as qualifications and employment rates, more attention should be paid on the social and subjective domains of VET

Why study online in upper secondary school? Qualitative analysis of online learning experiences

Peer reviewe

Ekumeenisuus jumalanpalveluksien ja hartauksien ordoissa

Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan, minkälaisia käytäntöjä on Suomen evankelis-luterilaisen kirkon ekumeenisessa jumalanpalveluselämässä ja minkälaisia elementtejä suomalaiseen luterilaiseen jumalanpalvelukseen otetaan muiden kirkkojen traditioista. Tutkimuksen aineistona on 14 jumalanpalveluksen ja neljän hartauden ordot. Ordolla tarkoitetaan tässä tutkimuksessa jumalanpalvelusten kaavoja, joihin on kirjattu kaikki jumalanpalveluksen toteuttamiseen liittyvät yksityiskohdat, tekstit, henkilöt, paikat ja muut toteuttamiseen liittyvät ohjeet. Aineiston jumalanpalvelukset ja hartaudet on toteutettu Helsingin ja Espoon hiippakuntien seurakunnissa 2010–luvulla. Aineistossa on sekä useamman tunnustuskunnan edustajien toteuttamia ekumeenisia jumalanpalveluksia tai hartauksia että luterilaisia jumalanpalveluksia tai hartauksia, joissa on lainattu toisen tunnustuskunnan liturgisia tekstejä. Aineisto analysoitiin neljässä eri vaiheessa. Ensin aineisto ryhmiteltiin siten, että voitiin verrata tilaisuuksien ordoja toisiinsa. Ordojen rakenteelliset ratkaisut selvitettiin. Tämän jälkeen aineistosta eroteltiin ne liturgiset tekstit, jotka eivät olleet luterilaisen jumalanpalvelusten kirjan tekstejä. Tekstien taustat selvitettiin. Tekstit pelkistettiin ja analysoitiin systemaattista analyysiä hyödyntäen. Viimeisessä vaiheessa tekstien sisällöt ryhmiteltiin teologisiin kokonaisuuksiin. Hermeneuttisen analyysin avulla pystyttiin löytämään ordojen tekstien merkityssisältöjä ja teologisia painotuksia. Tutkimus osoittaa, että ekumeenisuus ilmenee Suomen evankelis-luterilaisen kirkon jumalanpalveluselämässä kahdella eri tavalla. Instituutioiden välinen ekumeenisuus on kohteliasta ja vieraanvaraista, mutta noudattaa yleensä varsin tiukasti isäntäkirkkokunnan kirkkokäsikirjaa. Ruohonjuuritasolla liturgisten tekstien ekumeenisuus on instituutiotasoa rikkaampaa. Luterilaisen kirkon piirissä onkin syntynyt uusi, liturgisten erityismessujen traditio, jossa erityisyys syntyy liturgisista teksteistä. Muista traditioista lainatuissa liturgisissa teksteissä nousevat esiin uskonnolliseen kieleen, hiljaisuuteen ja yhteisöllisyyteen liittyvät elementit. Näiden lisäksi lainatuissa teksteissä korostuvat ihmiskuvaan, syntikäsitykseen, jumalakuvaan ja kristilliseen elämään liittyvät teologiset painotukset. Lainatut tekstit pyrkivät välttämään perinteistä uskonnollista kieltä, pyrkimys kontekstuaalisuuteen on vahva. Ihminen tulee Jumalan eteen sellaisena kuin on, etsien hyväksyntää ja nähdyksi tulemista. Jumalanpalveluksen ja erityisesti ehtoollisen tarkoituksena on antaa kristitylle voimaa ja rohkeutta elää kristittynä

From the shade into the sun: exploring pride and shame in students with special needs in Finnish VET

Peer reviewe

Contradictions as Drivers for Improving Inclusion in Teaching Pupils with Special Educational Needs

Peer reviewe

Opiskelijoiden ja opettajien välinen vuorovaikutus ammatillisessa koulutuksessa. : Turvaväli tarvitaan

Interaction between students and teachers is fundamental and has therefore been widely studied in education. However, there have been few studies on intensive special support being provided to vocational education and training (VET) students. Firstly, the focus of this article is on students’ perceptions of interactions with their class teachers. Students (aged 17–34 years) from four Finnish vocational institutions providing intensive special support were interviewed. According to the findings, the demands students placed on their class teachers and for interactions with them were modest and their perceptions of both were favourable. Interactions seemed to be study-orientated and class teachers behaved as active initiators, with students echoing their opinions. Students’ narratives excluded future career plans, talking about students’ strengths or future ambitions or dreams. Secondly, the aim of this study is to review Finnish VET critically. In the reformed VET system, competence-based orientation emphasises individual guidance and support. Therefore, as the dialogue between teacher and student seems to enable successful trajectories, it is essential to make this apparent. Part of education’s larger purpose is to make room for students’ voices and interpretations during their study, which includes both acquiring qualifications to undertake certain work, and subjectification as an empowering element and socialisation of the social, cultural and political order.Peer reviewe

Collaboration for Inclusive Practices : Teaching Staff Perspectives from Finland

accepted in publicationCollaboration between educators is considered to be the key issue when implementing inclusive practices within schools. An open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to extend the current understanding of collaboration between teaching staff. The questionnaire was administrated to 167 classroom teachers, subject teachers, special education teachers and teaching assistants in primary, secondary and special education public schools in Finland. Also, semi-structured interviews with 20 participants were used to deepen the understanding of the elements included in the teaching activity in diverse classrooms. The results indicate coordination, cooperation, and reflective communication as modes of collaborative action in the participants' teaching. By combining the perspectives of the activity theory framework and modes of collaboration, the results illuminate how educators often wished to have collaboration but usually played their traditional positions in the multilayered teaching activity. The implications for preparing educators to enhance reflective collaboration for more effective inclusive practices are discussed.Peer reviewe