Each student deserves to be seen and heard, thrive and grow up from one’s own strengths. This presentation presents the main results of the dissertation by Ryökkynen (2022) which aim is to give a voice to vocational students with special educational needs and gain a deeper understanding of the elements of support that they perceive as the most relevant.

The overarching research questions of the thesis are: RQ1) Of vocational students receiving intensive special learning support, which elements do they perceive as enhancing their studying? RQ2) Of vocational students receiving intensive special learning support, which elements do they perceive as enhancing their sense of belonging? RQ3) What are the students’ perceptions of what constitutes the elements of good VET?

The study participants (N=29) are students who have serious learning difficulties, disabilities, or serious health problems. These students represent the minority of vocational students (two per cent) in Finland.

 Currently, the explicit aim of VET in Finland and the rest of Europe generally seems to be to provide skills, competence and knowledge needed in work but at the same time ‘to include the socially disadvantaged as well as high potentials (e.g. migrants, refugees, low-skilled and unemployed, inactive groups, including women), so as to enable them to stay and/or (re-)enter the labour market and to move freely and in a self-determined manner through their educational and professional careers’ (Advisory Committee on Vocational Training, 2018; Council of European Union, 2020). However, people with special needs are in a different social and educational position from the rest of the population though the main objective of international and national policies has been to improve their position (Kauppila et al., 2020; UNESCO, 2020). These measures have systematically focused on education and based on the view that improving educational opportunities will make disabled people more independent and employable (Cavanagh et al., 2019; Kauppila et al., 2018). Even so, the employment rate and social participation of disabled people are still low (OECD, 2010; Sjöblom, 2016). The reality is mixed: Although every person has the right to equal treatment and opportunities at work, regardless of any attributes other than the ability to do the job, people with special needs or partial work ability are in the most vulnerable position in the labour market (International Labour Organisation, 2022; Mäkinen, 2021).

The dissertation's theoretical framework is Axel Honneth’s (1995) theory of recognition, which suggests that an individual’s identity is established in social relations when one’s abilities and achievements are recognized. Recognition is not merely a phenomenon that has psychological, social and political importance but it is also an ontologically important phenomenon in that it is part of what constitutes human persons and their social and institutional world. According to Honneth (1995), the prime mover for us as human beings is our need for recognition which we seek from others. Furthermore, the study follows the considerations of Gert Biesta (e.g., 2010, 2020) and argues that in education the question of purpose is multidimensional and suggests that three domains can be found: qualification, socialization and subjectification.

The study paradigm is grounded on social constructionism according to which truth is constructed through multiple negotiations and in social interaction as students engage with the world and with each other (Berger & Luckmann, 1967). The study argues that social life phenomena are too complex to be studied using a one-dimensional statistical method (Flick, 2018). Furthermore, each qualitative method reveals only part of reality. Therefore, by combining several research methods, that is using multiple methods, the dissertation strived for a holistic understanding of the students’ needs and expectations (Morse & Chung, 2003). Hence, the three articles (Study 1, 2 and 3) summarized in the dissertation have used a wide range of methodologies: Content analysis, narrative’s positioning and actantial analysis. The multiple methods have answered different questions, but their primary aim has been to support the core qualitative driven approach and the overarching research questions and the aim of the dissertation. The focus of Study 1 was directed on students’ experiences of interaction with their teachers and the guidance they received. It used semi-structured interviews and content analysis as methods to drill into the student’s experiences of interaction with their teachers. Study 2 concentrated in the students’ definitions of good VET by reflecting on their narratives with Biesta’s (2010, 2020) domains of good education: qualification, socialization and subjectification. Narratives positioning analysis was used as an analytical tool for Study 2 to examine and interpret the participants’ narratives as social actions in the VET context where they have been told (Bamberg, 1997; Bamberg & Georgakopoulou, 2008). The third study focused on the dynamics of social emotions and social bonds between students and teachers. It used Greimas’ actantial model as an analysis tool to recognize the actors in the case stories and to scrutinize the thematics of pride and shame between these actors (Greimas, 1983).

First, the most important element that supports students’ studying, strengthens their sense of belonging and creates the basis for good VET is a staff which has adopted an understanding attitude. Second, according to the results, the effectively functioning and performance-oriented approach of the Finnish VET is not suitable for every student. The participants of the study would need time to gain subjective, social and professional competence. The third element which supports students is their own ability to see and permit themselves success in their studying and social relations. Both teachers, other college staff, parents, rehabilitation quarters and students themselves should elaborate and elucidate their perceptions on understanding and striving towards mutual recognition. In the context of Finnish VET the purpose of which is to serve labour market needs, this implies that more attention should be paid on the elimination of barriers to learning and participation and on diversity management of employers. It means awareness rising that a student with special needs in one area of life can be a top expert in another. The dissertation claims that it is not enough to understand the special needs of the students to change the world, but we need education policy measures and practices which are disconnected from the economic growth and efficacy. This would call an education system which practices are developed towards ecological, social and economic sustainability. The study argues that processes of dialectic recognition create the heart of the sustainable VET.

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