Session Information
04 SES 07 B, Social Participation
Paper Session
Contribution
Part-time special education is a particular feature of the world-famous Finnish school system (e.g. Jahnukainen, 2011; Kivirauma & Ruoho, 2007). From international and inclusive perspective, it is a means to support students with learning disabilities in general education. It can be considered an easy-access service as approximately 17% of secondary school students (grades 7–9) use it every year (Statistics Finland, 2011), usually to study one or two subjects in a small group. Nevertheless, part-time special education rarely appears in educational research as the focus or context of the study.
Both the large-scale questionnaires regarding, for example, students’ perceptions on school environment (Haapasalo, Välimaa, & Kannas, 2010) or critical incidents in their school career (Pyhältö, Soini, & Pietarinen, 2010), and school ethnographies with more detailed descriptions on students’ school life (e.g. Lahelma, 2002; Lahelma 2004) illustrate that secondary students’ school experiences gather around two major themes: teacher-student relationships and students’ peer relations. The studies done on the school experiences of students with special needs in Finland (e.g. Jokinen, 2012; Kivirauma, 1995) are limited to special class settings. In sum, we know little about part-time special education as experienced by students. This study aims at correcting this lacuna in our knowledge by exploring the school experiences of students who attend part-time special education. In particular, this study will address two questions: 1. What stories those students tell and live by? 2. Do the students live different stories in and out of classroom?
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (2000). Narrative inquiry: Experience and story in qualitative research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Clandinin, D. J., Huber, J., Huber, M., Murphy, M. S., Orr, A. M., Pearce, M., & Pinnegar, S. (2006). Composing diverse identities: Narrative inquiries into the interwoven lives of children and teachers. London: Routledge. Haapasalo, I., Välimaa, R., & Kannas, L. (2010). How comprehensive school students perceive their psychosocial school environment. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 54(2), 133-150. Jahnukainen, M. (2011). Different strategies, different outcomes? The history and trends of the inclusive and special education in Alberta (Canada) and in Finland. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 55(5), 489-502. Jokinen, K. (2012). Opintie pienluokan kautta: Peruskoulun alkuopetuksen pienluokkatoiminnan arviointia. [Evaluation of the special class activities in primary education] Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä. Kokkola Chydenius. Kivirauma, J. (1995). Koulun varjossa: Entiset tarkkailuoppilaat kertovat koulukokemuksistaan. [In the shadow the the school. School experiences of former special class students.] Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä. Kivirauma, J., & Ruoho, K. (2007). Excellence through special education? Lessons from the Finnish school reform. International Review of Education, 53(3), 283-302. Lahelma, E. (2002). School is for meeting friends: Secondary school as lived and remembered. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 23(3), 367-381. Lahelma, E. (2004). Tolerance and understanding? Students and teachers reflect on differences at school. Educational Research and Evaluation, 10(1), 3-19. Pyhältö, K., Soini, T., & Pietarinen, J. (2010). Pupils’ pedagogical well-being in comprehensive school—significant positive and negative school experiences of Finnish ninth graders. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 25(2), 207-221. Statistics Finland. (2011). Special education. http://tilastokeskus.fi/til/erop/2010/erop_2010_2011-06-09_tau_005_fi.html Printed 24.10.2012.
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