ERIC Number: EJ1087879
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Jan
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1471-3802
EISSN: N/A
How to Make the Neighbourhood School a School for All?: Finnish Teachers' Perceptions of Educational Reform Aiming towards Inclusion
Lakkala, Suvi; Uusiautti, Satu; Määttä, Kaarina
Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, v16 n1 p46-56 Jan 2016
A new special education strategy was launched in Finland by the Ministry of Education in 2007. The new Basic Act was enacted in 2010 and the new national core curriculum concerning three-tiered support for pupils in 2011. Since the 1990s, teachers across Finland have participated in developing Finnish basic education towards greater inclusion. The goal of this study was to enhance understanding of the implementation of the Finnish educational reforms. In this study, teachers' perceptions of good inclusive teaching arrangements were analysed and compared with the theories of inclusive education. There is still a lack of information available on the implementation of inclusive education practices, and especially about teachers' experiences of teaching in inclusive classrooms. In 2010, basic education teachers (N = 327) in Lapland, Finland, were asked to describe their experiences and perceptions of inclusive teaching arrangements. The results indicated that teaching practices have become more diverse, flexible and differentiated, enabling teaching of diverse groups. More and more teachers preferred teaching in teams and planning their work together, showing that changes in schools change the teacher's profession too. In this study, a framework for inclusive schools was constructed through implementing the indexes of inclusion created by Booth and Ainscow.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Special Education, Educational Legislation, Inclusion, Mainstreaming, Educational Change, Program Implementation, Educational Theories, Teaching Experience, Teacher Attitudes, Regular and Special Education Relationship, Team Teaching, Teacher Collaboration
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Finland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A