1P00CZ85: Special Education (Special Needs Education)

Special Education (Special Needs Education)

The special needs pedagogy imposes a strict boundary around special education within the context of normal education. I am mostly concerned with clarifying the concepts of accessibility and inclusiveness. Next that, I discuss the concepts and tactics for creating an accessible learning environment from the standpoint of vocational education in conjunction with a range of social services in the following section. It does have a film about special needs pedagogy that Finland used to become one of the top school systems in the world, which can be found here.

Understand that the permanence of accessible education is based on the provision of learning access to all students, given that accessibility refers to impairments and is associated with medical, social, and cultural models of development. The medical context denotes abnormality or deficit, but the social and cultural paradigm highlights the differences and importance of individual differences. However, in certain countries, such as Finland, inclusion is the first step towards establishing the presence of impaired children in mainstream education while ensuring social fairness.

The guiding principle is to create a barrier-free environment via instruction, services, and a range of facilities, among other things. It takes into account diversity while avoiding prejudice via the use of a variety of learning aids, equipment, accessible communication, and educational resources. In the classroom, I've seen a number of issues, including slow student growth, a flexible and personalized study plan, personal assistance, and a one-of-a-kind setup. In terms of communication strategies (for example, accessible syllabus, various devices, text, audio-video, internet, and email), physical spaces (for example, tables, lighting, mobility, whiteboards, weather inside, furniture, and building), course materials (for example, audio, video, text, technology, and caption), classroom climate (for example, bias-free environment that avoids stereotypes), and out of class activity, I am more concerned with individual students' needs than with special needs (e.g., lab work, service learning, placement, fieldwork, presentation in community concerning academic setting).

As a professional teacher, how can I support a student with special needs?

Student welfare services, I understand, are responsible for providing a variety of learning assistance in higher education. Fundamentally, student welfare is related to special needs pedagogy in that it integrates social learning and individual needs in order to create a secure and well-being environment for all kids to study in. Special schooling does not imply that something is out of the ordinary. It entails providing assistance to everyone in order to intervene as soon as possible in any difficulty. In Finnish education, ninety percent of pupils receive assistance on a variety of issues, including as math, science, listening, and attention difficulties, among others. On a weekly basis, a subject teacher notifies the students' welfare team about learning disabilities or special requirements, such as study care, health and psychiatric services (such as curatorial services), and social services, in order to ensure Finnish equity and quality at the school level.

Individual help for learning problems, sickness, and severe disability, on the other hand, is available to students at the vocational school where they are enrolled. So the institution organizes instruction in special vocational schools or forms specific groups in standard vocational schools as a result of the situation. As part of the specific support planning, the potential rehabilitation agencies collaborate with one another on services such as advisory and counseling services, guidance and tutoring services, credit transfer assessment services, information management, library services, and administrative systems. In addition, the University offers psychological and occupational counseling services. At addition, I had the opportunity to see inclusion and welfare services in a primary school, where the language of instruction is both English and Finnish. I consulted a psychologist who always provided sound advice to kids who were experiencing a range of psychiatric issues.

What do the student welfare services (in Finnish: opiskeluhuolto) mean in vocational schools and in higher education?

I understand that the persistence of accessible education is to provide learning access to all students since accessibility means disabilities and belongs to medical, social, and cultural models. The medical context indicates abnormality or deficiency, while the social and cultural model specifies the differences and value of human diversity. On the other hand, the inclusion initiates the presence of disabled students in mainstream education, maintaining social equity, e.g., Finland. The principal reason is that the definition of disability is distinct in theories and national perceptions. For example, the statistics in Finland based on UAS and universities revealed that 8% of disabilities belong to higher educations (10.6% in UAS and 6.5% in academic University) whether students suffer mostly from mental problems in compulsory language studies in English, study pressure, and an autism spectrum disorder.

Moreover, I comprehend that the consequent phenomena of an accessible learning environment reflect the applied strategies. The central insight is to make a barrier-free setting through teaching, services, and a variety of facilities. It considers diversity avoiding discrimination with various learning tools, equipment, accessible communication, and materials. I understand that I should provide versatile teaching methodologies to meet the diversified students’ abilities and needs inclusively and proactively to eliminate learning barriers. I always try to enhance the students’ learning experiences through different quality pedagogies to make an inclusive learning environment. In the classroom, I notice the problem of student progress, flexible and individual study plan, personal guidance, and unique arrangement. I concern more about students’ individual needs instead of special needs contemplating communication strategies (e.g., accessible syllabus, various devices, text, audio-video, internet, and email), physical spaces (e.g., tables, lighting, mobility, whiteboards, weather inside, furniture, building), course materials (e.g., audio, video, text, technology, and caption), classroom climate (e.g., bias-free avoiding stereotypes) and out of class activity (e.g., lab work, service learning, placement, fieldwork, presentation in community concerning academic setting).

I understand that student welfare services facilitate various learning supports in higher education. Fundamentally, students’ welfare is an analogous to special needs pedagogy, which connects social learning and individual needs for a safe and wellbeing environment. Special education does not mean unusual. It means support for all to make early intervention in any trouble. In Finnish education, ninety percent of students get supports on various grounds, e.g., math, science, listening, and concentration problems. Generally, a subject teacher informs the students’ welfare team on a weekly meeting regarding learning disability or special needs such as study care, health, psychological, curatorial, and social services to maintain Finnish equity and quality at the school level.

However, in the vocational school, a student can apply for individual support for learning disabilities, illness, and severe disability. Consequently, the institution organizes teaching in special vocational schools or creates special groups in traditional vocational schools. The potential rehabilitation agencies also cooperate the particular support planning such as advisory services, counseling, guidance, tutoring, credit transfer assessment, information management, library services, and administrative systems. The University also provides psychological and occupational guidance. I also experienced the inclusion and welfare services in a primary school, where learning thought is in English and Finnish. The school teaches the mandatory courses in English during Spring, while in Autumn, learning taught is in Finnish. I worked there as a teacher’s assistant and supported students in the separate classroom who were behind the mainstream Finnish taught courses. Also, I saw a psychologist who always advised the students for a variety of psychological concerns.

As seen in figure 1, support measures are organized into a systematic continuum. Particular effort is made to ensure that learners get ongoing assistance as they go from early childhood education and care to pre-primary education, from pre-primary to basic education, and from basic education to secondary school.

Figure 1: Types of support avainable in education settings(Adopted from www.european-agency.org “Country information for Finland - Systems of support and specialist provision”

Reflection

During the lecture session, I discovered that a dynamic classroom environment is created by a successful mix of the teacher and the students. I also realized that a fantastic classroom supports and encourages students to learn, criticize, and draw new conclusions from their experiences. In contrast, other classrooms in the session were courteous and professional, but there was a distinct lack of life and excitement in the teaching and debate in those rooms. In addition, I discovered that a vibrant class encourages active teaching. Now, I am always a motivated instructor that is eager to communicate and help students reach their learning objectives. As a result of the entire session, I learnt that I should pay attention to kids who are falling behind in their learning goals as a result of disability, sickness, or a variety of psychological risk factors. In the same way, I would concentrate on the individual study plan, which would include educational content, pedagogical approach, essential assistance, learning-related strengths and problems, student welfare, counseling, and guiding, among other things. In addition, I would contribute to the learning environment by applying a variety of pedagogical knowledge and abilities that I possess.

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