1. How is the vocational special needs education realized/fulfilled in
the Finnish educational system?
In Finland, the physical and psychological developments of children are monitored from a very early stage to notice any learning difficulties. The method works to the advantage of the system as there is always a better scope for fixing those difficulties at a young age.By the time the students reach an age eligible to start vocational education, those learning difficulties are either dealt with or in the process of rectification.
2. How is the special needs education carried out specifically in the
vocational education?
The vocation school receives information about the student who is a special needs student. These are in the form of records maintained by the health nurse,school and special needs teacher put together.
3.Which Finnish legislature governs the special needs education?
The Finnish National Board of Education governs the special needs education.
4. What elements does an individual educational plan (= IEP = “HOJKS” in
Finnish) contain, and how does the IEP process proceed?
An individual educational plan is drawn for each student with special needs.
This plan must include the following:
All the required information about the qualification to be completed.
Any changes necessary to be made in the curriculum to make the studies easier for the student.
Special educational and student welfare services required to be provided for the special needs education.
What does Mauno tell us about his education relating to the special
needs system?
Mauno says that in Finland everyone has equal right to study and get employed,even though he is a special needs student. He also said that, special needs student can also get the necessary skill to be employed by vocational education.
How were special needs catered for in his education and how was
qualification achieved?
He did not think in the beginning that he will be accepted for the course while he applied, but he applied anyway just for fun. But in the end he was accepted and also studied the course to graduate successfully.
Include some reflections on how special needs students are currently
present in the Finnish system as opposed to past years, or how they are
handled in your home culture.
Education is the field where there is constant development towards betterment. Special needs education is no exception.In my country India, the special needs education lacks redundancy. Since
the country is huge in area and population perspectives, there are
several different types of approaches in different parts of the country.
Physical disabilities like vision, hearing, mental and severe
orthopaedic conditions are considered special needs and they have
separate schools all over the country. The students are integrated at a
much later stage. Learning difficulties are however not considered as
special needs and hence the students study in regular schools with very
little or no help from teachers. However, in the pedagogy program’s
there is special needs education where the teachers are made aware of
such requirements and how to deal with them.
There is still a long way to go to fulfil the needs of children with learning difficulties that required special needs in India.
What is the role of the Individual Education Plan in the Finnish system
and how is it present in this case?
The IEP plays a vital role in Finnish system as it basically designs the course and curriculum to suite to the special needs of the student. The people working to help the student are expers teachers who already taught him/her in previous years. The teachers also listen to classes along with the student and arrange on-job learning according to be best interests of the student.
Finnish Special needs education is a beautiful method of recognizing learning difficulties early-on during the life of a child and helping him/her to overcome those difficulties. Finnish special needs education system is the best because special attention is also provided to minor learning difficulties that require a small effort to allow the student to compete with the normal children. Another beautiful aspect of this system is the opportunity given to the students to integrate with the main stream when they are ready.
The special needs education requirement of a student is recognized early on before or during the pre-school stage. Major disabilities with respect to vision, hearing, psychological, or physical deformities are given special care in education. Along with the above, learning difficulties are also considered special needs cases. The teachers, parents and health care providers together determine weather a child requires special attention in school. The SNE is a collaborative effort between, teachers, family and health care providers.
Once the teachers recognizes a special needs student, they have to get consent from the parent/ guardian to transfer the student to special needs education.
The next step is to design Individual Education Plan to help the student. The IEP makes some changes to the curriculum so that the student can learn the subjects more easily.
Once a student reaches an age to apply to a vocational school, the teachers get information about special needs students from the previous school records. Once they identify the level of difficulties, the students are placed in groups such that each group has students in the similar state of special needs requirement. The the IEP is designed to suite their needs and then the journey begins! The mode of assessment also varies between normal and special needs students.
It is important to integrate the special needs students with the normal students just to make them feel the same. Special needs students sometimes have special skills to master the job-skill for example out of sheer determination and hence is beneficial for employers.
http://www.oph.fi/english
http://www.european-agency.org/country-information/finland/national-overview/special-needs-education-within-the-education-system
No comments:
Post a Comment