VOC 2 Special Needs Education

Special Needs Education video

Letter to the parent :


Dear Daddy -71,

We appreciate your concern for your son and would like to give advice regarding the Finnish vocational education and what it offers.

Your son can continue his education in regular vocational colleges and vocational special education college. In both cases he is provided with an individual education plan (IEP).

Colleges for SEN organise training experiments in order to assess the participant’s aptitude, interest and abilities in their chosen VET field.

Students receive individual support in issues relating to studies, rehabilitation and employment.

As you are aware in Finland the legislation that directs the Finnish education system is based on equality, justice of learning and on the principle of inclusion.

Every Finnish citizen has similar right to vocational education regardless of his state of health or capabilities as long as the student would be capable to perform the work in practice and without putting other people in danger. (Law 27a§)

In the special education he has right to special support such as assistant and equipment and possibly also to materials, travel and full board accommodation.
(Law 38§)

I hope that this has clarified your concerns, if you need any further information from us please do not hesitate to contact us. Here is also a website in English that can also explain more regarding the special education system in Finland:

http://www.european-agency.org/country-information/finland/national-overview/special-needs-education-within-the-education-system

I wish your son a good start  in the further education and I look forward to hear from you in the near future.

Yours sincerely,

Erki

Reflection on how is Special Needs Education present in my line of work

In the IB school where I work at the moment I have had the chance to work with students who have special needs. I have worked with special needs teacher and welfare group as well, sometimes attending meetings too. The education in Finland has an inclusive policy and this is helping students who do not have very severe disabilities or needs, to better integrate in society and working life. The students attend classes with their peers and have access to the same materials. Sometimes they have scheduled one to one sessions with the special needs teacher. This also helps them to integrate the knowledge better according to their learning plan.

Art and photography is a great subject to teach in this context, as quite a lot of students with special needs find art very interesting and they are able to express themselves well for example using colors or shapes. They may sometimes need extra guidance and encouragement to take photos but once they learn the camera basics they are able to also take the initiative too.

 I have been creating materials for learning photo editing in a software that is available in schools called Corel Paint Shop Pro and use a lot of written and visual instruction that is available for all the students to access on a school network called Fronter. This is where I have a special virtual room with learning resources.