Special and Inclusive Education school experience (4op)

Osaamistavoitteet

To familiarize international students with the Finnish system of special and inclusive education.
After course completion students should be able to demonstrate knowledge about similarities and differences regarding the Finnish and students’ native system with reference to special and inclusive education.

Sisältö

During the school visits:
Observation
- the teaching methods
- the school/classroom atmosphere
- the pupils working methods
- how “the special pupils” are regarded by “the ordinary pupils”
Participation in class working (guiding) if possible.
After the school visits:
Writing a report:
- reading the literature before writing
- a scientific report (4-6 pages) about student's feelings and experiences, and reflecttion on how a student has perceived inclusion and exclusion in Finnish school system.
- comparision of the Finnish special needs education system and the system of student's own country

Esitietovaatimukset

The course is aimed at students of teacher education.

Arviointikriteerit, tyydyttävä (1)

0
- the report content is very poorly organized; it’s too difficult to follow the content. the content presentation is one-sided: it either contains a very personal “diary” or lists only course content items but not both;
- the report lists only the “learning events” (what happened during classes); there is no reflection or analysis included
- the report describes in detail what happened, quoting text from slides and handouts but there is no evidence of how that content influenced student’s learning
1-2
- the report is to the point but not well organized
- the report includes successful learning and difficulties (if any) the student encountered during the course but they are described in a personal or “diary” style rather than in an objective and constructive way
- the report includes both entries about what happened ( a short list, or a brief description) and description of student’s reaction and what they learned during the process; however, the entries are short or imbalanced (e.g. more description of what happened than reflection); those reflections
include sporadic references to previous learning experiences and learning expectations, or none at all; the learning process of the student is not easy to follow
- the report includes a description rather than evaluation of teaching methods with regard to student’s learning; no alternative solutions are proposed
-- the learning process is not well analysed; immediate benefits of the course are mentioned sporadically but there is no reference as to how the learning experience can be used in the future by the student as an individual or an expert in the field

Arviointikriteerit, hyvä (3)

3-4
- the learning report is well organized and to the point
- the report contains both successful learning and difficulties (if any) the student encountered during the course; those are presented in a constructive way
- the report includes both entries about what happened ( a short list, or a brief description) and description of student’s reaction and what they learned during the process; those reflections include references to previous learning experiences and learning expectations but not learning theories; the learning process of the student is not described quite clearly
- the report includes a description rather than evaluation of teaching methods with regard to student’s learning: what helped and hindered learning; only a few alternative solutions are proposed
- the learning process is well analysed; the report includes immediate benefits of the course but does not indicate how the learning experience can be used in the future by the student as an individual or an expert in the field

Arviointikriteerit, kiitettävä (5)

5
- the report is very well organized and to the point
- the report contains both successful learning and difficulties (if any) the student encountered during the course; those are presented in a constructive way
- the report includes both entries about what happened ( a short list, or a brief description) and description of student’s reaction and what they learned during the process; those reflections include references to learning theories, previous learning experiences and learning expectations; the
learning process of the student is described explicitly
- the report includes evaluation of teaching methods with regard to student’s learning: what helped and hindered learning; alternative solutions are proposed
- the learning process is very well analysed; the report includes immediate benefits of the course and what can be used later with regard to students as individuals and professionals in their fields of study

Arviointikriteeri, hyväksytty/hylätty

Pass: see criteria 3-5
Fail: see criteria 0-2

Lisätiedot

The evaluation:
Pass/Fail
However, if the home university of a student requires a grade, it can be granted on request.

Toteutustavat

Orientation lecture (2 hours)
Individual work:
- Observation: school visits to 3-4 different classrooms/schools (one school day at a school) (20 hours)
- Reflective report based on the school experiences and literature (85 hours)

Suoritustavat

Orientation lectures (2h) by the tutor and observation visits (20h) to 3-4 different school classes (the University of Lapland Teacher Training School and field practice schools in Rovaniemi).
The observation will focus on pupils with special needs.
After observations students will write a report (4-6 pages) about their feelings and experiences, and reflect on how they have perceived inclusion and exclusion in Finnish school system. The report have to be based on the inclusive education literature (given by the tutor or self-chosen).