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1. As a vocational/professional teacher, how can you support a student with special needs?
A key word in Special Needs Education and presented during our session is accessibility. Accessibility is here understood as the process to achieve equality as a fundamental right and can be seen both from a physical or a totally intangible perspective. The different approaches towards accessibility to be taken into account are:
- Pedagogical (the basic right to education)
- Attitude-related (being positive)
- Physical (access to facilities and spaces)
- Social cultural (related to inclusion and to different cultural perspectives)
- Psychological (meaning the well-being of the student's mind)
Teachers must have the above very present when developing their activities but due to its closeness to the ultimate purpose of teaching, it is through pedagogical accessibility where a teacher can influence in a higher degree in this process throughout the following actions:
Iiris Happo, 2020
Teachers will adapt their pedagogical methods in accordance to the observed needs using all the available tools when carrying out their duties. These tools – as shown in the picture above – can be physical as facilities, spaces or technical equipment or more abstract ones such as the use of plain language, individual teaching or a different perspective on time management. In brief, special needs education means an efficient use of existing resources to achieve the goal of equality.
2. What does the concept of inclusion mean in practise? What does the concept of accessibility mean in an educational context? What is a pedagogically accessible learning environment?
As seen at the beginning, equality is one of the main pillars of accessibility from a social-cultural perspective. The UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960) and other international human rights treaties prohibit any exclusion from, or limitation to, educational opportunities on the basis of socially-ascribed or perceived differences, such as by sex, ethnic/social origin, language, religion, nationality, economic condition, ability (UNESCO.org, 2020). Thus, inclusion can be defined as the actions carried out to ensure that each individual has an equal opportunity for educational progress.
Inclusion in Finland has developed as follows (Excerpt):- Separate special education curricula were abolished. All learners follow the same curriculum.
- Learner welfare services are included in the curriculum.
- Development of inclusion, school and learner-level planning, organisation and implementation of inclusive special needs education in cooperation with various interest groups.
- Statistics on provision, resources and costs of special needs education will be drawn upon to obtain a continuous surveillance.
- Several projects are developing the virtual school for SEN (Special Education Needs).
- Several projects have been developed to prevent the exclusion of learners by developing productive learning models and models to teach and support learners with mental illnesses.
(European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2020)
During the session we also realised that inclusion is a question of attitude and social perspective in a high degree, much more than an intrinsic handicap solely coming from the affected individual. The following table, although only applied to disability, shows the mindset and attitude to be taken into account when dealing with inclusion:
Accessible campus. Council of Ontario Universities, 2020.
Especially during these pandemic times, virtual learning environments (VLE) have become increasingly popular. Two key words related to these environments are: accessibility and usability. The former understood as the environmental characteristics of the system input and output which enable students to use the system and the latter as the ability of the system to carry out the intended function (Hersh, M. 2008). These aspects seem to be already challenging to students without special needs – hence, we can assume that the right management of these resources in special needs education is simply vital.
Although initially may be seen as powerful tools towards inclusion, VTEs must be handled with special care when used in Special Needs Education. A poorly designed accessibility project or a project not able to be adapted to different environments may result in an extra added level of difficulty for both students and teachers. These new learning environments should take into account not only the obvious adaptations from a physical to a virtual environment but it should include any potential need coming from students as well. The sooner we realise about these potential needs, the less improvised will be the adaptation process.
We have also learned that the way to implement a plan on special support (normally) starts with the proactive action coming from the student which contacts the teacher informing about the possible needs. The teacher has then the task to implement and individual education plan (IEP) in written format based on the curriculum. This plan acts as a guide for the student's individual learning growth process containing pedagogical methods and other possible adaptations. It is revised at least once per school year or when the student's special needs change.
(European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2020).
3. What do the student welfare services mean in vocational schools and in higher education?
In higher education welfare services aim to provide physical, mental and social well-being of students promoting a culture of caring and interaction among the learning community, ensuring equal opportunities for all. The welfare services also try to identify learning difficulties that can hinder the learning progress and aim to act in time to avoid negative consequences.
Welfare covers many aspects beyond a mere supervision and spreads throughout many different and concrete aspects. Some examples are:
- Assistance in accommodation. Through student housing.
- Psychological support. Through psychological counselling provided by professionals.
- Sport services.
- Financial aid. Grant services and others.
- Meals. Provided at student restaurants.
- Substance abuse policies. Promoting a healthy lifestyle.
- Religious services and counselling.
- Equality. Preventing whatever discrimination as indicated by law.
- Medical assistance. Meant for foreign students.
- Safety. Reducing accidents and minimising potential threats.
As we have seen during this session, special needs must be taken into account not only as a legal imperative but also for moral reasons aiming to provide everybody with equal access to education. We have also discovered the teacher's responsibility and their range of action in this process. We also have found out the differences between accessibility and equality, the level of inclusion in Finland and the services provided to host welfare among students.
The most important message we had the chance to receive during this webinar – beyond the theoretical description of the topic – was to give food for thought about diversity, different levels of perceptions and the starting points among students during the learning process. It was a kind of wake up call about realities we have around and sometimes we do not even realise. Inclusion demands efforts on empathy not only coming from special needs students but also from teachers, classmates and society in general. We are accustomed to a standardised educational mindset that unconsciously leaves outside individuals with completely different needs. These people demand receiving the same level of opportunity than the rest. We have learned during this session how difficult it is sometimes to open our minds, see a little bit beyond and understand these realities.
Sources:
- Hersh, M. Accessibility and Usability of Virtual Learning Environments. University of Glasgow. January 2008.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221423883_Accessibility_and_Usability_of_Virtual_Learning_Environments
Unesco. Convention against discrimination in education 1960. Paris, 14 December 1960.
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=12949&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201 .html
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