University Curriculum in Special Teacher Education in Finland and Sweden

Abstract

The life stories of hard-of-hearing people in Finland Takala M. "They think I'm stupid, but I just don't HEAR!". The life stories of hard-of-hearing people in Finland. Scand J SOC Welfare 1995: 4: 19C-196. 0 Munksgaard, 1995 Ninety-eight stories about being hard-of-hearing in Finnish society, written by hard-of-hearing adults, were analysed. The writers were satisfied with personal equipment received from society, but public places lacked, for example, tele-loops. Also many officers were unable to communicate with hard-of-hearing people. Contacts with other people were limited, people started to isolate because communication in big groups and noisy situations was difficult. Older people, who were able to choose how to spend their time, seemed to be more satisfied than those who had to manage at work with their impaired hearing. Six types of stories are presented here: stories written by 1) young and 2) old people, 3) by male and 4) female writers and 5) positive and 6) negative stories. Also a common theme, communication, is presented in detail. The descriptive approach used in this study forms an entirety with a questionnaire research. The hard of hearingThe hard of hearing are people who have a mild or moderate hearing loss, but usually communicate by speech, often with the help of a hearing aid and lipreading ([The curriculum for the hearing-impaired], 1987). We have about 300,000 hard-of-hearing people in Finland (Raivio, 1980, Kuirrojen kultticzirityoryhmiin muistio, 1985.The hard of hearing try to integrate into the hearing world. The hearing aid provides good assistance in this endeavor (Warland, 1990), but communication in large groups and situations with background noise is still difficult for hard-of-hearing people. A hearing loss often makes people selective when choosing company; a small group of people who know their difficulties is better than a large group of strangers. People who articulate clearly and are patient enough to repeat words remain as friends (Orlans, 1988). Most hard-of-hearing people go to an ordinary school and participate more in the mainstream of life than the deaf. Being a member of an aural association is not as common among hard-of-hearing people as it is among the deaf (Weisel & Reichstein, 1990). Life story researchThe aim of this study was to determine the views of hard-of-hearing people towards Fifinish society. The hard-of-hearing people were asked to write a story 190

I still miss human contact, but this is more flexible—Paradoxes in virtual learning interaction and multidisciplinary collaboration

“…It has been recognised that in higher education more emphasis needs to be placed on learning generic skills, eg, skills in working in groups, communication, multidisciplinary teamwork, collaborative knowledge‐building and solving complex problems (Muukkonen & Lakkala, 2009; OECD, 2013; Tynjälä, Slotte, Nieminen, Lonka, & Olkinuora, 2006). Changes in the university curricula have been implemented, eg, in special teacher education, towards more collaborative ways of working and setting goals, which expect the students to work together (see Takala, Nordmark, & Allard, 2019).…”

Same vision – different approaches? Special needs education in light of inclusion in Finland and Norway

“…This may indicate that what Haug (2017b) describes as 'impairment-focused teaching strategies' still hold a rather strong position in both countries. A similar focus on impairment is also visible in SET education in both countries, even though an increase in content on collaboration and inclusive education models has been observed (Cameron et al 2018;Takala et al 2019). The use of co-teaching as a collaboration between GETs and SETs, which is considered an inclusive teaching method, seems to have increased in both countries, but it is still in its early stages in Finland and appears as a rather limited and casual teaching method in Norway (Sundqvist et al 2019;Nilsen 2017;Saloviita 2018).…”

“…However, during the last decade, a focus on communication, collaboration and inclusive teaching methods has increased. This means that SET students are provided with the tools to educate pupils with SEN as well as tools for inclusion and collaboration (Takala, Nordmark, and Allard 2019). SETs in Finnish schools are trusted professionals who have extensive autonomy when it comes to implementing SNE (Author 1 et al 2019; Räty, Vehkoski, and Pirttimaa 2019).…”

Rethinking teacher training from an inclusive and community dialogical perspective

“…Table 4 suggests that the inclusion of this particular preparation in the programmes, contents and objectives of the institutions' linked course units (CU) was not common (McLeskey & Waldron, 2011;Takala, Nordmark, & Allard, 2019). Therefore, it might imply that no prior training to this end was required; solutions or strategies should be sought when confronted with these circumstances.…”