Inclusive Education Strategies in Finland

1. THE FINNISH NATIONAL BOARD OF EDUCATION Councellor of Education Tuulamarja Huisman

2. Inclusion in Finland • Not only equal educational opportunities but also: the • strategies • structures • operating procedures • which guarantee successful learning for ALL pupils. • In practice: • educational structures that prevent exclusion • activities and pedagogies that facilitate inclusion

3. Inclusion in Finland • Individual needs as challenges for the • learning environment or school community. • All students, even those with the most severe • developmental impairments, receive similar basic • education. • Over 99.7% of students complete the nine years of • comprehensive school.

4. New Strategy for Special Needs Education in Comprehensive Education • Changes in Basic Education Act, • came into force on 1 January 2011. • Changes in National Curricula for Pre-primary and • Basic Education, coming into force 2015. • Large development program.

5. Support in learning and school attendance • The level of support is based on pedagogical assessment: regularity of support, intensity of support and if there is a need for several forms of support. • The possibility to get support and counselling is a right every pupil has on every school day • The support is a collaborative effort involving ALL teachers, the pupil and his/her parent or carer and, where needed, pupil welfare personnel 7

6. The support is intensified by three stages: general support, intensified support and special support.

8. Migrant Education in numbers • In Finland 5,3 million inhabitants • 3-4 % , more than 200 000 migrants • About 25 000 migrant pupils in general education • Municipalities are responsible of providing pre-school and basic education – they have to follow the law and the national core curriculum; otherwise they are autonomous

9. National programme to develop multicultural skills 2007 - 2011 • Underlying values of the National Core Curriculum: human rights, equality, democracy • Supporting the formation of pupils’ multicultural identity and participation in Finnish society • Promotion of tolerance and intercultural understanding in school communities. • Developing the multicultural skills of the whole school community to learn and teach in a multicultural learning environment.

10. Preparatory instruction for basic education • Local authorities can provide preparatory education to which the FNBE has drawn up the national core curriculum • State finances this instruction for one year with a double state grant per pupil. • Target groups are children arriving in Finland at pre-primary age (6 years) or at basic education age (7-16 years) immediately after arriving to the country

11. Preparatory instruction • Pupils study Finnish or Swedish, the main basic education subjects and if possible, their mother tongue. • It is mandatory for the education providers to arrange teaching of the mother tongue. • State: extra state funding, max 2 hours / week for a group of min 4 pupils • Basic Education Act guarantees the instruction of different religions in schools financed by municipalities

12. The Finnish Roma • About 10 000 Roma people in Finland, (about 3 000 Finnish Roma in Sweden) • 500 years in Finland • MothertonguemainlyFinnish (Swedish/Romanylanguage) • Lutheranreligionorfreesects

13. The Finnish National Policy on Roma • On behalf of the Finnish Government the National Advisory Board on Romani Affairs in Finland has prepaired the first National Policy on Roma in 2009 • Guidelines all administrative sectors for the implementation of activities • Guidelines also the activities of the National Board of Education and especially the Roma Education Group

14. Key areas of education in the Finnish National Policy on Roma • Enhancing the participation of Roma children in earlychildhood and pre-primaryeducation • Enhancing the social inclusion of Roma children and youth in basiceducation and uppersecondaryeducation • Enhancing the participation in vocationaleducation and training of adult Roma • Promoting the development of the Romani language and culture

15. Finnish National Board of Education co-ordinates the state aid • for promoting basic education of Roma pupils • for Romany language nest activities • for arranging teaching of the Romany language in pre-primary education, basic education and upper secondary education • for arranging basic education, teaching of the Romany language and culture, empowerment skills etc. for prisoners of Roma background • during 2008 to 2015, a totally 2,3 m€ has been shared for municipal authorities for this purpose

16. Romany as mother tongue • The task is to support the balanced development of pupils’ dual identity and their ability to integrate into both the Roma and the Finnish community. • Teaching aims to activate the pupils’ skills and use of the Romany language so that Roma pupils are able and have the courage to use their own language as a tool of interaction both within the Roma community and outside it. • Pupils are instructed in understanding the importance of their own language for the vitality and identity of their own culture and the position of the Romany language as a language next to all other languages.

17. Arranging teaching of the Romany language • government aid for a maximum of 2 hours per week • teaching takes place during the school day • The Finnish Romany language is under serious threat and included in the Unesco list of endangered languages • For the time being, there are Romany-speaking people in Finland, but their average age is rising rapidly

18. Other development work by the Finnish National Board of Education • Summer courses in the Romany language • Further training for teachers of the Romany language • Workshops for Roma parents in different parts of the country • Learning materials, dictionaries and brochures • Latšo Diives magazine