Inclusion in Finland is really not that different than my practice at home. However, one big difference is that all students in gen ed have the right to be supported by special education teachers. At home we reserve special education for only those that qualify for sped services. The reason for this is that the aim in Finland is to prevent existing problems from becoming more serious. They use this specialized support to provide students with the systematic support teachers know that they need so that they can complete their course work successfully and move on.
I was kind of hoping for some sort of radical difference in how things are done in Finland so that I can bring home this new and amazing way to implement appropriate supports for our deserving kiddos. With every observation and interview I keep looking for this magic. Well, no surprise here, but that has led to the realization that it’s not that we need more research of how to make things better; we just actually need to be better at implementing what we already know. And I don’t mean by working harder, instead plain old simple working smarter. (I know not harder because being here in Finland away from some of the usual daily tasks of work I fully recognize how hard every one of my colleagues and I work). This distance from what has been my norm for over two decades leaves me feeling positive that we already have the strategies required to be successful. Now we just need to implement them. So I ask myself, why haven’t we implemented them? Perhaps one reason is “we” wait; we wait for someone else to make these changes to make it better. However, I am coming to grips with it no longer being up to “they” or “them”. It’s time to take some ownership and just do it. I get it, it’s easy for me to say while I am away, and easy to imagine of implementing as I think of how to incorporate back home. But now I am certain that this implementation process needs to be a critical part of my inquiry project.
Note to self: Add figuring out how to implement what we already know into our programs back home 🙂
Evidence based practices/visual supports (board maker in Finnish)