Abstract
This article examines the discrepancy between the ideology of inclusive education and the national education policy in the Finnish comprehensive school education. The study covers twenty years and is based on observations that indicate that the change in comprehensive school education, grounded in inclusive education ideals, has been slow. This has been the case, even though Finnish education policy has, on principle, committed to many international statements that promote inclusion ideology. The data consists primarily of statistics indicating the number of students in special education and national and international research on the subject. It confirms our supposition, but also the fact that statistics are not merely challenging but also capable of distorting reality. While examining the changes in student quantities over the last twenty years, we came to the conclusion that the fluctuation does not result from any real growth in student numbers. Changes in statistical methods, terminology in the field of study, norms, education systems or even social phenomena can also cause distortion.
Highlights
This article examines the discrepancy between the ideology of inclusive education and the national education policy in the Finnish comprehensive school education
When one takes a look at the documents that have guided Finnish education in the last decade, one gets the impression that schools have embraced the principles of inclusive education
It is apparent in the strategic work that steers special education in the Finnish comprehensive school education (Ministry of Education and Culture, 2007), in the constitutional amendment concerning assistance in education and learning that became effective in the year 2011 (Laki perusopetuslain muuttamisesta, 2010), in the new pupil welfare law (Oppilas-ja opiskelijahuoltolaki, 2013) and in the rationalization of the 2014 curriculum reform (Finnish National Board of Education, 2014)
Summary
When Finland committed to the Salamanca Declaration in the middle of 1990s, the educational authorities had to seriously contemplate their relationship with inclusion. Despite the fact that the three-tier model, in use in Finnish comprehensive schools, cannot be considered a direct implementation of the inclusion ideology, it was clearly an indication of a new framework for the language and practise of special education. It is noteworthy, and significant for the future of inclusive education, that the concept of inclusion is not explained in any specific way in the principles of the new curriculum effective in Finnish schools in August 2016 (Finnish National Board of Education, 2014). Their analysis indicates that the teaching guidelines conveyed by these documents, are quite lax and focused mainly on describing the three-tier model of pupil support giving teaching and learning theories, as well as explicit guidance, little attention
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