Learning and schooling support

The REAL research centre studies support for learning and support for children from a wide range of perspectives. Research focuses on the support at system level, and e.g., the regional differences in the provision of support, as well as more targeted topics related to support. However, the research theme overlaps with most of the projects and data in the research centre. For example, the Tuettu-project investigates issues related to inclusion from the perspective of the placement of students with special educational needs, and in the 2018 & 2022 rounds of the PISA survey, one of the perspectives is the participation and performance of pupils receiving intensified (Tier 2) or special (Tier 3) support. In addition, the study on education, teaching and well-being in the school community during the Corona pandemic has examined schooling during the Corona pandemic also from the perspective of learning and schooling support.

Support for learning and school attendance. Report on the views of education providers on the support arrangements in municipalities (2022)

Under the Basic Education Act, students are entitled to teaching based on the curriculum, guidance counselling and sufficient support for learning and school attendance on school days as soon as such a need arises. The aim of the study was to survey the practices used in municipalities and the principles guiding them when organising and implementing support for learning and school attendance. The study was commissioned by a working group set up by the Ministry of Education and Culture under the Right to Learn programme to prepare measures to promote support for learning, support for children and inclusion in early childhood education and care, pre-primary education and primary and lower secondary education.

The key questions that the working group tackles in the report are:
1) How to determine the interface between intensified and special needs support?
2) What are the needs for support for learning and school attendance for which general, intensified or special needs support is offered to students?
3) What concrete forms of support are included at the different levels of support?

National survey data collected from the experts used by education providers related to support for learning and school attendance (N = 189 education providers) were used as the data material. Respondents were allowed to respond to the survey in Finnish or Swedish. Three case examples of students were also used in connection with the survey to examine support arrangements provided by local authorities. Besides compiling data on the main questions, the survey collected information on key themes in learning and support for school attendance that have emerged from earlier studies and surveys. This was done so as to complement the understanding of differences and similarities between the different levels of support 

Publication (in Finnish):
http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-263-802-1

Lintuvuori, M. & Irene R. (2022). Oppimisen ja koulunkäynnin tuki - Selvitys opetuksen järjestäjien näkemyksistä tuen järjestelyistä kunnissa. Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriön julkaisuja 6:2022. Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö

Educational support from early childhood to the transition to upper secondary education: actualisation of equity and needs for development (2018)

Equality and fairness are the guiding principles of the Finnish education system. Special education plays a central role in achieving educational equality. A more detailed review of the current state of equality is needed to assess how well existing support systems in Finland are meeting learning and development needs.

This longitudinal project examined early childhood, pre-primary, and primary education support systems, as well as their relation to pupils’ transition from basic education to secondary education.

The project involved cooperation of a large number of experts in the areas of special education and training, assessment of education, early childhood education, and economics from the University of Tampere and the University of Helsinki, along with researchers from the State Audit Office and the State Economic Research Center.

Objectives of the project

  1. Identify regional disparities in the provision of support for early childhood, pre-primary, and basic education

  2. Examine the implementation of the support programmes (inclusion versus segregation) to identify the importance of learning outcomes and attitudes

  3. Examine the secondary school education placement of pupils receiving special support in primary school

  4. Determine how funding changes affect the ability of municipalities to provide special support

  5. Identify how support programmes plan to meet development needs in the fields of early childhood, pre-primary, and primary education

Publication (in finnish)
 http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-287-606-5

Vainikainen, M.-P., Lintuvuori, M., Paananen, M., Eskelinen, M., Kirjavainen, T. Hienonen, N., Jahnukainen, M., Thuneberg, H., Asikainen, M., Suhonen, E., Alijoki, A., Sajaniemi, N., Reunamo, R., Keskinen, H-L. & Hotulainen, R. (2018). Oppimisen tuki varhaislapsuudesta toisen asteen siirtymään: tasa-arvon toteutuminen ja kehittämistarpeet. Valtioneuvoston selvitys- ja tutkimustoiminnan julkaisusarja, 55/2018. Valtioneuvoston kanslia.  

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