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Background: Inclusive education is a key policy in many countries, and the keypremise is that every child has an equal right to attend mainstream schooling toobtain the support needed to reach their educational goals. It is academically andsocially beneficial to educate pupils with disabilities and their peers together. The aimof this study is to examine how parents to children with Down Syndrome (DS)understand their child ́s future education and schooling, how they experience theirown sense of belonging as a parent in a school context and their perception of theirchild’s sense of belonging. These are some of the questions that this study asks theparents’ perception of their child’s sense of belonging in school.

Method: Semi-structured interviews with both parents (n=10) of five children with DSin mainstream preschool classes were conducted to assess their experiences ofbelonging and explore how they understood their children’s sense of belonging. Theinterviews were conducted via telephone due to the pandemic [covid-19] and lastedbetween 33-77 minutes. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and categorized.The study was inspired by three theoretical levels of the politics of belonging: (1)social location, (2) identification and emotional attachment and (3) ethical andpolitical values, which were used in the analysis.

Result: When talking about belonging, some of the participants expressed a sense ofbelonging to other parents in their child’s preschool class. Even though the parentsbelonged to the same social location as the other parents of children in the preschoolclass, they did not automatically feel sense of belonging with them. The parents’overall perception was that their children felt a sense of belonging in their preschoolclass, this perspective was based on the combined feedback of the parents and theschool staff. The stories collectively depicted a sense of belonging where the childrenwere not able to express this themselves, due to the children’s difficulties ofcommunicating. Before their children started in preschool class, the parents wereworried about how things would go for them. Most participants were treated well by418the principal and school staff; however, some reported poor dealings with principalswho were sceptical of and had preconceived notions about their decision to placetheir child in a mainstream school instead of a special school.

Conclusion: It is important to support parents to obtain a thorough understanding oftheir child’s academic and social development so that they can make informeddecisions about their children’s future education, and not be influenced by schoolstaff to choose the future schools for pupils with DS merely based on their children’sdiagnosis. The aim of the study is to contribute to an understanding of how toimprove a sense of belonging in pupils with DS in preschool classes by focusing onthe parents’ perspectives.

Collaborative case-based virtual learning was used with special teacher education students from Finland (N = 94) and Sweden (N = 59). The case was about consultation and was tailor-made to fit their studies. The case was used as a bridge between theoretical and practical studies, and consisted of videos of an imaginary school, which proceeded in the form of a narrative. The goals for the students were practicing challenging situations and critical thinking in small groups—a kind of artificial experience building. After completing the case, the students responded to a questionnaire about it. They evaluated the case positively as a new, inspiring method. Only a few critical comments were received, such as that there was too little time for deep discussion. The method of virtual learning seems to be a good, inspiring way to study in higher education, as an alternative to lectures. Other topics these students would like to study in a similar way were issues related to interaction and new professional skills, such as co-teaching or discussions with parents. The different aspects of this kind of virtual collaborative learning are discussed.

Focusing on a rural municipality in northern Finland, the aim of this study is to investigate educators’ thoughts and experiences with co-teaching. The data from 40 teachers were collected via an electronic questionnaire, and a mixed-methods approach was used. In the quantitative responses, the teachers positioned themselves as spokespeople for co-teaching, even though they had little experience with this teaching method. The written responses were condensed into four main themes: requirements, interpretations, inclusion and joy. Various requirements, such as more time for planning, better facilities to teach in and more training, were required before co-teaching could be executed. However, those who had co-taught expressed joy and improved wellbeing at work compared with their time teaching alone. Finally, the various themes of teachers’ experiences in relation to co-teaching are discussed.

Today, in Finland, the majority of hearing-impaired pupils attend regular schools. This is in line with inclusive policy. This study aims to investigate do these pupils receive support from teachers, what kind of support is given and how is inclusion functioning. A questionnaire was used with 109 Finnish teachers, with both closed- and open-ended questions. All teachers taught hearing-impaired pupils in mainstream education, at primary or at secondary stage. According to the results, the main support categories were pedagogical and technical support. However, 48% of teachers gave no support. Inclusion was successful according to teachers. Various forms of support and key areas of teaching are discussed.

This chapter reviews the educational policies in Finland and Scotland, including procedures to promote successful inclusion and special education, with a particular focus on teacher education and co-teaching. It explores how the rise of inclusion has affected policy, practice, and provision in Europe, using Finland and Scotland as core examples. In particular, the chapter discusses the changing landscape of special education in Europe, its impact on mainstream schools, and the implications for teacher education. In 2000, Scotland introduced the presumption of mainstreaming and inclusion for all children and young people. Within Scotland, the gradual inclusion of an increasing range of pupils in mainstream schools who would previously have been in segregated, special settings, has presented new challenges for teachers and teacher education. The development of inclusive pedagogy has become a significant element of teacher education. The chapter combines co-teaching and inclusive education by presenting a case study in more detail.

Tässä artikkelissa kuvataan, millaisia keinoja lukiolaiset rakentavat tarjotakseen koulussa ulkopuolisiksi jääville nuorille osallisuutta ja ryhmän jäsenyyttä. Tutkimusaineisto koostuu prosessidraaman aikana kuvatuista videonauhoista, neljän nuoren kirjoittamista vapaamuotoisista esseistä ja teemahaastatteluista. Teoreettinen tausta on kokemuksellisessa oppimisessa sekä inkluusiossa. Tulosten mukaan nuoret löysivät erilaisia keinoja tarjota osallisuutta ja motivoituivat sen tarjoamiseen oman syrjään jäämisen kokemuksensa siivittämänä. Nuoret kokivat, että ulkopuolisen positiosta on mahdollista päästä jäseneksi ja että vanhat roolit voivat muuttua. Nuorilla on valmiuksia antaa sosiaalista tukea luokkaryhmästä sivuun jääneelle oppilastoverille, ja he olivat halukkaita myös ennaltaehkäisemään ulkopuolisuuden kokemusta. Vastaajat positioivat itsensä osallisiksi.

In this article, we present a study of teachers’ experiences, specifically their own perception of their work over time with deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) pupils, in both Finland and Sweden. Teachers of DHH pupils are a minority amongst teachers in general, and also amongst special education teachers, because the number of DHH pupils is small. There seems to be a lack of research on experienced teachers’ own perspectives on their practice, their role and experience over time in teaching DHH pupils. The aim of our research is thus to shed light on the work career of experienced educators of DHH pupils and on the main changes in it. In order to understand the current situation of DHH education which is realised mainly in mainstream education today, we need to know its history as well. The research questions are formed as following: 1) What are the main issues that teachers bring up? 2) What elements are there in the teachers’ stories from different decades? A third minor interest is to determine whether the Finnish and Swedish teachers’ stories about their work differ. The narrative approach was chosen here to illustrate teachers’ experiences.

Tässä kerrotaan tutkimuksesta, jossa selvitettiin 29:n vaikeasti kuulovammaisen lapsen perheen valintoja. Perheet ovat täyttäneet kyselylomakkeen neljään kertaan kuuden vuoden aikana. Erityisesti tarkastellaan perheen kommunikaatiota ja tulevaisuuden odotuksia. Suurin osa perheistä valitsi lapselleen sisäkorvaistutteen ja sen mukana puhutun kielen. Jos perheessä oli kuulovammainen vanhempi, viittomakieli oli yksi perheen käyttämistä kielistä. Muutenkin viittominen eri muodoissa kulki puheen rinnalla lähes joka perheessä. Mukana olleista lapsista kolmasosalla oli kuulovamman lisäksi jokin muu vamma. Erityisesti näissä perheissä käytettiin puheen lisäksi jotain viittomisen varianttia tai viittomakieltä. Perheet eivät aina saaneet asiantuntijoilta tukea kielivalinnoilleen, viittomista arvosteltiin. Tavallinen päiväkotiryhmä ja yleisopetus olivat yleisiä valintoja, mutta osa halusi lapsensa erityisopetuksen pariin. Perheen piti toimia usein lapsensa asianajajana, asioiden hoitajana ja informanttina. Jo varhaisessa vaiheessa tarvittaisiin enemmän ja monipuolisempaa tietoa esimerkiksi eri kieli- ja kouluvaihtoehdoista, toisaalta kaivataan perheen tekemien valintojen kunnioitusta ja tukemista. Kuusivuotisen seurantatutkimuksen loppuvaiheessa suurimmalla osalla oli ainakin kaksi kieltä tai kielen muotoa käytössään, näistä kuitenkin puhuttu kieli oli dominoivana.