The Profile of the Primary School Teacher in Inclusive Education from the Finnish Experience

Abstract

The paper addresses the issue of the primary school teacher in the context of inclusive education in Finland. The aim of the research is to create a real profile of the Finnish teacher with an emphasis on finding out what is behind the quality of inclusive education in Finland and how these findings can improve inclusive education and the teaching profession in a broader context. The key aim is to create a profile of a primary school teacher in inclusive education, i.e., a description of the teacher, his/her conception of educational processes, competences and real conditions that the teacher needs for his/her work in a heterogeneous classroom. To achieve the goal, a qualitative case study design was chosen, where the case is understood as a primary school teacher against the background of inclusive education - the total number of participants is 10 primary school teachers. Content and thematic analysis of the sources were chosen as the main methods to secure data, and the findings were used to inform further reflection and the development of semi-structured interviews and observations. The first round of data processing used case studies of individual participants, which were subsequently supplemented by data obtained by axial coding. Subsequently, a profile of a Finnish primary school teacher was created. The results show that the professional teacher has a positive attitude towards inclusive education; uses a variety of teaching strategies leading to active involvement of the students; is involved in his/her professional development and the development of the school as a community; uses individualization and differentiation in his/her work; and is part of a multidisciplinary team. A necessary component is the development of an understanding of inclusive education with societal overlap and the creation of a professional framework or standard as part of teacher professional development with a focus on softskills.