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This review focuses on studies on students' views of inclusive education in the field of educational research. The studies reviewed in this study focused on research conducted in inclusive comprehensive schools. A total of 62 studies published between 2006 and 2022 were included, in which both qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed, with questionnaires and interviews being the most commonly used data collection methods. In addition, the connection was examined between the study's theoretical foundation and students' rights through the analysis of citations related to the UN Conventions (CRPD or CRC) or the Salamanca Statement. The results of this review are divided into three themes: attitudes towards inclusive education, academic inclusion, and social inclusion, and further into subthemes examining the differences in attitudes between students with and without special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and elements promoting and inhibiting aspects of both academic and social inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study examined the metacognitive knowledge of Finnish comprehensive school students and explored whether grade-based differences in metacognitive knowledge exist among 6th, 7th and 9th graders. Integrating qualitative (declarative, procedural, conditional) and contextual (person, task, strategy) frameworks, the research aims for a comprehensive understanding. We employed mixed-methods approach; qualitative data from 225 student interviews underwent qualitative theory-driven analysis, followed by quantitative methods to explore variations and relationships. Results showed prevalent procedural and strategic metacognitive knowledge. Utterances on problem-solving often linked to task-specific knowledge, emphasising the need for a varied metacognitive knowledge set. 9th graders excelled in explaining strategy use, while 7th graders demonstrated proficiency in understanding when and why to employ specific strategies. Although a qualitative level approach can aid in understanding the development of metacognitive knowledge, combining qualitative and contextual conceptualisations provides a better overview of metacognitive knowledge. This study suggests that metacognitive knowledge-supporting elements are needed in math learning materials and teachers’ pedagogical actions.

This study contributes to the discussion of children's participation in educational practices. In particular we are interested from the moments that reach beyond formal modes of participation. For this purpose, we use the concept of micropolitics and examine happenings in which children's actions collide with everyday school practices and larger social and political surfaces. The data consist of one year-long ethnographic fieldwork produced in two Finnish comprehensive schools. Based on the analysis, we identified two different types of events – 'smooth' and 'sticky' – to which micropolitics entangled. Identifying these two types of events aids us in understanding the kinds of situations in which children have or do not have political power in their everyday school lives. Our analysis show that children take part in discussing wide societal issues, such as social class and local education policies, but it raises questions about the ability of schools as institutions to recognize children's initiatives. Based on the findings, we propose that the concept of micropolitics can be particularly useful in understanding why some modes of participation become difficult and stay hidden while others are easier to recognize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACTThis study contributes to the discussion of children’s participation in educational practices. In particular we are interested from the moments that reach beyond formal modes of participation. For this purpose, we use the concept of micropolitics and examine happenings in which children’s actions collide with everyday school practices and larger social and political surfaces. The data consist of one year-long ethnographic fieldwork produced in two Finnish comprehensive schools. Based on the analysis, we identified two different types of events – ‘smooth’ and ‘sticky’ – to which micropolitics entangled. Identifying these two types of events aids us in understanding the kinds of situations in which children have or do not have political power in their everyday school lives. Our analysis show that children take part in discussing wide societal issues, such as social class and local education policies, but it raises questions about the ability of schools as institutions to recognize children’s initiatives. Based on the findings, we propose that the concept of micropolitics can be particularly useful in understanding why some modes of participation become difficult and stay hidden while others are easier to recognize.

This article sheds new light on the Swedish comprehensive school reform implemented in the 1960s (the Grundskolan reform) and the four decades preceding the reform. This reform was typical for the Nordic countries. The presented study concerns reforms in mathematics education and how change was initiated and driven before and during the comprehensive school reform. The analysis has a focus on the role of textbooks in educational governance. The analysis is based on Bourdieu’s field theory and concerns how a new way of preparing and driving reforms of school subjects restructured relationships between the state, textbook producers, and teachers. This article is mainly a synthesis of results from several previous studies on governance of Swedish mathematics education. The analysis reveals not only a new characteristic of the comprehensive school reform (swift and radical rather than slow and successive), but also a bottom-up movement in the school system, which has been commonly understood as top-down, very centralised, and slow moving. The results of the analysis help explain why the Swedish comprehensive school reform gained early acceptance and momentum. Another contribution of this article concerns historical textbook research, particularly regarding how fundamental changes in authorship of textbooks (from visible individual authors to anonymous collectives) can be related to educational governance and changes in power structures.

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The article discusses the need for socio-pedagogial activities in schools of Armenia and the existing problems in this area. The article substantiates the expediency of expanding the content of activities and duties of social pedagogues working in general education schools of the Republic of Armenia, as well as in regional pedagogical and psychological centers. In fact, they are included only in work with children with special educational needs. However, the main content of the work of a social pedagogue in a comprehensive school should be aimed at solving the problems of socialization of all schoolchildren. In the article, we proposed indicators, standards, a formula combining qualitative and quantitative indicators, which ensure the measurability and objectivity of the assessment of the quality of socio-pedagogical activities. The article presents the methods for evaluating the quality of social-pedagogical activity in the public schools of Armenia. We have created three standards and the ten criteria for evaluating the quality of social-pedagogical activity. The methodology for assessing the quality of socio-pedagogical activity presented in the article is universal, in the case of adapting standards and indicators, it can be applied in almost all areas of activity of the social pedagogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores music teachers' beliefs of student agency in whole-class playing and investigates what characterises student agency through teachers' values, actions and observations within this unique multimodal and -dimensional learning environment. Our abductive analysis of 11 interviews reveals that the role of teacher support is significant in enacting students' agency. This study provides insights into student agency through the eyes and actions of teachers within the context of whole-class playing and suggests that the enactment of different aspects of student agency is an essential feature necessary for whole-class playing to succeed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis uses a unique series of surveys of school students in Scotland, covering the whole of the second half of the twentieth century, to investigate whether educational reforms can reduce inequalities of educational progress and attainment, and the role of school history in mediating these intentions. This period included the policy reforms that ended selection for public-sector schools between the mid-1960s and the early 1980s. Information on school attended enables the analysis to investigate whether and how the histories of schools interact with national policy. The main conclusions are that inequality of attainment and progression fell throughout the half century, but that the change was slow. Although policy may have created the conditions under which this equalisation took place, it probably was not its main cause, and the ways in which policy had its impact was modified by schools' histories. The paper also illustrates the ways in which a series of surveys can be used to understand social change, and the compromises which have to be made to achieve comparability over a long period of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A unique series of surveys of school leavers in Scotland (1952-98) is used to investigate long-term developments in the transition of young people from school. Transitions changed greatly in the half century, and varied by sex and socio-economic status. School attainment became increasingly important in giving school leavers access to post-school education, especially for female students and for students of low socio-economic status (SES). For low-SES and medium-SES students of both sexes, attainment also was important in gaining access to employment throughout the period. There was no evidence that the ending of selection into different kinds of secondary school had any immediate effect on transitions to education, training, or employment. However, there was evidence that reform to the school curriculum in the 1980s may have increased the proportions entering employment with or without training among low-SES students with relatively high attainment. At the same time, leavers with low attainment in that core curriculum benefited from the development of short, specifically vocational courses, though to a decreasing extent in the 1990s. Leavers who did not follow any such courses, and who had no core attainment, continued to face very difficult transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Finland, services aimed at supporting the well-being of young people and their families are fragmented. This research explores the expectations of young people and parents and carers concerning the well-being of young people and their perceptions of the school’s role in supporting young people. The research was conducted in the form of a survey addressed to ninth-graders (N=440) and parents and carers (N=289) in Finnish Lapland in 2018. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed on the data. The results show that most students from families with unsupportive family atmosphere and parenting did not wish to seek help. Still, among the whole study population, most of the young people experienced school as a natural place to receive extensive support for well-being. Both students and parents and carers wanted school to be a low-threshold place with various professionals who see, hear and support the students as needed. However, the challenge is to develop services that help struggling families. It would be necessary to invest in the development of collaborative, multi-agent school cultures that nurture students’ initiative and engagement. We call this approach sustainable well-being which means working continuously to build trust and support for young people every day.

In this article, we examine the experiences of students in the ninth grade (aged 15–16 years) in relation to harassment, discrimination and racism. The study was carried out at eight Finnish lower secondary schools with a high proportion of students with an immigrant background in 2015. The sample consisted of survey data (n = 445) and thematic interviews (n = 112) conducted with young people of Finnish and immigrant origins. Approximately one-quarter of the respondents said that they had been harassed or discriminated against at schools, and one-tenth had experienced this behaviour in their free time. In addition, almost half of the young people thought that discrimination is widespread in Finland. The more often a student experienced discrimination, the less they liked school. Experiences of harassment, discrimination and racism were especially downplayed when the respondent was the target.

Recently, the use of information and communications technology (ICT) at school has been extensively increased in Finland. This study investigated whether the use of ICT at school is linked to students ‘learning outcomes in Finland. We used the Finnish PISA 2015 data (N=5037). Cognitive learning outcomes (i.e. science, mathematics, reading, collaborative problem-solving) were evaluated with computer-based tests. ICT use at school, ICT availability at school, and students’ perceived ICT competence were assessed with self-rating questionnaires. Frequent ICT use at school predicted students’ weaker performance in all the cognitive learning outcomes, when adjusted for age, gender, parental socioeconomic status, students’ ICT competence, and ICT availability at school. Further, the effect of ICT use on learning outcomes was more negative in students with higher than lower ICT skills. Frequent use of ICT at school appears to be linked to weaker cognitive learning outcomes in Finland. This may be explained by working memory overload and task-switching during the use of digital technologies. This finding also suggests that even though students with ICT skills are good at mechanical use of digital device, they may not have abilities for a goal-oriented and self-directed use of digital technologies that could promote their learning.

Copyright of International Journal of Educational Psychology is the property of International Journal of Educational Psychology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of the study is to investigate and compare approaches to algebra in the Estonian, Finnish, and Swedish national core curricula (Grades 1–9). Despite the similarities in the school systems of these neighboring countries, the analysis reveals three quite different curricular approaches. The Estonian approach shows influences of the Russian Davydov School. The Finnish approach to some extent resembles the traditional one whereby algebra is addressed first at the lower secondary level and then in a formal manner. However, there are also characteristics typical of the functional view, which dominates the Swedish curriculum. Here, as opposed to the documents from the other two countries, a transition to more formal sophisticated methods at the secondary level is not visible at all. We discuss the results in relation to earlier research and students' different learning outcomes in light of international evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a theory explaining the impact of ability tracking on academic performance based on grading policies. Our model distinguishes between initial ability, which is mainly determined by parental background, and eagerness to learn. We show that achievements of low ability students may be higher in a comprehensive school system, even if there are neither synergy effects nor interdependent preferences among classmates. This arises because the comprehensive school sets a compromise standard which exceeds the standard from the low ability track. Moreover, if students with lower initial ability have a higher eagerness to learn, merging classes will increase the average performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent European and global trends in education have been to promote inclusive education and expand education, resulting in the increased provision of special education. In promoting inclusive education, recent special education reforms have also aimed to curtail the rise in identification rates for students in special education, for example, by focusing more on early support and discontinuing fiscal incentives to identify students with special educational needs. Using official special education statistics, we studied how Finland's special education system reforms changed the share of students in special education. In addition, we examined variations in special education provisions among municipalities before and after the reforms, and identified municipal-level predictors of variations. This study utilised piecewise linear latent growth curve modelling to analyse changes, thereby providing an example of how this method can be applied in policy reform studies. The results indicated, in particular, that the funding reform has incentivised municipalities to decrease identification rates for students in special education and to diminish special education provision. However, different municipalities have different special education provisions and have changed these provisions in varied ways. In particular, we found that small and large municipalities differ in special education practices and reform implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology is the property of Editorial of the University of Almeria (Spain) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Living in the territory of Far North (and in the equated territories) has its specificity which is reflected in all aspects of life of the population. The authors consider natural and climatic features of the Polar region and the specifics of labor’s process of locals (by the example of teachers). The review of statistics and educational policy of authorities of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District is carried out, the results of sociological research of teachers of the region are presented (questionnaire). The analysis of periods of living of the population at the Far North is presented, the degree of social rootedness of teachers is defined, the assessment of the main factors determining the interest of migrants to work at northern school and the main motives of moving to Far North is presented. The materials of a sociological research show in general the satisfactory estimates by teaching, conditions and quality of life that allow to predict their further fixing in the territory of the District, the dynamic and sustainable development of the autonomous District. The received results are applicable in the activity of governing bodies of the general education.

This article investigates the composition of the Norwegian lower secondary school curriculum with a special emphasis on pre-vocational education from a contemporary perspective. The data consist of four official national curricula enacted from the 1970s until the present. Despite differences between the curricula, the main structure of school subjects has remained stable over time. Norwegian lower secondary school curricula mainly include academic subjects, even though pre-vocational education is, to varying degrees, present in all curricula, especially amongst elective subjects. This consolidated position of academic subjects results in a consistency in the composition of the curriculum. Curriculum change is most likely to happen amongst electives and is related to changes in policy making and societal changes. Pre-vocational education is mainly included in the first and current curriculum contrary to the second and third curriculum. These findings indicate that the international policy agenda and its emphasis on the relevance of education through stressing the linkage between education and the world of work only has a minor impact on Norwegian curricula. Further, the allocation of teaching hours shows that the status of pre-vocational subjects is low compared to that of academic subjects. International policies emphasizing basic skills strengthen the academic subjects even further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on teachers' written memories of Finland's comprehensive school reform in the 1970s and examines teachers' reminiscences of this major change, when elementary (primary) schools and lower secondary (grammar) schools were transformed into comprehensive schools, thereby guaranteeing nine-year basic education with a unified curriculum for all pupils. The teachers' written memories are part of the larger national collection of school memories arranged in 2013 by two academic societies. This study's focus lies in these teachers' highly sensitive, grass-roots level personal perspectives. The teachers' narratives comprised vivid and concrete memories in which they recalled the past nostalgically and in detail. In the reminiscences, the change in the education system was noted and even analysed in a versatile way, but at the same time, the reform was viewed as merely one episode occurring during these teachers' individual life paths. The writers emphasised the reform's positive aspects and did not interpret contradictions as overwhelming, although some narratives included reminiscences in which the disputes from that period were crystallised. The collective narrative in the accounts transformed from uncertainty and contradictions at the beginning of the comprehensive school reform to favourableness and positive attitudes toward the new education system after the transition period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we examine the experiences of students in the ninth grade (aged 15–16 years) in relation to harassment, discrimination and racism. The study was carried out at eight Finnish lower secondary schools with a high proportion of students with an immigrant background in 2015. The sample consisted of survey data (n = 445) and thematic interviews (n = 112) conducted with young people of Finnish and immigrant origins. Approximately one-quarter of the respondents said that they had been harassed or discriminated against at schools, and one-tenth had experienced this behaviour in their free time. In addition, almost half of the young people thought that discrimination is widespread in Finland. The more often a student experienced discrimination, the less they liked school. Experiences of harassment, discrimination and racism were especially downplayed when the respondent was the target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One-to-one educational model of mobile learning at school is essential part of Innovative education reform and modernization of Russian educational system [1]. This study provides analysis of integrating technology in Russian schools by taking a close look at how laptops were used in the classrooms on a daily basis. And how the laptops and information resources had become a daily part of learning in the classroom that in turn supported changes in the overall learning.

In recent years Finnish comprehensive education has often been discussed in both, academic and public forums, in terms of its relatively high learning outcomes and perceived efficiency. Yet what has often been lacking in cross-country comparisons is a critical socio-historical analysis of contingent nation-specific events and features as well as an in-depth analysis of Finnish education politics as constantly changing dynamic system. We analyze and reconstruct the discursive narrative of Finnish comprehensive education within a socio-historical framework. The material consists of interviews with the establishment of Finnish education: politicians, leading policy-makers and stakeholders, and established scholars (n=9). Three periods were recognized and reconstructed in the analysis: 1) The pre-comprehensive school period, 2) a steady development culminating in the crisis of the 1990s, and 3) the PISA results, which in the narrative led to international success and national gridlock. The crucial changes relate to changes in audiences (performing game). Two key findings emerge from this discursive narrative analyses: the role of the PISA reports as a turning point for the basic education politics in Finland and how this turn led to a discussion of comprehensive school as a kind of success story. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shena Simon (1883–1972), a leading English socialist and educationist, actively called for the reform of secondary education in the 1930s and 1940s in order to bring the ideal of ‘equality of opportunity’ into the English educational system. This paper explores the continuity and changes in Simon’s proposed reforms in relation to her ideals of social democracy from the appearance of the Spens Report (1938) to the publication of her book,Three Schools or One?(1948). In addition, Simon’s transnational visits to the Soviet Union, the USA and Scotland, as well as the impact of her international and comparative perspectives on different educational systems on her policy agenda, are also examined. It concludes that as many policy issues shown in the current paper continue to be debated, Simon’s democratic ideals and discourses are still relevant in the present and suggest implications for the future of secondary education in England. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Different knowledge types have their own specific features and tasks in the learning process. Procedural knowledge is used in craft and technology education when students solve problems individually and share their working knowledge with others. This study presents a detailed analysis of a one student's learning process in technology education and the procedural knowledge used during learning tasks. Thus, procedural knowledge is mainly produced when acting, and includes students' goal-directed actions related to the craft, design and technology processes and their learning content. These knowledge practices also include multiple interactions with teachers and other students. The findings show six different knowledge practices: observing, checking and asking, revising, guided representative action, self-directed representative action, and comprehended action. These knowledge practices actively relate to each other, and, in concert, they constitute chains of actions that constitute two different types of procedural knowledge: proactive knowledge and executive knowledge. We conclude by discussing how these knowledge practices can be used to develop our understanding of the teaching and learning of craft, design and technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of the profession-oriented teaching in the general high school. The author sees this process as stimulated by emerging competition of youth on a labor market. The standards and legal base for professional orientation in high schools were set by the Law “On General High Education”, the National doctrine for development of education and directly by the Concept of Subject-Oriented Instruction. The latter document elaborates basic principles of subject-profiling in high school and specifies training profiles (social and humanities, mathematical, art and esthetic, sports). The author indicates that profile education isn’t new to this education system and provides a historical overview of profile training (classical and real gymnasium of ХІХ century, labor schools in Soviet period). On the basis of statistical data about the process of the initial stage of introduction of profile training in high schools, its further prospects and problems are analyzed.

- Future in the Past. Progressive Education and the Future of School -The article available deals with the future potential of progressive education. It proves that school criticism as well as many educational concepts of progressive education are highly topical and of future relevance to / relevant to the future of / the present (-day) society. The Democratic Progressive Education, in particular, contains fundamental references to the future / fundamental features relating to the future which should be used for a democratic reorganization of the educational system.

OBJECTIVES: We examined whether having a high percentage of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in basic education schools increases the risk of sickness absence among teachers and whether this risk is dependent on the pupil–teacher ratio (PTR), an indicator of teacher resources at school. METHODS: We obtained register data on 8089 teachers working in 404 schools in 10 municipalities in Finland during the school year 2004–2005. We used multilevel multinomial regression models to examine the risk of teachers’ short- and long-term sickness absence in relation to the percentage of SEN pupils and the PTR at school. We tested the equality of trends in groups with high and low PTR using PTR × SEN interaction term. RESULTS: After adjustment for teacher and school characteristics, the risk for long-term absences was higher among teachers at schools with a high percentage of SEN pupils than among teachers at schools with a low percentage of SEN pupils [odds ratio (OR) 1.5, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.2–1.8). This was also the case for short-term absences (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.2–1.7). In analyses stratified by the PTR levels, the association between the percentage of SEN pupils and long-term absences was 15% higher among teachers with a high PTR than among those with a low PTR (P for interaction=0.10). CONCLUSIONS: Teachers’ sickness absenteeism seems to increase with a higher percentage of SEN pupils, especially when the PTR is high. Teacher resources at schools that have a high percentage of SEN pupils should be well maintained to ensure the health of teachers.

Las culturas escolares finlandesa y española presentan rasgos diferenciales propios que explican la excelencia específica lograda por cada uno de estos sistemas educativos. Influenciada por Alemania, la Unión Soviética y Suecia, la educación finlandesa revela un notable conservadurismo pedagógico que, unido a la gran madurez del consenso social y a la homogeneidad social y educativa de este país, ha conducido a un éxito sin precedentes del modelo de la escuela comprensiva en este país, a la disposición de una clase docente de gran excelencia, y a elevadas cotas de rendimiento escolar en las destrezas clave. La educación española, por su parte, está aún embarcada en la resolución de algunas cuestiones históricas de índole administrativa y organizativa. Pese a la mayor polaridad social y política existente en nuestro país, la educación española ha conseguido cotas notables en aspectos educativos como la equidad, la gran provisión de educación infantil, la integración escolar, la educación intercultural y, aunque se trata de un ámbito que precisa de mayor difusión y presencia en el debate educativo de la sociedad española, se ha revelado particularmente excelente en los procesos educativos y resultados desarrollados en la red de centros que conforman la denominada acción educativa de España en el exterior.Finnish and Spanish schooling cultures reveal specific and differencial features that explain the particular excellence achieved by each of these educational systems.Influenced by Germany, the Soviet Union and Sweden, Finnish education shows a considerable pedagogical conservadurism that, together with the great maturity of the social consensus and with the social and educational homogeinity of this country, have lead to a great success ofthe model of the comprehensive school in this country, to the development of an excellent teaching force, and to a high student achievement in key skills. Spanish education is still dealing with the resolution of certain historical administrative and organizative issues. In spite of the greatersocial and political polarity present in our country, the Spanish education has achieved notable results in issues such as equity, the extended provision of preschool education,school integration, intercultural education, and has revealed a special excellence in the education and performance of the teaching processes developed in the Spanish foreign educational policy.

Various changes are taking place in Lithuanian comprehensive schools in recent years. Not all of them can be considered positive and making the system’s work effective. The changes taking place encourage natural interest in them. It is necessary not only to fix the current state, but to search for the ways how to optimize the changes taking place and to control them. Education is a complex, manifold phenomenon, the researches of which are complicated and complex as well. In this article Lithuanian comprehensive school senior class pupils’ position on current education questions is analysed: preparation and teaching/learning process evaluation, the identification of advantages and disadvantages of education system and other. It is revealed how Lithuanian comprehensive school pupils value current education system, teacher provided knowledge quality and ability to prepare students for further studies at universities and other higher schools.