Finland

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Education

Educational Structure

The Basic Education Law (1998) says, related to integration (17 §), that “Pupil, who has slight learning or adaptation problems, has right to have special education integrated to mainstream education. ... if a pupil can not be taught normally due to a disability, disease, delay in development or a disorder in emotional life or for some other reason, she/he should be given special education (S.E.). S.E. has to be organised integrated to normal teaching or otherwise in a special class or other place convenient for the purpose."

It also gives some clear obligations to municipalities. Here is a short extract from those concerning support:
(3 §) “The teaching has to be organized according to pupils age-level and abilities. In teaching there has to be co-operation with families.” The statute of this law (15 §) adds, that "before a pupil is moved to special education there hasto be negotiations with family" and some (medic/psychol...) investigations as well.
(31 §) “Teaching and all the books, tools, materials and other stuff needed in education are free for a pupil. A pupil with disability or in need with other special support has in addition to this a right to get the services that make it possible to participate in the education free of charge. These services are: interpretation and transportation services, other teaching and pupil care services, special helping aids and the services that will be organized according to paragraph 39.”
(39 §) Taking care of the supportive tasks of special education "The ministry involved can decide, that the organizer of education has to take care ... ... of rehabilitation given associated with special education and developmental- , instructive- and supportive tasks that are connected with special education" (In practise this means at the moment, that there are three special schools in the country, where pupil get accommodation, conditioning etc services that the state pays (the school applies and the Ministry of Education decides).

There are 8 state owned special schools in Finland; three of them are for physically handicapped children, two for visually handicapped and three for children with hearing impairment:

Jyväskylä school for visually impaired
The school of Lohipato (physically impaired kids)
Mikael school (hearing impairment)
The swedish (language) school for visually impaired
The school of Merikartano (hearing impairment)

Physical Education

Physical education (P.E.) is compulsory in all basic education schools; also in special schools and special classes. In many cases P.E. lessons are integrated, but it depends on parents, child, teacher, school etc. So there are integrated P.E. lessons in regular schools.
There are 264 special schools in Finland. Very many, almost all of these are physically integrated to regular schools. They function in the same buildings or nearby buildings to regular schools. In addition, to this most regular schools have some kind of special education unit (mostly for intellectual and/or behavioural reasons).
In some cases a teacher can free a pupil from P.E. lessons and use physiotherapy as a substitute, but this is not A.P.A. This is to decide in the school with the pupil, teacher, parents, physiotherapist, counsellor… The tendency however has strongly been not to free students from P.E. lessons.
In general the pupils with disability can participate local inter-school competitions. There are also competitions between special schools for physically handicapped. These are organized by Finnish Association of Sports for the Disabled.

Every student has the right to physical education. Physical education programs that successful include all students are also, by definition, adapted physical education. There is no self-evident reason to make a distinction between quality physical education and adapted physical education. Physical education is intended for all students equally: from the more skilful tot the less skilful, for students with special needs, and for students from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The deployment of appropriate physical education can be modified to suit students with special needs. Physical education teachers are responsible for providing quality physical education that is based on the individual needs and skills of students, and in which all students can successfully participate. Through the use of appropriate teaching techniques, the content of physical education can be modified to suit all students with special needs.
Inclusive physical education was recommended by the delegates attending the World Summit on Physical Education in the Berlin Agenda and Call for Action (November 5, 1999) approved for distribution to the leaders of governments, international and national associations overseeing physical education and sport throughout the world.
(Physical education for all. A national in-service teacher training project in Finland. P. Heikinaro-Johansson & T. Huovinen)

Education for trainers/ teachers

Studies in APA
Pre-school: All the students have 7,5 credits basic P.E. This can include about 5 hours A.P.A. There is a possibility to choose extra P.E. course, which is 3 credits. 1 credit of this deals with A.P.A.
Primary : The P.E. studies that are obligatory for everyone ranges from 3 to 7,5 credits. No A.P.A. for granted. A teacher-student can choose to have specializing studies in P.E. These studies, which take 22,5 credits, can include 1,5 credits of A.P.A. A teacher-student can choose as well P.E. to her/his minor subject. These studies take 66 credits, and they can include 3 credits of A.P.A. If a primary school teacher studies more to become a teacher in special school, these studies include 4,5 credits of A.P.A.
Secondary: All studies have 4,5 credits (if P.E. is major subject) or 3 credits (if minor subjects) A.P.A. In addition to this the infusion philosophy is used e.g., in pedagogical studies and themes of A.P.A. are included in some obligatory courses, like health education or sports medicine. Specializing studies are 30 credits and if a student writes master’s thesis concerning A.P.A., this is another 21 credits.

Education for teachers in adapted winter sports: European winter school
The European Winter School in Sport Sciences is a new SOCRATES-programme organized by the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Jyvaskyla in cooperation with four European Universities (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Belgium, Gesamthochschule Essen Germany, Université de Strasbourg France, University of Edinburgh UK). The Winter School includes a variety of intensive courses and seminars on different topics concerning education and research of this field. The programme is divided into a basic module and special modules. Students can choose to apply for just one module or a combination of basic module and special modules. The course includes lectures and practical lessons as well as preparation of an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for the challenged child. During the week Winter school-students worked as teachers and paraprofessionals with the challenged pupils from every target group.
(European winter school in sport sciences. Teaching adaptive skiing. Terhi Huovinen & Pauli Rintala)

"Physical education for all"
This is a national project. It concerns a teacher-training program for physical educators, classroom teachers, special education teachers, kindergarten teachers and others related. It comprises 4,5 ECTS.

Other interesting links

The information database on education systems in Europe