D4 Published development or research report or study
Eriyttäminen ja joustavat opetusjärjestelyt osana oppimisen ja koulunkäynnin tukea perusopetuksessa (2024)
Differentiation and flexible teaching arrangements as part of support in learning and school attendance in primary and lower secondary education

Kamppi, P., Rumpu, N., Huhtanen, M., Jokinen, M., Kartimo-Kröger, S., Roiha, A., Rämä, I., & Sjöström, M. (2024). Eriyttäminen ja joustavat opetusjärjestelyt osana oppimisen ja koulunkäynnin tukea perusopetuksessa. Kansallinen koulutuksen arviointikeskus. Julkaisut / Kansallinen koulutuksen arviointikeskus, 15/2024. https://www.karvi.fi/fi/julkaisut/eriyttaminen-ja-joustavat-opetusjarjestelyt-osana-oppimisen-ja-koulunkaynnin-tukea-perusopetuksessa

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Kamppi, Päivi; Rumpu, Niina; Huhtanen, Mari; Jokinen, Marko; Kartimo-Kröger, Susanna; Roiha, Anssi; Rämä, Irene; Sjöström, Mari

eISBN: 978-952-206-874-3

Journal or series: Julkaisut / Kansallinen koulutuksen arviointikeskus

ISSN: 2342-4176

eISSN: 2342-4184

Publication year: 2024

Publication date: 25/10/2024

Number in series: 15/2024

Number of pages in the book: 246

Publisher: Kansallinen koulutuksen arviointikeskus

Publication country: Finland

Publication language: Finnish

Persistent website address: https://www.karvi.fi/fi/julkaisut/eriyttaminen-ja-joustavat-opetusjarjestelyt-osana-oppimisen-ja-koulunkaynnin-tukea-perusopetuksessa

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published: http://hdl.handle.net/10138/587368

Additional information: Sammandrag: Differentiering och flexibla undervisningsarrangemang som en del av stödet för lärande och skolgång i den grundläggande utbildningen

Abstract

The Finnish Education Evaluation Centre carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of differentiation and flexible teaching arrangements between 2022 and 2024. The objective of the evaluation was to examine how well differentiation and flexible teaching arrangements can support learning and school attendance, how effective differentiation and flexible teaching arrangements are from the perspective of pedagogy and the work of teaching staff, and how differentiation and flexible teaching arrangements or learning support should be developed or changed. The results of the evaluation are based on a sample-based survey of 86 education providers carried out in spring 2023. The sample included 200 Finnish-language and 20 Swedish-language schools that were selected with the aim of ensuring the inclusion of schools with different numbers of pupils as well as primary schools, lower secondary schools and comprehensive schools. The survey was responded to by 55 heads of education, 178 principals, 831 teaching assistants and 2,636 class, subject or special needs teachers from grades 1, 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9. Support in learning and school attendance consists of general, intensified and special support. At schools, support is implemented through various methods of differentiation and flexible teaching arrangements, such as remedial instruction, the amount and difficulty level of exercises, pupil grouping or special education. In this evaluation, differentiation and flexible teaching arrangements were mainly examined in the context of intensified and special support. According to the evaluation, the need for support in learning and school attendance had increased. School staff reported that providing support in learning and school attendance in an equal, timely and preventive manner was challenging, and the support was not realised in the way necessitated by the national core curriculum. Differentiation and flexible teaching arrangements were more effective at responding to support needs related to learning than support needs related to school attendance. Schools were able to more effectively support pupils in need of general support than pupils in need of intensified or special support. Approximately two out of five teachers were able to effectively support pupils receiving intensified support through differentiation and flexible teaching arrangements, while only one out of three teachers were able to effectively support pupils in need of special support. For these pupil groups, the pupils’ right to support and equal treatment seemed to be inadequately realised. The capacity to offer different forms of support also varied between resources. The evaluation did not provide a clear picture of how pedagogical needs are taken into consideration in the determination of school staffing needs or in decisions on the numbers of special needs teachers and teaching assistants. Teaching staff also highlighted the importance of allocating sufficient resources for student welfare, social welfare and health care services to ensure that the increasing school attendance challenges of pupils can be tackled. Based on the evaluation results, flexible teaching arrangements were facilitated by multiprofessional cooperation within the school, management support, the atmosphere of the working community and good personal relations. Flexible teaching arrangements were hindered by factors related to staff turnover, school premises and human resources. The majority of teachers, principals and teaching assistants felt that their schools did not have enough staff to implement support in learning and school attendance. Teachers and principals also felt that the skills that they had gained from teacher and principal training were insufficient for meeting the needs of different pupils. The development of special pedagogy skills was therefore seen as important for all teaching staff. Survey respondents hoped that in future, flexible teaching arrangements could be supplemented with more adequate support services for learning and school attendance, opportunities to group pupils in different ways, more places for pupils in small groups and special classes and more effective means of supporting school attendance. Furthermore, respondents hoped for changes in the structures regulating the job descriptions of teachers and teaching assistants, such as the lesson hour quota, the numbers of lessons, joint planning time, pay, split and parallel lessons, the job descriptions and terms of employment of different groups of teachers, common practices and pedagogical management. According to the evaluation results, different personnel groups in the education sector had highly differing views on the realisation of support in learning and school attendance at schools. Developing operations requires the establishment of a shared view of the current situation. In order to develop a more participatory operating culture and improve differentiation and flexible teaching arrangements, there needs to be discussion between different personnel groups on the reasons behind the major difference in views and how they could be narrowed. Based on the results of the evaluation, the following development recommendations were made: 1. Changes to the support system The needs for support in learning and school attendance have increased. Based on the results of this evaluation, support in learning and school attendance is not being realised through differentiation and flexible teaching arrangements in the way required by the national core curriculum. As such, the support in learning and school attendance system should be reformed so that all pupils can be provided with the support that they need. • At the national level, the guidelines and criteria for the implementation of the support should be clarified and the implementation and effectiveness of the support should be monitored through evaluations based on the self-evaluation obligation of education providers, for example. • Education providers should develop their guidelines and procedures related to the anticipation, mapping and monitoring of support in learning and school attendance and regularly monitor the realisation of support as part of their quality management. In order to ensure the equal treatment of pupils, the national document templates of support in learning and school attendance as well as related guidelines should be clarified at the national level, and education providers should be encouraged to use them. • At the national level, – more effective ways of organising support in learning and school attendance in the subject teaching of lower secondary schools should be developed – the provision of intensified support or corresponding support and its practical implementation should be ensured in a clearer manner. • In order to provide sufficient support in accordance with the inclusion principle, the resources of teaching staff, teaching assistants and student welfare should be strengthened and the flow of information between these parties should be developed. 2. Operating culture and flow of information In order to develop support in learning and school attendance, the operating culture of schools should be managed with the aim of making it more inclusive. Improving the flow of information and preconditions for cooperation between teachers is of key importance to this effort. • Education providers should self-evaluate and develop their education management systems from the perspective of ensuring effective flow of information in regard to support in learning and school attendance. • In order to create a common understanding, the dialogue between school staff and the management about the quality and solutions of support in learning and school attendance should be increased. In particular, joint discussion is needed on the operating culture and pedagogy of schools and on the allocation of available resources. • In order to promote operating culture, co-teaching and pair work, staff should be provided with sufficient time for cooperation and the planning thereof. • Education providers should ensure that information on pupils’ support needs is transferred between the different stages of primary and lower secondary education. At the national level, ways should be developed to ensure that the information contained in support in learning and school attendance documents follows the pupil as they transition from lower secondary to upper secondary education. • From the perspective of the support offered to pupils and the communal operating culture of schools, it is important to ensure that teaching assistants receive a sufficient amount of information about pupils’ support needs in order to carry out their jobs effectively. 3. Differentiation and flexible teaching arrangements The planning, implementation and evaluation of teaching should be based on differentiated and flexible pedagogy. • The national core curriculum for primary and lower secondary education should more clearly explain the basics, objectives and benefits of differentiation and flexible teaching arrangements. In order to support the work of teachers, support material is needed on the procedures and good practices of differentiation and flexible teaching arrangements. • In order to promote flexible teaching arrangements, schools should increase parallel lessons in different subjects where possible. This would improve the possibilities for co-teaching for subject teachers, in particular. In order to implement differentiation, the possibility of grouping pupils in different ways within classes or between grades must be ensured in future as well. Grouping can be carried out on the basis of interests, working preferences, social relationships or skills, for example. However, groupings need to be flexible so that the need for support and the criteria for grouping are regularly assessed. • From the perspective of integration and the success of the local school principle it is important to develop ways to promote flexible teaching arrangements and differentiation so that pupils’ different needs and opportunities to progress according to their skills can be taken into account with the help of additional support or differentiation up, for example. It is also crucial to ensure the availability and functioning of materials and facilities supporting differentiation. 4. Competence development The diversity of pupils must be taken into account in a cross-cutting manner in all training aimed at the various personnel groups of the education sector. • The calls of teaching staff for practical and concrete models for interacting with and supporting different types of pupils and for planning differentiation and flexible teaching arrangements should be acknowledged in teacher and principal training and continuing education in an evidence-based manner. The implementation of these models could be carried out by utilising tutor activities or mentoring, for example. • Teacher training should provide more opportunities to practice co-teaching and multiprofessional working. • Students studying to become teachers should undergo a sufficient amount of teaching practice to support the transition to working life. To promote more varied teaching practice, super-vised teaching practice should be carried out extensively at different types of schools. • The importance of teaching assistants has increased at schools, so the importance of completing a teaching assistant qualification should be emphasised and attention should be paid to the continuous development of the competence of teaching assistants.

Keywords: evaluation; primary and lower secondary education; teaching and instruction; differentiation (teaching methods); curricula; flexibility; school attendance; supporting; remedial teaching; special support; pedagogy; teaching staff

Free keywords: flexible teaching arrangements; support in learning and school attendance; general support; intensified support

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2024