A Small Special Needs Class or a Smaller Class at the Beginning of the Educational Path?

Abstract

This article is based on the case study which focuses on the small class (in this article used to describe a small special needs class) operation of one medium-sized Finnish town. In the study an attempt was made to clarify what kind of alternative the small class is to the first grade of general education at the beginning of the child's educational path, what kind of experiences the teachers had of the pupils of the small class, of multi-vocational cooperation and of pupils' integration and success in general education. The results of the study showed that a large part of the pupils who come to the small classes had learning difficulties, and attention and behavioural disorders. If the children in need of support would receive it already during pre-school education, most of them could start their school directly in the first grade in general education.