Inclusion of the students with special needs in the Finnish primary education

The main aim of this research is to support my individual growth as a teacher and to help me form a more holistic view on the situation of inclusive education. I will look at inclusion on different levels of Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory to form a logically structured research. I will look at the four different levels: the global level dominant beliefs and ideologies, national level pedagogical frameworks, local level from the viewpoint of the schools and the teachers and finally the individual level of the student. The research question is: What does inclusive education mean on the different levels of the Ecological System Theory by Bronfenbrenner? In this research I have used systematic literacy review in order to understand the research topic through essential literacy. Literacy review means that the scattered information about the topic is gathered, organized, evaluated and formed into a greater entity. My focus is in the educational inclusion of the intellectually disabled students. I will also focus on the society rather than on the individual and I have restricted this research on the prescriptive way of seeing inclusion, which means focusing is on concepts and wider perspectives. This research shows that inclusion happens on various levels simultaneously and it is easier to improve teaching holistically, when using different frameworks. In order to improve inclusion in education, we must also improve the inclusion in the whole society, therefore we need more co-operation between different actors in the society. Altering education methods and tailoring education to respond to the needs of the students is the most effective way to improve inclusion. In order to improve the physical inclusion in Finland, the practical issues connected to physical inclusion need to be researched and teaching special education students in mainstream classes should be developed