In this rapidly changing world education is still the key factor to avoid adolescents and young adults drifting outside education, employment or training (the NEETs). Transdisciplinary counseling and recognizing students with special needs are essential factors in every school setting. Project Right to learn – Skills to teach (funded by Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture) aims to develop upper secondary education teacher’s training in the framework of guiding, counseling and supporting students with special needs. The project is related to the reform of general upper secondary education in Finland that aims to emphasize the importance of transdisciplinary guidance and special support.
In our study we present a model for development work of the project that takes place in teacher training in Finland. The research work includes a survey aimed to special needs teachers and guidance counsellors to determine the focus points of their work and how these professionals see their work in the future. We will also use target group interviews for broadening our knowledge of themes mentioned above. Information we collect will form a solid basis for developing teacher training in Finland to meet the challenges of the education in the future. We would like to see all this as a forming a new operational culture in general upper secondary education in Finland. Preliminary results will be obtained in the autumn 2019.
