In August 2022, Raisa Ahtiainen became the first Swedish-speaking university lecturer of special education at the University of Helsinki. Less than six months later, in January 2023, the first group of 20 students began their studies in special education.
– As this was the first time Swedish-language training in special education was offered in Helsinki, interest was considerable, Ahtiainen says.
This interest has not been limited to the academic community. Ahtiainen has, for example, began to establish a collaboration network with the City of Helsinki, the non-profit organisation Inclusion Finland FDUV, and Valteri School Skilla, a provider of special support.
– During their traineeships, our students have also worked with special needs teachers in southern Finland, raising awareness of our operations.
More special needs teachers needed
The university lectureship in special education was created with the help of three donations: the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, Brita Maria Renlunds minne and SFV donated a total of €1.75 million for education and teacher training under the government matched funding scheme.
The new position has led to the University of Helsinki increasing its collaboration with Åbo Akademi University, previously the only provider of Swedish-language training in special education.
– Our research explores different topics, so it’s good that we can share our knowledge, notes Ahtiainen.
As part of this collaboration, lecturers from Åbo Akademi University have visited Helsinki, and Ahtiainen is supervising a doctoral researcher at the former institution. In the future, the two universities may organise shared courses.
This autumn, thanks to a significant one-off financial contribution from the Ministry of Education and Culture, the University of Helsinki was able to offer 25 additional student places in the programme.
The first student writing a master’s thesis in the programme has begun to work in Ahtiainen’s project, and Ahtiainen hopes to have the chance to work with doctoral researchers in special education too.
– It would also be important to have a professorship to further strengthen the research field.
Important to know concepts in Swedish
In spring 2024, another university lecturer in special education was hired to enable the provision of basic studies in the subject. Ahtiainen sees the Swedish-language roles as highly important for meeting needs in the field.
“We need more special needs teachers in early childhood and basic education in Finland. It’s also good that people living in southern Finland can more easily complete the training.”
Despite the considerable demand for expertise in special education, Ahtiainen says the Swedish-language programme could not have been established without the donations.
– It’s important that those working in schools and nurseries know all the concepts in Swedish and are familiar with the state of Swedish-language training in Finland. Otherwise it may be difficult for them to communicate with other parties in the field.
Ahtiainen nevertheless points out that not everyone needs to be a qualified special needs teacher to support children and adolescents.
– But all teachers must know something about special education and understand that we’re all different.