The tension between the ideology of inclusive education and the education policy in the Finnish comprehensive school education in the 2000s

Authors

• Juha T. Hakala Jyväskylän yliopisto
• Marjaana Leivo

Abstract

This article examines the discrepancy between the ideology of inclusive education and the national education policy in the Finnish comprehensive school education. The study covers twenty years and is based on observations indicating that the change towards inclusive education ideals in comprehensive school education has been slow. This has been the case, even though in principle the Finland has committed to many international statements that promote inclusion ideology. The data consists primarily of statistics indicating the number of students in special education, and national and international research on the subject. The data confirmed our assumption, but it also gave support for the view that statistics are not only challenging but they are also capable of distorting reality. While examining the changes in student quantities over the last twenty years, we came to the conclusion that the fluctuation does not result from any real growth in student numbers. Changes in statistical methods, terminology used in the field, norms, education systems or even social phenomena can also cause distortion.