Today almost every school in Finland has one or more per- manent special education teachers. Nevertheless, in rural areas and small schools this work is often carried out by peripatetic teachers. The children they teach have various learning problems (see Figure 1).
The profile of their work is different at the primary and secondary stages, as seen from Figure 1. Reading and writing is supported extensively at the beginning of compul- sory education. At the secondary stage, mathematics and foreign languages need support. One reason for problems in foreign languages is that Finland is a bilingual country and everyone has to learn both Finnish and Swedish. In addition, English is usually preferred as the first foreign language.
Regular financial support is given to special education in Finland by the Ministry of Education. Children with the status of special needs are funded 1.5 times more than chil- dren without this status. However, pupils receiving part-time special education do not normally qualify for this status. Another form of support is a pupils’ welfare team (Honkanen & Suomala, 2009). This type of team can be found in almost every school. It meets regularly and con- sists of various school professionals and parents.