Gifted students in inclusive education: A Finnish Perspective

Finland is known as an exemplar country in education with high students’ achievement in PISA studies and good teacher education. Inclusive education, curriculum integration, and digital learning are examples of current innovations in Finnish education. The Finnish educational system is built on inclusion, equality, and equity. Teachers have great freedom in schools to develop the curriculum for their students and use different teaching methods in their teaching. In this talk I will discuss how gifted students are recognized in Finnish inclusive education.  I will give some examples how differentiation of education has been used in Finnish elementary and secondary education to provide challenges for gifted students. I will also discuss the issues related to non-native gifted students and to those gifted students who can’t cope in inclusive education and need other educational options. The ethical nature of education is emphasized with the goal to develop transformational giftedness among gifted students and help them to combine excellence and ethics in their lives.