Learning support in upper secondary school

Upper secondary school is a significant transition in life for many young people. New learning environments, personal and sometimes environmental expectations, and increased independence demand a lot from students – not only in terms of knowledge, but also in terms of skills and spirituality. Upper secondary schools have a duty to support each student individually and in a timely manner so that learning and well-being can be realized in the best possible way.

Identifying the need for support is a key part of this responsibility. Teachers often have a unique position as observers of a student's everyday life: they see how learning is progressing, how work methods are developing and how motivation fluctuates. When support needs are identified early, the student can be offered individual guidance, pedagogical solutions or, if necessary, special support. This prevents the accumulation of learning problems and ensures that the student has the opportunity to progress in their studies according to their own abilities.

Recognizing the need for support is often the first step in a successful support process. The teacher plays a key role: he or she monitors the student's learning, working methods and coping. Early detection can prevent the accumulation of problems and enable timely support to be provided.

Interaction is a key tool here. Everyday encounters – discussions, feedback situations and small observations in class – provide an opportunity to detect even subtle signs that a student needs support. Listening, safe and respectful interaction strengthens the student’s involvement and lowers the threshold for seeking help.

Tools and materials for identifying different learning challenges can be found, for example: From the Kankaanpää City Basic Education website.

 

Supporting self-image

Psychological capital and growth mindset are key concepts in building a positive learner image. Psychological capital refers to an individual's mental resources and ability to survive, develop and succeed in work and life in general. Growth mindset, on the other hand, refers to an individual's belief that their abilities and intelligence develop through practice and effort. These two phenomena support each other:

• A growth mindset promotes hope, optimism, and resilience, which are the building blocks of psychological capital.
• High psychological capital helps develop and maintain a growth mindset, especially when facing difficulties or learning new things.

Teacher's Guide: Psychological Capital & Growth Attitude in High School

Why are these important?

✔ Promotes well-being and resilience
✔ Supports learning motivation
✔ Strengthens life control and faith in the future

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The four pillars of psychological capital (HERO model)

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Growth mindset – belief in the possibility of learning

Differences between a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset:

Use phrases like:

“You don’t know yet – but you will learn.”

“Learning happens in the discomfort zone.”

“A mistake is a sign that you tried.”

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5 everyday support tools for teachers

Language that supports goals
"What were you aiming for in this task? How did you progress?"

Allow retries
Emphasize that failure is not the end but part of the process.

Reflection tasks
Short final assignments: “What went well today?”

Learning in a group
Joint solutions, sharing experiences.

Feedback formatting
“Good insight!” vs. just “True/False”.

Self-induced attention deficit disorder, FINADA

The constant rush and demands for efficiency in work and study cause difficulties in acquiring skills. Attention Deficit Trait (ADT), i.e. self-induced concentration disorder and its effects are visible in the everyday lives of upper secondary school students. The project held educational sessions for students on self-induced concentration difficulties and prepared a presentation material to support teaching.

Interaction skills 

Supporting interaction skills is part of the goals of the upper secondary school curriculum. Teaching these skills should be part of the teaching of all subjects. To support subject teaching, the project developed diaesities on the subject.

Anxious young person

High school students experience a wide range of emotions. Anxiety has increased and can have a significant impact on learning. The project was supported by the Parkano Savings Bank Foundation and the Finnish Association for Mind. Training on supporting anxious young people, from which the listener gets tips and ways to help an anxious young person. 

Neurodiversity 

Neurodiversity refers to the fact that people think, learn, experience, and process information differently. It is a natural human variation in brain function and neurocognitive processes – not a disease or defect. The term emphasizes the value and acceptance of difference, neurodiversity is not a diagnosis, but a framework for changing mindsets.

Neurodiversity video about presents forms of learning support that support neurodiverse learners. The teachers of the project high schools gathered ways to support neurodiversity.

The project attempted to start a peer support group for people with neurodysfunction. Although the group was not successfully assembled during the project, an advertisement was created for the group meeting and a plan was drawn up. operational framework.

Multilingualism

When a high school student's native language is something other than Finnish, Swedish or Sámi, language-aware pedagogy supports learning. In the video The learning situation will be highlighted, practical tips will be heard, and multilingual students will be given the floor to speak.

Especially in the early stages of upper secondary school studies, demonstrating competence in writing can be very challenging. From this link  you can find more information about oral supplementation.

Studying in high school requires a new kind of independence and responsibility for one's own learning. The amount of information increases, schedules become stricter, and the criteria for assessment change. Therefore, developing study skills is not just a support measure – it is an essential part of every student's learning path.

Good study skills don't just happen, they are built gradually through practice, guidance, and experience. They can include time management, note-taking techniques, reading comprehension strategies, or effective test preparation. Study skills help with both learning and stress management.

This section contains tips and recommendations from upper secondary school special education teachers to support the study of various subjects. The tips are based on practical experience of what methods support different learners – whether it's structuring mathematics, mastering foreign language vocabulary or writing an essay.

The goal is not to offer one right way to study, but to provide options from which every student can find their own. At the same time, teachers are encouraged to make study skills a visible part of their own teaching - even small actions can have a big impact.

Study plan

Although high school students are instructed to prepare for the end of the first period and exams well in advance, it still comes as a surprise to many. In the project, special education teachers made the students instructional video on creating a study plan, which includes an assessment week and reflection after the first period, goal setting, study planning, and motivation development.

Foreign languages

The project's special education teachers put together tips for studying foreign language vocabulary: a look at studying vocabulary based on different sensory channels. Material combines theory and concrete practice and it is worth combining it with practice at the end of the lesson.

Support in exam situations

Exam situations can be stressful and challenging for many high school students, and it is not just about what the student knows – but also how they cope with the situation amidst pressure, time management and their own emotions. The teacher’s methods for supporting students before, during and after the exam have been compiled as a material package.

Sometimes a student's situation may be such that a written exam is not a sufficient or appropriate means of demonstrating their competence. In this case, there may be various challenges in learning, linguistic production, work or psychological stress that weaken the student's ability to demonstrate their competence in written form. Oral supplementation  is an important addition to the assessment and supports the student's ability to verbalize their knowledge.

Support

Upper secondary school can significantly support the preparation of high school graduates for the university entrance exams, especially when their study skills are weak. During the school break, the high school graduate moves from the structure of upper secondary school studies alone towards the university entrance exams – a phase that can be both liberating and stressful. Although there is in principle plenty of time to study, the control of it and mental capacity are emphasized in a completely new way.

Support can easily be arranged remotely during school holidays and even in cooperation with high schools. The project piloted remote support for studying English ja most commonly used for studyingThe target group for English support was students who found English high school entrance exams challenging and intimidating, and the target group for study support was students who had deficiencies in their study skills.

 

Upper secondary school has become an increasingly diverse learning environment, where students' needs, backgrounds and learning styles vary more than ever. At the same time, teaching is expected to be more individualized, flexible and supportive. These challenges do not have to be met alone: ​​co-teaching offers an opportunity to share responsibility, strengthen learning and increase inclusion.

Co-teaching refers to the conscious, systematic and equal cooperation of two or more teachers in teaching the same group. It can be implemented in many different ways – for example, as a team of a subject teacher and a special needs teacher, as a collaboration between two subject teachers or with the presence of a study guide in the lesson. What is common to all forms is that the teachers share the responsibility for planning, implementation and assessment together.

Co-teaching can bring more support, varied perspectives and pedagogical flexibility to teaching. It enables, for example, simultaneous support, small group work or study skills guidance as part of the lesson. For the student, co-teaching can appear as a stronger presence, more individual encounters and clearer support. More detailed information can be found, for example, material produced in the project.

 

Learning support in upper secondary schools is not just about individual support measures – it is built above all on the school's operating culture and structures that enable the provision of support in everyday life. When support is part of shared thinking and everyday practices, providing it does not fall on the shoulders of individual teachers, but becomes the task of the entire school community.

The operating culture is reflected in how support needs are approached: is responding to them an exception or a natural part of teaching? An operating culture that strengthens support is built on openness, cooperation and a proactive approach. At the same time, structural solutions are needed – such as scheduling arrangements, resource allocation and practices conducive to collaboration – that enable, for example, co-teaching, small group teaching or student encounters without rushing.

In this section, we will look at a few more ways to support good learning. The cultural and structural choices of a school can either hinder or promote learning support, for the benefit of both individual students and the community as a whole.

Support passport

High school students' self-regulation skills are only just developing, and too often convenience trumps reason. A student's motivation to participate in remedial teaching or similar activities can be supported, for example, with a support pass, in which the participation stamps collected can also be used to collect academic achievement, if the corresponding course of study is available in the high school curriculum. You can print out a ready-made support pass template from here.

Regulating alertness during class

During long upper secondary school lessons, students' alertness can drop to a level that is detrimental to learning. To maintain an appropriate alertness level, it is worth taking breaks during lessons, at least when the lesson structure does not include an active part. Dice breaks  In addition to the material available from the above link, all you need to use it is a dice.