Perceptions and experiences of
well-being of children and youth
and what can we do in schools to
promote it?
An academic perspective: Turku &
Tallinn research groups
FOLLOW-UP AND EVALUATION STUDY AS A PART OF
SAS PROJECT
• The purpose of our research work is to
– produce information about the SAS process, its results and effects.
– Produce information that can be used for the development of the project.
• We have research groups both in Turku and in Tallinn. We are to cooperate with each other, in order to be able to compare Finnish and
Estonian school-life and school cultures.
• Our presentation today consists of:
– Introductions to the research plans and interests of both research groups.
– The plans and visions about our co-operation.
You are all welcome to give us comments or ask questions!
SAS RESEARCH GROUP
University of Turku
Our SAS research consists of following substudies:
1. School cultures in Turku and Tallinn
2. Active and safe life as pupils’ experience
3. Teachers opinions about the school culture
and changes in it
1. SCHOOL CULTURES IN TURKU AND TALLINN
• The purpose is to analyse and compare school-life
in the two cities and to find out the similarities
and differences in them.
• The main approaches are
– The explicit norms and values in the curriculum
documents of the state, city and schools (document
analysis)
– How the explicit norms and values are related to
school reality or everyday life in schools
2. ACTIVE AND SAFE LIFE AS PUPILS’ EXPERIENCE
• This part of the study is focused on the everyday life of
the pupils. Target groups are 11-12 and 13-14 year old
students.
• Data is gathered with multiple methods (survey
questionnaires, written open-ended assignments). The
results are to be compared with our Tallinn parnter.
• The main approaches are
– The pupils’ way of life: activities during school days and
after it
– School community and surroundings in pupils’ eyes:
experiences of safety, school and class atmosphere,
opportunities and willingness to participate and have an
influence on common affairs in shcool.
3. TEACHERS OPINIONS ABOUT THE SCHOOL CULTURE
AND THE CHANGES IN IT
• This part of the study is directed to teachers and
principals who participate in the SAS project. Its
purpose is to examine the effects of the project in the
practical work in schools.
• One part of its data will be collected in this seminar.
We’re interested in how You see the goals of SAS
project in the everyday life of your school.
• We’d like to know:
– What kinds of things are done in your school to promote
pupils’ well-being?
– Is there a person in charge or a team working on pupils’
well-being in your school?
WHAT DO WE ALREADY KNOW ABOUT WELL-BEING IN
SCHOOLS?
• School well-being consists of (Konu 2002):
– School environment
• School yard and surroundings as a place for activities
• Equipment for activities, after-school leisure clubs
– Social relations within school community
• Friends, school and class climate, togetherness
• Teacher-student relations
– Chances to self-fulfillment
• Activities
• Feeling of competence
– Health
– Pupils’ homes and other relations outside school
WHAT KINDS OF THINGS ABOUT KIDS’ LIFESTYLES ARE
CONNECTED WITH SCHOOL WELL-BEING?
(Korppas, M., Asanti, R., Junttila, N., Koivusilta, L., Koski, P., Virta, A. & Oittinen, A. 2009.)
+ Participating in regularly
organised free-time
activities
+ Having close friends in
the same class
+ Having a positive
conception about own
school success
- Spending ’screen time’
many hours a day (TV,
computer, video games)
- Being home alone many
hours a day
- Not having hobbies
- Social and emotional
loneliness
WHAT MAKES AN ACTIVE AND A SAFE BREAK TIME IN
PUPILS’ EYES (and what hinders it)?
ACTIVE BREAK
SAFE BREAK
•
”Lauri went to ask his friends to play
’kirkonrotta’. Lauri was the first one to seek the
others. He caught everyone.”
•
•
”Laura was sitting by herself. Two other girls saw
her. They came to ask if Laura wanted to play
too. Laura was very happy to have friends.”
•
INACTIVE BREAK
•
”During the break time Laura has just been
sitting by herself and watching the others play.”
•
”Lauri saw his classmates play football. He went
to join them, but they took the ball and ran
away shouting: Help, Lauri is coming! They knew
Lauri was slower."
”Laura saw a little girl fall on the ground. She
went to the break supervisor and told about
what happened. The little girl was taken to the
school nurse.”
”Lauri feels safe because he was accepted to
join the others play, no one was fighting and
there was a teacher supervising the break.”
UNSAFE BREAK
•
•
”Laura felt scared about breaks because she was
threatened and bullied. She thought she had to
be quiet about it because if she told someone, it
would get worse.”
”Laura saw two big boys bully a little boy. She
felt sad. She couldn’t tell the teachers, because
if the boys found out, they might start to bully
her too.”
WHAT COULD BE DONE IN SCHOOLS DO TO PROMOTE
PUPILS’ WELL-BEING?
(Korppas, M., Asanti, R., Junttila, N., Koivusilta, L., Koski, P., Virta, A. & Oittinen, A. 2009.)
•
•
•
•
•
•
To increase the after-school leisure activities (especially for those who are least
active in their leisure time).
Co-operate with childrens’ homes to minimize the time spent watching TV, surfing
on the Internet, playing video games. (It’s connected with several negative
experiences about school climate and social relations.)
To give each child possibilities to have experiences about succeeding and seeing
themselves positively.
To develop break times so that everyone could be physically or/and socially active
and not excluded from the peer group.
Support feeling of togetherness and co-operation inside class communities. Special
attention should be given to those who don’t seem to have close friends in the
class.
Give children opportunities to plan and organise events together.
School cultures in Tallinn Schools
Study 1
• Was carried out: from May to August 2010
• Purposes:
- The main purpose was to gather information about school values (what are the main values
of each school) and main activities of each school to bring the values to life, also to get
information about the main strengths and weaknesses concerning the values.
- Our purpose was also to get supportive information for carrying out the main surveys
(about the main purposes and expectations that schools have stated concerning the project
and also about the possibilities for online answering etc).
• Based on the results:
-
We have composed the main value-survey
We have started to compare school values with state and city values
Some results
• Values that describe our schools
the most:
-
Child- centeredness
Professionality
60
51.2
50
46.5
40
• Values that describe our schools
least:
30
-
10
Safety
Traditions
20
%
0
0
Don´t
support
at all
• What is the value we miss the
most:
-
Cooperation
0
2.3
Rather
So and so
Rather
don´t
support
support
%
Support
very well
School cultures in Tallinn schools
Study 2
• Will be carried out: at the beginning of December
• Main purposes
-
To gather information about how state and city values are perceived at schools
To gather information how the main values that schools have brought out in the pre-research
are related to the reality or everyday life in schools
• Main structure
- Integrating students to the society/ community
- Values at daily school life
- Students’ basic values
+
Value survey among children (combined with the main questionnaire)
Interviews at school
• Based to the results:
-
We will analyze school, city and state values – how they match or doesn´t match
We will compare the results with the results of schools in Turku
We will try to find and share the best practices
Pupils’ life-style and well-being in Tallinn
1. Breaktime study
• The aim of the study was to get the overview of positive
and negative aspects of breaktimes via students’ eyes.
• Solution-centented focus: to encourage kids to make
their own suggestions how to reach more enjoyable
breaktimes.
• Almost all SAS project schools participated. THANK YOU  !
I
BREAKTIME
I am: boy / girl
1
2
What do you like to do at
breaktimes during your
schoolday?
I study in ……… class
Imagine your IDEAL SCHOOL!
If it was in your hands, how
could a enoyable breaktime look
like?
Make your suggestions! What would
you do? For example, what, where,
and how would you set it out?
What are the things you
don’t you like at
breaktimes?
Pupils’ life-style and well-being in Tallinn
2. Main survey
• Focused on kids’ lifestyle activeness and feel of safety in multiple
meanings
• Target groups: 5-6 and 8-9 grades
• Online questionnaire will be gathered from late Nov until early
Dec.
• What is similar with Turku’s study?
– Kids’ daily activity (what, how often, where)
– Emotional and social well-being (self-esteem, social competence, lonelyness,
student-teacher relationship)
– Importance and manifestations of basic values from the kids’ point of view
• What is different from Turku’s study?
– Detailed focus on factors related to feel of safety and risky behaviour (bullying,
unemotional traits)
– Focus on school motivation (likes and dislikes)
Feedback survey of the SAS project in Tallinn
schools
• We have asked about expectations and purposes of
the project:
– in the first value study and
– during the meeting with project team members
held in September.
• Final feedback survey will be carried out in autumn
2011 among project team members.