SAFE AND ACTIVE SCHOOLDAY (SAS)
WELL-BEING PARTNERSHIP PROJECT BETWEEN THE
SCHOOLS IN TURKU AND TALLINN
WWW.SAFEANDACTIVESCHOOLDAY.EU
Riitta Asanti
University researcher (Physical Education)
University of Turku, Department of Teacher Education in Rauma
Marjaana Korppas
University of Turku, Department of Teacher Education in Turku
BACKGROUND
-
Schools on the Move project in Turku 2004-2007
Finnish children have good PISA results in knowledge and skills, but
on the other hand they are not “happy to be at school”
 Developing the operational culture in schools to increase physical
activity during the schoolday, especially for inactive kids
-
The operational culture (school ethos)
• The way of working in schools
• Involve teachers and pupils (in participation)
• Involve the whole school
• Develop schoolyards to be more attractive and activating
• By involving school children in the small scale construction and
painting
THE BASIC CONCEPT / GOAL OF SAS
• All the schools in Turku (40) and 45 schools in Tallinn involved
1) The concept of WELL-BEING OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH (the
fundamental basis for learning)
 a safe and active school atmosphere.
What concrete can we do to promote it in schools
BACKGROUND, COMMON PROBLEM OR
DEVELOPMENT AREA TO BE ADDRESSED
The need to develop the operational culture and environment of schools
1) increasing inactivity in life style - especially polarization to active and passive
ones
2) the low level of involvement and participation on a school community level
(low "feeling fine in school" aspect vs. good academic results and ratings)
3) increasing disparity and inequality of well-being caused by socio-economic
factors
 Building a concrete basis for active life, participation and involvement
as well as doing things together
• Concrete tools for the school time activity and participation
• Active and safe after school programmes
IN PRACTICE:
SCHOOL ACTIVITY CAMPAIGNS WITH…
Equipment:
-Equipment baskets
to every class room
to activate break
times
ACTIVITY
IN PRACTICE:
SCHOOL ACTIVITY CAMPAIGNS WITH…
Trainings:
-Break activators to organise activity
during breaks for younger ones
ACTIVITY / INVOLVEMENT
IN PRACTICE:
SCHOOL ACTIVITY CAMPAIGNS WITH…
Activity in individual schools:
ACTIVITY / INVOLVEMENT / OWNERSHIP
IN PRACTICE:
SCHOOL ACTIVITY CAMPAIGNS WITH…
Involvement of everybody
in creating nice
environments for activity:
IN PRACTICE:
SCHOOL YARD DEVELOPMENT
A MIND MAP TOOL TO EACH
CLASS ROOM TO ACTIVATE
DISCUSSION AND PLANNING
-> INVOLVEMENT
A big banner to each school to
summarise of Mind Maps made by
classes
A SAFE AND ACTIVE BREAK
Research project Asanti & Korppas
•A qualitative study about the connections between physical activities and
social interaction in breaktime context.
•Our data consist of 228 empathy-based essays written by 5th and 6th
graders in the Finnish comprehensive school.
•130 of the stories mention some physical activity.
•The data was collected in Dec 2009 – Jan 2010.
•For the study we chose the 5th and 6th grades from six schools in Turku.
BREAK TIME STUDY
ACTIVE BREAK
INACTIVE BREAK
Physical activity,
Social interaction, togetherness, participation.
Competence, social status in peer group.
Not having anything to do
Loneliness and rejection, problems with friends
(it’s typical in these stories to be left outside from a
group game or discussion, and being stigmatized
as an outsider).
Poor conditions: lacking equipment, dull yard,
bad weather
Group games are meaningful for all these things,
and they were often mentioned in stories. They give
a chance to physical activity and they are an easy
way to be together as a group. They also give a
chance to feel competent and show one’s skills.
SAFE BREAK
UNSAFE BREAK
Good friends and class community
Following rules in games, taking care of
others when needed.
Supervising adults, getting help from
them in problematic situations.
Mental bullying in several ways: mocking,
calling names, rejecting, staring, laughing,
spreading stories, stealing things.
Violent behavior or a threat of it
Adults don’t know or see what’s
happening and they are not told – fear,
that the situation would only get worse.
SITUATIONAL ROLES GROUP GAMES –
AN EXAMPLE OF CLASSIFYING BREAK TIME STORIES
POSITIVE
(n = 84)
”Enjoyers”
YES
( n = 91)
STORIES IN WHICH
GROUP GAMES ARE
MENTIONED (130)
Does the main
charachter of
the story take
part to the
game?
NO
(n = 38)
What’s
their
experience
of the
situation?
Would they
want to
participate?
NEGATIVE
(n = 12)
”Disappointed”
YES
(n = 34)’
”Outsiders”
NO
(n = 5)
”Reluctant”
BREAKTIME ACTIVITIES
Some physical activity was
mentioned in 130 of 228 stories.
Physical activities are an important
part of kids’ breaks. They are
mostly GROUP activities and very
rarely individual activities.
Conclusion: breaktime activities
have both a physical and a social
function.
According to Pellegrini and
Blatcford (2006), breaktime games
are an important way of forming
new peer groups and maintaining
existing ones.
Boys are more keen to playing ball
games; girls’ favor other kinds of
activities.
* some kids didn’t mention their gender.
Activity
Boys
Girls
All
Ball games (football,
basketball…)
39
11
54*
Team games with
certain rules (chasing,
hide and seek etc.)
10
13
23
Other physical
activities with
schoolmates (running,
skipping, winter play
etc.)
15
25
42*
Many of previous
categories mentioned
6
3
9
Individual physical
activities
1
1
2
Total
71
54
130*
ATTITUDES TOWARDS BREAKTIME ACTIVITIES
’Enjoyers’
1.
•
•
•
•
Like to play with others
Feel competent at physical
activities
Get along with others
Others usually take them along
2. ’Disappointed’
•
•
•
•
Are eager to play with others,
BUT…
…their activities are interrupted
because of bullying, arguments with
friends etc.
This can lead to withdrawal from
activities.
Can be coincidental or more
systematic
3. ’Outsiders’
•
•
•
•
Are often alone, watching others play
Can be actively rejected by others…
…or simply too shy to go to others.
Usually suffer from being outside
others’ activities.
4. ’Reluctant’
•
•
•
Others would usually take them along,
but they…
… often feel that breaktime activities
are always the same and therefore
boring
Can also be only temporarily ’lowspirited’ unwilling to participate games
CAN THEY TURN TO ADULTS IF IT’S UNSAFE AT BREAKS?
Descriptions of getting (or not getting) help from adults in the stories…
1) Turning to an adult can solve a difficult situation
”The teacher asked all the bullies to come inside. She said: This has got to end. After
that, Laura has’nt been bullied any longer.”
2)
Adults can’t always be trusted
”When Laura told her teacher about the bullying, teacher just said ’it happens’ and did
nothing.”
3)
There’s no use in telling adults about difficulties with other kids
”She couldn’t tell anyone about what happened, because the bullies would know and it
would only make the situation worse.”
Conclusion: The presence of adults increases the feel of safety at breaks. Thus, adults
need to be alert about what’s going on. Bullying isn’t always easy to see. Someone can
be scared or hurt even if they don’t say it.
CONCLUSIONS
•
Most kids seem to enjoy breaks – the chance to play and spend time with others
•
How to increase breaktime activity level?
• To recognise the least active kids / the kids who spend most of the breaks by
themselves – and why is it so?
• To recognise how kids’ peer group interaction works and what kind of roles they
have – are there some problematic matters in their interaction?
• To organise some breaktime activities by adults so, that everyone could participate
• To aquire sufficient equipment
• To offer more options – also something that could be done alone
•
How to increase the feel of safety?
• To have sufficient amount of breaktime supervision by adults
• To be alert about kids’ behaviour – what is bullying, what is only a game?
• To encourage kids to fair play and to take care of each other when needed.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST
Contact
Riitta Asanti
University of Turku,
Finland
Email. [email protected]
Tel.
+358 40 5640461