Case study report - Norway

Summary:
The Norwegian partner has worked with two different case studies during the
COURAGE project.
These two cases have had both different angels and different purpose in the
important job of preventing social exclusion of young men and women.
The first case study is a program that helps youngsters to develop themselves as a
human being. And focus on building robust youths and prevent bullying and
exclusion of young men and women.
Through this program we have discovered the importance of work with these issues
systematically and in a long-term view. We have discovered that throughout the two
years period most of our students attend our school we have to constantly focus and
repeat the important work the MOT-program is representing.

Our second case study is called getting active and had as a purpose to help inactive
youngster back to activity by offering a weekly training session after school. The main
purpose was to arrange a non-compulsary activity where student could drop in and
attend from week to week.
During this case study we discovered that students that had left organized sports
activities participated and enjoyed being a part of it. Unfortenuately we experienced
over time that this came in conflict with home work and other leisure activites as it
was held outside school hours.
In order to manage to keep this program alive it is our opinion that it has to be held
within the daily school hours.
Here you can find a closer look at the findings we did through our case studies within
the COURAGE project.
 Case study report - MOT

Context:
In 2002 the first nationwide student survey came in Norway. This is an annual survey
in which students voice their opinion concerning learning and well-being in school.
The responses are used by the schools, the municipality and the state to improve
education in Norwegian schools.
The results from the first student survey in 2002 showed in our opinion too high
numbers regarding bullying.
Haugaland upper secondary discussed what measures to take to decrease the
challenge regarding bullying and decided to try the MOT program.
The school implemented MOT as a program to fight bullying in 2003/2004. And the
school has through the last 10-12 years worked with MOT. The student survey now
shows us that bullying has decreased after implementing MOT, but still we have a too
high number.
In 2002 the student survey showed that approximately 8 % of our students
experienced bullying at school. In 2014 this number was approximately 6%.
Through the COURAGE project we wanted to focus on the work MOT do at our
school in order to have more exact knowledge about the impact MOT has on
individual students lives, and on their achievements, and school results in general.

Implementation of the case study:

MOT is a program all of our students participate in. Early in a new school year our
first-year students have one day with team building and two lessons with MOT
related activities.
The MOT implementation is organized in 90 minutes lessons with a clear focus for
each lesson. The lessons consist of talking and practical exercises combined and
lead by a MOT coach.
All together approx. 800 students go through the program annually.
The school has 12 MOT coaches and they have gone through a dedicated 5 days
education that qualifies them for the purpose. These MOT coaches follow the same
classes through the school year and MOT lessons.
The students have eight MOT lessons through their upper secondary education.
They also have one day each year where they do different activities to give other
people outside school a pleasant surprise. A Dare-to-pleasure day.

Aims and methods of the case study

As mentioned the COURAGE project gave us the possibility to focus on the work
MOT do at our school, in order to have more exact knowledge about the impact MOT
has on individual students lives, and on their achievements, and school results in
general.
To do this we wanted to interview some of our students to find out if the MOT
program had any impact on them.

Findings
Through the student survey it is possible to measure the level of bullying amongst
students. These numbers declined when we introduced MOT to our school. They
have stabilized for the last years. Even though our school have some bullying among
the students, the MOT program helps us to keep a healthy focus on the issue.
When talking to our students the say that MOT is helping them making good
decisions in every day life. MOTs core values are Courage to live, courage to care
and courage to say no. The students say that these values are in the back of their
mind when making decisions. And it helps them to make a decision that is positive for
themselves.
When we talk how MOT affect our students, some say that the MOT program has
given them courage to speak up for others. Some give examples that they have
dared to take a confrontation with other students when someone has been treated
badly.
They relate the courage to react to the MOT program and what they have learnt
through the program.
The students we talked to all expressed that they have achieved a higher level of self
esteem as a result of the MOT program. Some dared to perform in front of a large
group of people and some were more aware of other students that struggled a little.

Conclusion:
The MOT program has contributed to reduce bullying at our school. Through the
Courage project we have been able to dive more deeply into what works and why.
Even though we still have bullying at our school, the MOT program has helped
individual students to increase their self esteem and their wish and capability to
interfere when they experience bullying and exclusion. Of course not everyone has
the courage to interfere, and the future goal is to increase the amount of students
that will interfere when they discover bullying and exclusion.
As a result of the good experiences we have with the MOT program Haugaland
upper secondary vocational school plans to continue and develop the MOT program
in our school. We have recently expanded our collaboration with the MOT
organization to have an even stronger focus on this important work.
Our aim is to build robust youths that can maneuver safely through life.
Case study report – Getting active

Context:

Information from the National Association of public health says that being active gives
you not only better health, but also better mood and more profits. In addition,
exercise can prevent and treat many diseases and conditions. This include high
blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.
With regular physical activity, you therefore have less risk of developing
cardiovascular disease and dementia.
Those who are physically active live longer than the average. In a lifetime
perspective, a physically inactive person can have a full eight additional years of
good health by increasing the activity level from inactive to active.
If you increase your activity level, you can win 16 years of good health.
With this type of facts from public health, we therefore wanted to focus on the
physical activity through our case study, «Getting active»

Most football clubs in the district have high expectations when they reach age-related
steps.They expect the youth to attend several times a week to the organized training.
Our school wanted to offer students physicaly training without any obligations.
Haugaland upper Secondary School is a large school with over 800 students. We
have students from all over the district. Many of our students did not know anyone
when they started here. With this project, we wanted our students to get to know
other school students
Another reason for starting this study was that we wanted to get the students to work
out more. Many young people in Norway are too inactive and we wanted them to get
a motivation to start training.

Implementation of the case study

We started in September 2016 in a big indoor football hall. The training was from
13.00 – 14.30 (student free time) every Tuesday.
At the beginning only a few students met, but we worked hard to market the scheme
through the student council, department hours, information screens and so on.
At the end of September we had 24 students at the most. It was a nice mix from the
different departments, and also 6 girls attended.
We managed to keep going until the middle of December.
We have collaborated with the sports club Haugar about this study. They have made
their hall available.
Haugar was started in 1939 and their values and goals are: as many as possible - as
far as possible and best possible.
Haugar has a large and active youth division where both boys and girls can play from
the age of 4 years.
With over 80 teams, Haugar is one of Norway's largest football clubs.

.
Findings

A study among the students showed that many participated because they wanted
extra training.
The majority also said that they became familiar with students from other
departments
Most off the student said that they were playing football in a local football club in
addition.
Most of them ended the football training because they did not have time due to
schoolwork
At times the students were out in practice, and could not participate.

Conclusion:

The school experienced that it was difficult to keep a stable group of students week
after week.
This was due to may things, but mainly because the training was after school hours,
and many of the student had practice periods and therefore could not attend for
many weeks.
The participating students became more active and expanded their social network
through the activity sessions as a result of the activity.
Many participating students were positive to the activity, but found it difficult to
participate over time due to home work and other obligations.
Haugaland upper secondary school belive that an activity like this is valuable, but we
find it difficult to find time within the students time schedule to an activity like this.
To succeed with an activity like this it has to be placed in an already tight time
schedule, and at the moment the school have problems finding the time.