Å utvikle skandinavisk medborgerskap gjennom elevinvolvering

Kuben videregående skole (NO), Frederiksberg Gymnasium (DK) og Burgården Gymnasium (SE) er Scandinavian metropolitan schools with multicultural student communities, where some student groups experience a varying degree of outsiderness, or are in danger of falling outside the "larger society", and in the worst case being radicalised. We applied for an Erasmus+ project because we wanted an increased spotlight on the work with democratic competence in schools. In the project, we developed interdisciplinary didactic tools with the use of student influence to counteract this outsiderness. The didactic tools should make it easier for teachers to work with students in such a way that they can achieve an increased sense of belonging to the society they are part of, and help students to influence their own future through participation in society.

Through this project, the students' competences in democracy and citizenship were strengthened, and they developed to a certain extent new attitudes, knowledge and skills related to democracy. We believe they are better equipped to face challenges in society, and that participation in this project has counteracted alienation. It was important to increase the teachers' competence and reflection in teaching democracy. The project achieved the following: Developed didactic tools and working methods that give teachers increased competence and opportunities to deal with issues that arise in and outside the classroom. The students were involved in developing tools and gained a greater understanding of the issues through collaboration with students from other countries. Their participation was a democratic aspect of the process itself. Researchers and teachers collaborated in the development of tools/ methods, and in the research on the project itself. This provided higher quality tools. These tools are freely available. We have succeeded to some extent in getting these tools and working methods included in teacher education in our respective countries. This is still in progress.

The teachers developed didactic methods and tools. Student involvement was central to this work. To achieve this, participants met both physically and online. The partners carried out several Learning, Teaching and Training activities. These initially focused on raising the teachers' competences, but from year 2 onwards the students were also directly involved. The LTT activities include collaboration with external partners. They contributed with professional expertise, e.x. in the form of Research and Development Circles (R&D Circles). The LTT activities and the project culminated in a conference (Multiplier Event) in March 2024. This was a partly student-run conference where the student and teacher participants, as well as external researchers, presented what they had worked on in the project, how they experienced participation in this process, and what they think should be worked on further. In connection with the conference, thematic workshops were held by students. Nine workshops were held with themes chosen and developed by the student participants. The workshop participants were students from other upper secondary schools in Oslo. Two of the workshops were also presented at the conference. Between, or in connection with LTT and ME, Transnational Meetings (TM) were held where the steering group, teachers and in some cases external partners were involved. Their role was to manage the project's progress and that activities were in line with Erasmus+'s guidelines and the project application

The partners produced a concrete Project Result: Didactic tools/online resources. These tools are a result of the increased competence of the teachers/leaders, student involvement where the students first selected relevant democratic challenges, and then helped prepare and held workshops. They were also involved in testing other tools. The didactic tools and teaching content were also framed by educational theories, and we believe they will provide some answers to how students can gain co-ownership in teaching, how each student can become involved in teaching, and give students an understanding that they can bring significant perspectives to teaching, that they are and have resources. Furthermore, how teaching can be organized to assist students in participating in democracy through participation in public debate, understanding of democratic processes, and understanding of the background for the development of democracy in Scandinavia and the EU/Europe. Results locally were that: 1. The students gained a stronger understanding that they belong (within the school) and have a real influence on the society they are a part of through democratic processes. 2. The students gained a better understanding of democratic values and of their importance for the society of which they are a part. 3. The project developed and tested educational initiatives in which the students were involved, and they thus gained an increased understanding of and awareness of how they can contribute to shaping the school and society.