Description
At outer Nørrebro (Copenhagen, Denmark), an area with a large population of ethnic minorities, this research project took, as its starting point, the daily life of boys from the 6 - 9th grades (approximate ages 12-16) at a local lower secondary school. The majority of the participants were from socio-economic deprived neighborhood (Ryom et al., 2017). The project aimed to challenge the young boys to work with life-skills, social resilience and active citizenship in order to empower their own life situation. Through a community psychological approach (Orford, 2008 & Kloos, 2012), consisting of a team sports project as well as coaching and mentoring, the project’s goal was to challenge the boys to be part of new shared and empowering community, so that they actively experienced the ability to take responsibility for themselves and others in the arenas where they lived. In close co-operation with the local sports club ’Nørrebro United’, 26 volunteer coaches (coaching the boys in school), school staff, the local community and not least the young people themselves, the intervention gradually took it’s own form. The intention for this strong local co-operation, was to clarify the young participants’ life conditions and world view, improve and implement concrete efforts, build new outlooks on action for individuals and analyze successful implementations and possible barriers. Methodological the project was monitored and analyzed through fieldwork, interviews, focus groups and questionnaires in a multimethod approach (Brewer & Hunter (2006). The project yielded several positive results (Ryom, 2017): 1. Enhanced self-concept 2. Enhanced physical competencies 3. Improved social networks at school 4. Improved class co-operation The result of this project has raised interesting perspectives, which will be presented and discussed with the participant. Perspectives with will be opened for dialogue: • General discussion: o The potential of a community psychology/action research approach with young boys on the edge o Meaningful adults and community give the experience of being taken serious o A lot of small steps eventually results in active citizenship • Research implications: • Building relationships • Recall and share of power • Creating incentive for participation • Generating concrete changes • Establishing credible reports During the final discussion we will engage participants of the conference, by presenting specific cases from our project linked to the above bullet points. Furthermore we include in our presentation and discussion, voices from the project, like volunteer coaches and the local sports club Nørrebro United. The final discussion brings the local agenda of this research project, outside the community and into a more general discussion with the participants. Knud Ryom, PhD Part-time lecture, Aarhus Universitet [email protected] Reinhard Stelter, PhD Professor, Copenhagen University [email protected]| Period | 16 Nov 2017 |
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| Event title | Conference Children on the Edge: Organised by the TAOS Institute and UC Absalon |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Roskilde, DenmarkShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |