Authors

• Häikiö, Liisa (City of Tampere. Development Unit for Welfare Services)
• Vänninmaja, Paula (City of Tampere. Development Unit for Welfare Services)

Keywords

bullying, children, clubs, cooperation, educational environment, educational personnel, extracurricular activities, hobbies, organizations, physical activities, schools, social exclusion

Abstract

In the Tampere Afternoon Activity project (Harrastava Iltapäivä) initiated in 2007, the city of Tampere organized voluntary afternoon club activities for pupils from the third grade to the ninth. The activities were organized in co-operation with various organizations, clubs, and churches. In this mid-evaluation, the realization of the goals and practices of the project during the first phase of activity was assessed. The assessment of the project was carried out from the viewpoints of children, parents, school staff, and club leaders.

The school staff's opinions were queried on the club activity, and the snack provided by the school. They assessed the successfulness of the club activity, and the effect it has had on absences from school, school motivation, and community spirit. In addition, they gave their opinions on the characteristics of a good club leader and assessed co-operation with club leaders. The teachers who had worked as club leaders answered various questions, for instance on their motives for working as club leaders, support received from various bodies, and co-operation between different actors. Views on the functioning of co-operation and information exchange between various bodies, such as school, home and clubs were also probed. Finally, the respondents were asked what kind of wishes and development ideas they had as regards the project. The data were collected through an online survey in November 2007.

Background variables included the respondent's gender and occupational status.