Authors

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

Keywords

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

Abstract

In the Tampere Afternoon Activity project (Harrastava Iltapäivä in Finnish) 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 realisation 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.

Questions charted pupils' participation in club activities, and possible reasons for dropping out of the club or not participating in the club activities at all. The pupils were asked whether they had made new friends in the club, and how they would spend their time if there was no club. Opinions on the club were surveyed for instance by asking the pupils whether they had liked participating in the club activities, whether the club activities had met their expectations, whether participating in the club had reduced the amount of time spent alone, and whether the club had had any effect on doing homework. Further questions charted the importance of things related to the club, such as participating in planning the activities and feeling important and useful. In addition, the pupils gave their opinions on the characteristics of a good club leader, information exchange related to the Afternoon Activity project, and the snack provided by the school. Finally, the respondents were asked what kind of afternoon activities they would like to see organized in schools in the future. The data were collected through an online survey in November 2007.

Background variables included the respondent's gender and age.