ConnectOSLO - English version

Adults are meant to raise children and adolescents - not vice versa

Zero tolerance of bullying - violence - racism
Information for researchers, politicians and school staff
Language: UK English
Projectperiod: 2002-2005

Background
The three year ConnectOSLO project is a continuation of  the Norwegian part of the EU's "UK-001: Tackling Violence in  Schools" programme. ConnectOSLO is a collaborative project  involving the City of Oslo, its Education Authority and the Centre for Behavioural Research at Stavanger University College: a partnership between researchers and practicians. 30 schools are participating in the project.

Goals

• To support the school's work on preventing and dealing with problem behaviour at an individual, class and school level
• To strengthen the teacher as the class leader
• To improve the benefits pupils gain from learning

Principles
ConnectOSLO's work is based on key principles:

• A common platform of values at the school as a basis for choosing initiatives
• Authoritative class leadership
• Consistency between the selected initiatives which results in a multiplicative effect
• Continuity vis-à-vis initiatives which results in lasting effects
• Breadth vis-à-vis the involved participants (staff, pupils, parents / guardians and the local 
  neighbourhood), initiatives and focus areas.

Professional content
The programme entails collective skills development for all the staff of participating schools. The skills development is based on the programme's principles. It also addresses pupil activation. The school project groups will particularly benefit from this skills development.

The programme's professional content consists of:

• Embedding seminars for school project groups
• Four course days for a school's entire staff
• A course in colleague guidance for the leaders of colleague guidance groups
• Colleague guidance for a school's entire staff
• A school project group network
• A school principal network
• The Norwegian version of "Checkpoints for Schools" (G. Varnava)
• Follow-up by a dedicated advisor from the pilot project schools

Evaluation
The evaluation consists of an impact assessment and an assessment of the implementation process at the schools.
The impact assessment targets the project's three main focus areas: concentration problems, discipline problems
and bullying. In addition to this, it also examines the impact of the secondary focus areas: violence, racism, truancy and negative group formation. A third area the impact assessment looks at, is the teachers' professional follow-up, emotional support and supervision. Based on a desire to acquire knowledge about why some schools succeed better than others, it also examines the implementation processes in the schools.

The evaluation process consists of:

• Questionnaires for pupils - before and after
•  Teacher reporting regarding pupil behaviour - three times a year
• An assessment of the implementation processes in the schools through group conferences with the project groups at the schools

ConnectOSLO
ConnectOSLO is a programme intended to reinforce schools' efforts to create good learning environments for all. It provides a school's staff with information on how to prevent and stop bullying, violence and racism. It also focuses on improving pupils' concentration and increasing the benefit they gain from learning.

Zero tolerance
The main principle behind ConnectOSLO is zero tolerance of bullying, violence and racism. Schools should communicate this attitude to pupils and parents/guardians through what they do. This entails clear expectations about the environment one wants in the school, in the classroom, and the schoolyard, and about the relationship between the school, home and the local neighbourhood.

Involvement and obligations
ConnectOSLO's involves and obligates everyone in the school environment: pupils, school staff and parents/guardians. ConnectOSLO emphasises that adults should be unambiguous, predictable and considerate. Adults should be good role models for children and adolescents.

ConnectOSLO -     a collaborative project involving the City of Oslo, Oslo's Education Authority and the Centre for Behavioural Research at Stavanger University College.