We combine the media, pedagogy and peace work
Created by media professionals and pedagogical experts together with young people, Gutsy Go is a communal method that answers one of Finland’s biggest questions: how can we encourage young people’s participation and prevent societal polarisation?
The method combines the media and pedagogy to train whole age-groups of youths to build solutions to strengthen peace and trust together for the good of their communities. This is done as a part of comprehensive school education. The projects are documented into videos, which are then screened in local premieres and shared on social media to inspire the entire country. The youths get an immediate, visible and concrete experience of their own strengths, of participation, of making a difference on a societal level, and of the skills – solution-orientedness, resilience, teamwork skills – that are central to solving the great challenges of out rime.
Gutsy Go begins with a three-day coach training, which gives local teachers and youth workers the capabilities needed to support and steer the youth teams during Gutsy Go activities.
The action week is an intervention that includes all 14-year-old students of the target area or school. During the action week, the youths form teams of about 10 people to develop solutions to issues they’ve identified and then implement those solutions.
The solutions implemented by the youths are videoed. The videos are released in premieres and on social media. The videos are stored in a video archive for acts of peace, which ensures that the youths’ projects can be shared throughout the school year and used by teachers around the world.
Gutsy Go action weeks are great for supporting community cohesion and participation in lower secondary schools and youth work. A Gutsy Go action week can either be organised with the help of a team consisting of Gutsy Go’s pedagogical experts as well as event and media specialists or independently by the school. The relevant age group of one or more schools can be included at the same time.
The youth teams are coached by a pedagogue, teacher and/or youth worker, who has completed the instructor training. The central task of the instructor is to inspire and encourage the youths to work as a team and to guide each individual in realising their potential. The exceptional school week also offers teachers an opportunity to meet with students and connect with them.
Every year, Gutsy Go ry organises 5 to 10 action weeks supported by their team §all around the country in cooperation with local educational and youth authorities as well as individual schools. The weeks organised with Gutsy Go’s pedagogues and media experts are an impressive way for a municipality to kick off Gutsy Go projects. After the action week, the method can be further applied:
– For independent action weeks
– As optional studies
– For a club
– As a part of regular teaching
Schools and youth workers participating in Gutsy Go activities get access to a comprehensive online archive of materials, which contains instructions for continuing and further applying the activities as well as prepared classroom materials.
Gutsy Go action weeks are great for supporting community cohesion and participation in lower secondary schools and youth work. A Gutsy Go action week can either be organised with the help of a team consisting of Gutsy Go’s pedagogical experts as well as event and media specialists or independently by the school. The relevant age group of one or more schools can be included at the same time.
The youth teams are coached by a pedagogue, teacher and/or youth worker, who has completed the instructor training. The central task of the instructor is to inspire and encourage the youths to work as a team and to guide each individual in realising their potential. The exceptional school week also offers teachers an opportunity to meet with students and connect with them.
Every year, Gutsy Go ry organises 5 to 10 action weeks supported by their team §all around the country in cooperation with local educational and youth authorities as well as individual schools. The weeks organised with Gutsy Go’s pedagogues and media experts are an impressive way for a municipality to kick off Gutsy Go projects. After the action week, the method can be further applied:
– For independent action weeks
– As optional studies
– For a club
– As a part of regular teaching
Schools and youth workers participating in Gutsy Go activities get access to a comprehensive online archive of materials, which contains instructions for continuing and further applying the activities as well as prepared classroom materials.
The three-day instructor training give participants the skills to coach the youth teams during an action week. It gives teachers and professionals working with youths versatile tools:
– To strengthen the youths’ self-knowledge and motivation
– To develop the youths’ problem-solving skills
– To use concrete projects as learning aids
– To build community cohesion through taking action
– To use video documentation as a teaching aid
– To develop the youths’ skills in discussion and negotiation
In addition to the three-day instructor courses, Gutsy Go offers short training and coaching sessions. They are also suitable for teachers’ planning and training days (“veso days” in Finland). These courses are designed especially to strengthen social cohesion between the participants and build their problem-solving skills. In addition, participants gain immediate access to Gutsy Go tools to be applied to their work.
With regard to research, Gutsy Go has partnered with the medical society Duodecim, who are interested in the effects of the method on the youths’ experience of participation, self-esteem and positive mental health.
The results of an impact study conducted in the autumn of 2020 show that youths who participated in Gutsy Go had an increase in their experience of participation.
The main finding of a study conducted in the autumn of 2021 was that the social competence and especially teamwork skills of the youths who took part in Gutsy Go were strengthened.
The experience of participation and teamwork skills among one’s own age group are vital for many central developmental tasks, such as developing independence and attachment to peers. Improving prosocial skills is also important to prevent bullying and building a school culture in which minors can develop in peace.
