Wise choices (Viisaat valinnat)

The Wise choices -project is carried out by the Centre for Continuing Education and the discipline Social Psychology at the Department of Social Research, both at the University of Helsinki. The project is funded by the European Social Fund during the years 2015 -2018.
The aim of the project is to enhance the access of youth to the educational system and encourage young persons to apply for further education after comprehensive school. Intergroup relations and ethnic attitudes are also addressed.
As a crucial part of the project the discipline of Social Psychology carries out an intervention study on the intergroup attitudes of youth. The focus is on supporting positive intergroup relations of pupils in grades 7 and 8 of comprehensive school. The intervention includes the application of a so called storytelling method.
The theoretical background of the intervention lies in model of extended contact and it also utilizes the theory of social learning. The students in the intervention schools participate in three session on intergroup relations, once a week for three consecutive weeks. Students on the 7th and 8th grades of both intervention and control schools are given a questionnaire once before the intervention and twice after it. The aim is to study if the attitudes of the students can be influenced by the intervention sessions andf how this intervention method could be further improved.