4.8 Current debates and reforms
On this page
On this page
Forthcoming policy developments
Under construction
Ongoing debates
A new study called ‘The effects of school-based youth work in Finland – realist evaluation’ has been published by the researchers Antti Kivijärvi, Eila Kauppinen and Tomi Kiilakoski from the Finnish Youth Research Society. The idea was to study the effects of municipal school-based youth work on the wellbeing of young people in upper comprehensive schools in Finland. Finnish public bodies have invested financial resources in school-based youth work particularly in the 2020s. The study was based on a mixed-methods research setting in which both quantitative and qualitative data were used. The results indicate that school-based youth work can result in several positive outcomes especially at the group-based level, but not without persistence and supporting structures. Those effects were, for example, a reduction in prevalence of bullying, enhancement of the class atmosphere and an increase in opportunities to have an influence on the everyday practices in schools. The research was funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture and was conducted as a part of the Center of Expertise Nuoska – Youth Work at Schools and Educational Institutions (coordinated by the South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Science's Youth Research and Development Center Juvenia). The study has been published in Finnish, see Antti Kivijärvi, Eila Kauppinen & Tomi Kiilakoski (eds.) (2024) From exceptional circumstances to the threshold of a new era. Municipal youth work in Finland 2023. Helsinki: Finnish Youth Research Society, publication 249, online publications 186, see also summary in English published in the webpages of the Finnish Youth Research Society.