Over the past eight years, Falu Frigymnasium has actively worked to define our success factors, an effort that has proved successful on many levels. We have continuously improved many of our results, something that is not always self-evident even if you have a systematic approach to development work. We have done this under the umbrella of "Democracy in action". Democracy is the common thread in our quality work.
Quality development can only be achieved through participation and collaboration between those who will implement the change, those who will be affected by the change and those who will organize the activities. This is our firm conviction. This means that there is no one right development model for us. There are many, as many as the groups we measure results for. Each group has its own unique conditions, each group works in its own context.
We know that today there are big differences not only between schools, but also between classes within schools, including ours. By allowing each group to own their results, analyze and set the measures that are most relevant to them, the work will be successful. The quality work becomes something more than a system, it also becomes a value-creating process.
Pupils are involved in influencing
We create opportunities for our students to participate and influence, we do this by clarifying our most important processes, which are the course and mentor processes. The students are involved and have a say in the design, implementation and results of the courses, they are involved in the evaluation work both in the middle of the course and at the end of the course. They are involved in the evaluation of culture/values in the same way. By measuring our culture-bearing behaviors, we make visible the values that are important. In this way, quality development work becomes part of everyday work.
In addition to everyone's participation in the analysis and action work in the course and in the cultural/value-based work, the indicators we measure are important carriers of democracy. In addition to key figures and so-called hard data, we have, for example, chosen to measure student engagement. We do this by measuring the following indicators:
- Active participation in school
- Number of active school groups
- Pupil participation and influence
- Students' drive and solution focus
- Attendance at activity days
- Number of students in international projects
- Number of study visits and lecturers
- Impact of international projects
The indicators can be a combination of different metrics.
The key to success
Students often come to us because they want to influence not only their own study situation, but also the larger societal issues. Democratic decisions determine the actions that are relevant to the groups. Here, democracy becomes both an end and a means to success.
The importance of understanding democratic processes feels very important today. Young people's belief that they can participate and influence is a key to success, not only for us at Falu Frigymnasium, but for society as a whole.
Example of clarification of the customer process (pdf)
Requirements and processes (pdf)
With kind regards,
Maria Pettersson
Principal
Falu Frigymnasium