ABSTRACT

Sense of community at school? – High school students experiences on social environment at school Anna-Maria Nurmi Sociology Masters’ thesis Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy University of Jyväskylä Supervisor: Terhi-Anna Wilska Spring 2013 65 pages + 3 appendix

The purpose of this study was to investigate the meaning of social environment and learning environment inside school to high school students. The study also investigated the meaning of friends and belongingness inside school and the role of a school in student’s wellbeing.

Today’s society emphasizes individuality and youth has been raised in a culture where individuality prevails. Competing and coping alone are essential elements in 21st century. High school without permanent classes is a product of this time. It has been planned to serve individuals and to ease their studies as individuals. Despite of the hegemony of individuality young people need feeling of sense of community and they want to feel themselves as part of group. School has a chance of being and essential place in giving feelings in sense of community.

This research was a qualitative case study where part of the questions was also analyzed quantitatively. The study was conducted as an Internet questionnaire and 71 high school students answered the questionnaire from two different high schools in Western and in Mid Finland. The data were analyzed through thematic content analysis. The study indicated that the high school students experienced their social and learning environment two-folded. For some of the students school was a place that sense of community prevailed and for some of the students school didn’t have any features of sense of community. Friends were an important thing at school and the thing that motivated the most in coming to school every morning.

Keywords: sense of community, school, high school, case study