Kids’ Dialogue - constructive dialogue model for comprehensive school pupils
About this good practice
Kids’ Dialogue is a tool for constructive dialogue that is innovated in the City of Lahti. It is based on the Timeout-method developed by The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra. The City of Lahti was the European Green Capital in 2021 and one of the themes of that year was to make citizens´ participation more sustainable.
Kids’ Dialogue allows children and young people – both the quiet ones and the louder ones – to present their thoughts and experiences of current matters. Kids’ Dialogue is used to reinforce social and emotional skills. Kids’ Dialogue is used in city development when there is a need to understand childrens’ and young people’s experiences of the discussed topic.
Kids’ Dialogue enables involvement of children and young people in the societal discussions. In Lahti, the dialogues are arranged on a regular basis in schools and in kindergartens.
The Kids’ Dialogue has some specific elements that are typical for the Timeout-method. All participants are equal in the discussion, which is always facilitated by a trained Timeout-facilitator. The course of the dialogue in anonymously documented. The “Ground rules for a constructive dialogue” made by Timeout, are modified more suitable for the target group.
The goals for the Kids’ Dialogue are to give time for a genuine dialogue, to increase understanding and well-being, strengthen the sense of togetherness, improve emotional and interaction skills and to create an equal way to participate and influence.
Expert opinion
Resources needed
Kids’ Dialogue is implemented with elements typical for Timeout dialogue: the discussion is led by a trained Timeout facilitator and a scribe writes down the course of the dialogue anonymously. The optimal number of participants is 10-25 and 1/3 of them should be adults. Time: 75 minutes/dialogue
Evidence of success
Five Kids’ Dialogues per school year: local dialogues during the autumn and spring terms, interschool dialogues during the autumn and spring terms and a City-level dialogue once a year.
Four local Kids’ Dialogues about community spirit: To build mutual understanding between children, young people and adults in the service area regarding inclusion in the school and class community.
Democracy award 2023 from The Finnish Ministry of Finance.
Potential for learning or transfer
The Kids’ Dialogue is easily adapted and implemented in different school settings and different curricula. Mini kids' dialogue is developed to use in kindergartens.
Kids’ dialogue is a good way to improve the participation of pupils and to hear them and what they have to say in the constructive discussion together with adults. This way pupils can learn useful skills for participation and influence their own matters. School community provides a safe learning environment for these skills. This method strengthens the feeling of security and inclusion of every student. It also enhances the atmosphere of trust in the school community and more widely in the surrounding areas. The feeling of safety enables better learning. The main principle is to listen, not to create solutions before the discussion.
Further information
Good practice owner
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