Safety competence promotion in secondary education – A case of the Finnish NouHätä! Programme

• Published in: Heliyon Vol. 10; no. 8; p. e28099
• Main Authors: Puolitaival, Mikko, Somerkoski, Brita, Lindfors, Eila, Laakkonen, Eero
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 30-04-2024; Elsevier
• Subjects: Collaboration: teachers and experts; Learning in a safety education programme; Safety competence; Safety education in the Finnish comprehensive education curriculum; Teaching-learning methods; Teaching-learning methods; Collaboration: teachers and experts; Safety education in the Finnish comprehensive education curriculum; Safety competence; Learning in a safety education programme
• ISSN: 2405-8440; 2405-8440
• DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28099

The Nouhätä! safety education programme has been organised in secondary schools in Finland for over 25 years. However, to date, it has not been systematically evaluated. The purpose of this quantitative survey is to provide information about good practices, benefits and limitations of the NouHätä! Programme; this has been done by answering the research question what variables explain pupils' safety competence after participating in a NouHätä! safety education programme? The results show that the best learning outcomes in safety education are achieved when training is organised in collaboration with teachers and safety experts. Practical training also seems to have a significant impact on the safety competence of pupils. The results suggest that background variables like school success and the sources of safety knowledge affect the level of pupils' safety competence. The results of the study can be used to develop the programme and other safety education programmes for children and young people.