– a complete teaching package to improve young schoolchildren´s awareness of occupational health

and safety

Learning about OSH4 & 5 March 2002, Bilbao, SpainSusanne Ulk, ASC, Denmark

Ar and Mi at School

The Service Centre of the Working Environment Council in Denmark  

ASC assists the Council with:• planning and development tasks• information tasks• magazine publications• hosts a permanent exhibition on the work

environment• arranges conferences, education and training

on cross-sectorial issues 

May I introduce the Working Environment trolls Ar and Mi

• the concept for the ar-mi-project and the underlying ideology

• youth-point of view according to the government´s action programme

• legislation • the co-operators in the project• the methodology• the actual materials 

The presentation

The aim of the primary school project is

• to strengthen safety and health training• to integrate the training into general teaching

in primary schools

The ideal is, that

• good safety and health attitudes and habits should be developed in school

• it is important to encourage children to take a constructive part in safety and health work at an early stage of their school careers

The action programme “Clean Working Environment by the Year 2005”

The programme recommends that

• basic attitudes and knowledge in relation to safety and health should be provided by schools

• pupils must be able to make a positive contribution to their own health and safety

• and to that of their colleagues

The Primary School Act

• teaching of health and safety has received a high priority in legislation and curriculum

• teaching of health and safety is incorporated in a number of primary school subjects

• health and safety training is mandatory for all school grades

For these reasons the project is part of a national campaign and strategy at a national level

Collaboration partners

• Trade Unions• Employers´ Organisations• The National Association of Local Authorities in Denmark• The Danish Ministry of Education• The parents´ organisation “School and Society”• The National Teachers´ Organisation• The Danish Association of School Managers• The pupils´organisations FLO and DEO• The Danish Working Environment Service• The Sector Safety Council for Education and Research• Representatives from a number of occupational health

and safety projects

The Methodology

• The “Ar and Mi project” incorporates and encourages project-work

 • It is a methodology where pupils actively and

purposefully – investigate their environment – form concepts and ideas about it – try to understand it – form opinions about it – take action on it

The pupils discover how, as citizens in a democratic society, they can influence their surroundings according to the views and opinions formed during the process

The project work methodology encourages pupils

• to organize their thoughts and• to express their thoughts as ideas that can

be presented and discussed with others• to make tentative conclusions• to assess the quality of investigations• to discuss possible improvements

The Materials Package “Ar and Mi at School” is designed so that

• teaching and pupil investigations are in constant interaction.

 • investigations, discussions and the acquisition

and use of skills and methods are fundamental elements in the package.

The Materials Package “Ar and Mi at School”

• provides opportunities for pupils to present their work to

• classmates• pupils in other classes or other schools• parents• school boards• politicians• etc

• not only as talks, but as presentations incorporating the various disciplines in the subject such as

• statistic work• model building• drama• film • etc

The Materials Package “Ar and Mi at School” consists of

• the troll house, full of materials for health and safety training

• the story-book “Ar and Mi at School”• posters• teacher´s folder

The board-game “Ar and Mi and the Troll School”

consists of materials for four groups with up to six participants

“Three New Stories about Ar and Mi”

• 3 BIG BOOKS and 3 x 3 small books in a folder • The books can be used in native language

training as well as in training health and safety subjects

“It´s raining cats and dogs in the Troll-forest” has “indoor climate” as the topic

“Kicking up a row in the Troll-forest” has “noise” as the topic

“Sad Stubbi” has the psycho-social work environment as the topic

The methodology is “storyline” also known as “The Scottish Method”, developed from the concept of Steve Bell, Jordanhill College of Education in Glasgow 

“Scrutinizing the School´s work environment” is a teachers´ book

In addition to these materials, the project has developed the following resources

• The “Ar and Mi Journal”• “Health and safety Training”

– a catalogue of ideas• Health and Safety training for trainers• Ar and Mi´s homepage www.armi.dk

“Ar and Mi Journal”

• A newspaper for teachers, school counsellors and safety representatives.

• Published twice a year• 12 pages in A4-format• the articles are intended to

provide knowledge and inspiration for teachers and encourage them to teach safety and health

A catalogue of ideas

• A box containing three A4 folders• one for teaching grades 0 to 3• the second for teaching grades 4

to 7• the third for grades 8 to 10

Customised courses

Health and safety training, especially for teachers and school counsellors 

Ar and Mi´s homepage

On Ar and Mi´s homepage we see Ar and Mi helping the youngest pupils to improve safety and health at school