Abstract.

The aim of this paper is to shed light on how participation in projects such as Skrekkur (English: stage fright), a talent competition for lower secondary schools in Reykjavík, affects the well-being and self-image of young people. Through drama, dance and music, young people gain the opportunity to perform seven minutes of on-stage production, in Skrekkur, a talent competition for lower secondary schools in Reykjavík which a group of 35 students have created as their own from beginning to end. The project is a cooperative venture of the compulsory school and the Reykjavík Municipality Department of Recreation and Youth. This venture is created for the benefit of the young people themselves and also in support of the school community and wider society. In this way, the arts have become part of the students’ experiential learning. The findings reveal that participating students got to know other students from different year classes, and it turned out that they regarded their participation as a highly valuable period from which they have positive memories. Participation boosted the students’ self-esteem; this applied both to the participants and spectators from the participating schools as well as to students who watched by distance.  

The research is grounded in the qualitative tradition, classified as a case study. The qualitative research tradition involves the collection of data relating to the experiences and background of those under examination and, subsequently, the analysis and interpretation of the data (Sigurlína Davíðsdóttir, 2003; Lichtman, 2013). Qualitative data is, among other things, based on interviews focused on interpretism which emphasises people’s ontology and experiential background. This research concentrates on one particular case; that is, Skrekkur, a skills contest under the auspices of Reykjavík primary schools where the main emphasis is on the students’ experiences and perception of their participation in Skrekkur, as well as the way school management and teachers view the impact on the school community of participation in the contest. Participants, data collection and analysis The participants in the research were youths from five primary schools, aged 13-15, who had participated in the Skrekkur skills contest in autumn 2019. A total of eight focus group interviews were conducted with the students. All participants were involved in the research from the beginning to the end. The data collection included interviews with participants. This is a suitable method for assembling data, since it examines people’s experiences, well-being and past history. In this research open or deep interviewing technique was used where the interviews involve a process, or flow, between researchers and participants (Lichtman, 2013). All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim where participant and school names were altered and personal characteristics erased (Lichtman, 2013). All data was analysed by open coding and repeatedly read in search of patterns and themes. Data analysis was based on induction, a process during which the examiner forms expectations of potential results. Thus he/she reads and analyses the data acquired, revealing patterns or themes on which conclusions are based and presented as final results (Lichtman, 2013).

Our conclusions show that Skrekkur participants saw the project as an empowering aspect of their studies. The students became acquainted across year-classes and the positive relationships and supportive atmosphere that ensued within each Skrekkur group helped the students to express themselves with ease and listen to their peers with respect and mutual trust. The participants found it easier to share their ideas and opinions and they were able to support one another in an empowering manner. Respect for the project and, just as importantly, for individuals within the group, was a conspicuous element in the entire process. The students regarded independent decision-making as an empowering aspect of the entire work process. They felt they were in charge and responsible for their own studies. By means of co-operation and mutual listening they felt they acquired new experience and a new vision of themselves and others. They were involved in equal opportunities for the exchange of opinions on the basis of democratic work procedures. In this manner, art became an aspect of the students’ experiential learning. Projects such as Skrekkur, where students work purposefully with drama, music and dancing, are highly significant as, through the study of art subjects, students develop certain skills less easily acquired via other subjects. Thus, art can, with good reason, claim to be a facet of education. Through the medium of art students can create new aesthetic knowledge and enhance their human aspirations and experiences.

Lichtman, M. (2013). Qualitative research in education: User´s guide (3rd ed.). London: Sage Publications, Inc. Sigurlína Davíðsdóttir. (2003). Eigindlegar eða megindlegar rannsóknaraðferðir? [Qualitative or quantitative research methodologies] In Sigríður Halldórsdóttir & Kristján Kristjánsson (Eds.), Handbók í aðferðafræði og rannsóknum í heilbrigðisvísindum [Manual in health science research methodology]   (pp. 219-235). Akureyri: Háskólinn á Akureyri.