Foto: Jan Walbeck/Oppegård kommune

Ingieråsen School is a public school situated in a suburbian community close to the capital of our country. The school has 350 students aged 13-16 years old. The school webiste: https://www.oppegard.kommune.no/ingieraasen-skole.438794.no.html 

The social context is a well-developed social-economic area, with a lot of middle-class families. There are few social challenges in the area. Most inhabitants with immigrant background are well socialized in the community and at school. However, we are now experiencing a raising number of refugees into the local community which is a new challenge that we need to address.  

The school has a close partnership with the University in Oslo (UiO) which gives both teachers and students different opportunities, as well as providing our professional staff with the latest research. The school’s staff both educates and supervises prospect teachers during their education, in cooperation with the university.

Internationalization is one of four prioritized areas in our school, and in our school's vision it is stated that internationalization and contact/student exchanges with students in other countries give our students valuable knowledge about the world we live in. Thus the school has long traditions in terms of students exchange programs and projects, as well as several Comenius partnerships.  We currently have an exchange program together with a German school which is focused on culture and food traditions, a program that we finance ourselves. We also keep in touch with many of our partners from previous Comenius partnerships, and both students and staff correspond quite frequently. We want the students to meet and learn about European cultures in order to understand the importance of the European dimension. Moreover, we regard transnational partnerships as extremely rewarding with regards to both staff and students. Many of our previous students have come back years later and thanked the school for the opportunities that we have provided for them through exchange programs and Comenius/erasmus+ partnerships. They have later both studied and worked abroad and visited their friends around Europe as they have become older.

We currently offer an elective course called International Cooperation, in which we aim to cooperate and communicate across borders through projects with other schools. This is an excellent opportunity to learn from others, and also develop language skills. The course also coordinates the school’s aid program, where the students work in order to help other youth who are in a less fortunate position.  Thus we have a class of 25 students and two teachers that on a weekly basis will be on the forefront and ensure that this strategic partnership "Jouneys for peace" will move forward according to plan. The school's headmaster and assistant headmaster are very supportive and committed and will help in coordinating this project.  

In sum, we are both skillful and highly motivated to take part in a new partnership which aims to bring students together. We also have a lot of experience organizing both student and teacher mobilities. Moreover, we have also allocated the time and resources needed to fully participate in this project. In addition, both the parents and local community are very supportive and ready to help and host students from our partners and help us organise school events.   

More recently, our school now receives a number of young asylum seekers without their families or guardians present, and they need to be included in the local community. Thus, inclusion is a new focus for our local community where we can use our partnership for new input. 

Norway’s self-image is in many ways connected to peace as we have the honour to award the Nobel Peace prize each year.  The focus on local peace heroes is, however, somewhat neglected. We strongly believe that young people today need role models and cooperating in this project will build the bridge between local and international peace heroes, and encourage the students to make a difference in their local society. That's why we are very committed to join on the "Journeys for peace".