"The offer I got [at the farm] was the offer that got me through secondary school and made me want to have a future and move forward (…)."

These are the words of a former pupil who spent part of their secondary schooling in a training programme on a farm rather than in the classroom.

"For several of the pupils, this was crucial in helping them complete school and make decisions about their future," says researcher Siv Merete Kjenes Arnesen.

She has followed and interviewed 13 pupils for her doctoral thesis, in addition to five farmers and 13 school staff from various parts of the country.

Need a break from the classroom

There are several reasons why secondary school can be challenging for many pupils. Some face social or emotional difficulties, others struggle with concentration, have low motivation for school or encounter additional challenges. These pupils may be offered a so-called farm-school programme.

"The challenges pupils face are varied. What they have in common is an inability to fully benefit from what the school offers. According to their teachers, they needed a break," says Arnesen.

In a farm-school programme, pupils spend part or whole days on the farm each week, often for a year or more. The rest of the week they spend at a regular school.

Instruction takes place in small groups and is tailored to individual needs and interests. Activities may include caring for animals and plants, cooking, forestry work, building, welding, using tools and operating various machines and vehicles.

"They are given concrete tasks and have specific goals to work towards. This can also help them receive assessments in specific subjects," she explains.

Arnesen, who has a background as a child welfare officer, aimed to understand how both pupils and the participating adults from schools and farms view the programme.

Farm experiences made school life easier

One thing became quickly evident: the motivation these pupils developed on the farm also impacted their school life. As one of them expressed to Arnesen:

"I primarily started [the programme on the farm] due to concentration problems. [It] helped to have a day like that every week, to calm down, learn new skills, and we covered so many different areas - I learned to weld, do repairs, and drive - and then people can figure out what they like. For me, it helped quite a lot with school."

"As they practiced social skills and became more confident, they were able to be present in the classroom in a different way. This shows how motivation developed in one context can influence the motivation for learning in another context," Arnesen says.

The time spent on the farm was crucial for the young people's personal development. There, they experienced the care and engagement of adult farmers, gained motivation to tackle new practical tasks, and became part of a community.

"Several of the pupils I spoke with highlighted the importance of how they were treated on the farm. They became part of a workplace, took on real tasks, and were trusted to do a lot. This differed from how they were treated as pupils during a typical school day," Arnesen explains.

Pupils were first interviewed while in year 9 or 10. They were then interviewed again two years later. Nine out of ten were now in vocational or academic secondary school programmes.

"The strong relationship with adults was highlighted as extremely important to them. Many said the programme helped them complete lower secondary school. They figured out what they wanted to study, and they changed as individuals," Arnesen says.

Half of the pupils discovered their career path through the farm programme, while the others solidified their ideas about what they wanted to pursue.

However, a farm stay is not for everyone.

"Pupils must have an interest in the tasks on the farm. It would be good to have more arenas that suit others better," Arnesen says.

The term 'alternative learning arena' is used by the Directorate of Education and Training for this type of programme. However, farmers in the field whom Arnesen spoke to found the term misleading:

"They prefer to see it not as an alternative, but as a supplement to regular schooling. The question is whether such arenas should be alternative offerings or whether schools should expand to include multiple arenas."

Arnesen sees there is a clear need for a more expansive and practical school environment to accommodate diverse pupil needs.

"In both my project and related research, there are clear signals from teachers, headteachers, parents and others that there's a need for change in schools, especially at the lower secondary level. This could help reduce marginalisation and dropout rates among secondary school pupils. We can't afford to lose them along the way," she says.

Facts: Farm-school programme

• The farm-school programme is well-established in several parts of the country.
• 'Inn på tunet' (into the farmyard) farms are examples of such programmes, offering tailored and certified welfare services designed to foster achievement, development and wellbeing for various types of users.
• The farm-school programme is approved by Norwegian authorities as an alternative educational option for secondary school pupils who do not sufficiently benefit from traditional instruction.
• The farmers are usually day-to-day managers, and their professional backgrounds vary, from teacher, social worker and agronomist to skilled worker, and more.
• Siv Merete Kjenes Arnesen recently defended her doctoral thesis, 'The farm as an alternative learning arena for pupils at the lower-secondary school'
• The participants she studied were connected to five farm-school programmes across four different municipalities in eastern, western and central Norway.