This paper describes an attempt to influence school atmosphere through a large group in an elementary school. Another goal was to increase the students' feeling of responsibility for the school environment through training in democratic processes. A third goal was to explore how applicable the group dynamics of the large group are for 1st to 6th graders.
Method: All students and school staff met in a weekly large group for five consecutive weeks.
Results/conclusion: The level of participation steadily increased during the five sessions, and clearly 1st to 6th graders were able to make use of the large group method. Positive changes in school atmosphere occurred and may even have had a long-term effect. The understanding of democratic processes increased.