The Editor

                  There is a need to provide articles that explain social and natural science in a simple way, and I (Anna Birk H.) figured that making a journal together with colleagues could make this possible. Therefore, I gathered 1^st and 2^nd graders to work together on the establishment of this journal. Our main goal is to raise awareness of how to connect the incredible amounts of information that we encounter every day, to subjects in school.

  The idea is that after reading the newspaper, you will look at information in a different way – in daily life situations, watching TV, surfing the Internet or listening to the radio, you will be able to automatically connect these issues to school subjects. We know that awareness and repetition can make strong pathways in the brain for information to flow automatically. This is very important when being a teenager, because this is the period of our lives when our brain is specializing. Therefore, a study technique article will always be part of this journal, as well as easy tips regarding how you can use the information provided by the other articles. We hope that ultimately, without “much effort” and mental blocks, you will be surprised of how relevant information pops up in your mind when you need it the most.

Our goal is also to share knowledge in a way that includes every student, and that can improve our collective understanding and knowledge about the world. For instance, it is not easy to be engaged in news when 1) we are constantly being bombarded with overwhelming amounts as a result of globalisation, and 2) when articles in journals and research papers tend to be too complicated, because the writers of such articles assume that readers have extensive previous knowledge about the subject. And it does not become better when journalists in “less academic” newspapers makes  research findings into tabloid news. I and many others see this as not only an underestimation of readers, but also as very dangerous. It gives wrong information, and unfortunately, the media of such non-accurate papers do actually have a lot of power: because we have the freedom of speech in our democratic society, and because it sells. This I could discuss the whole day, so please see http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/smk/dok/regpubl/stmeld/20042005/stmeld-nr-17-2004-2005-/7.html?id=406501 for an extensive discussion on the theme.

  In this journal, we want to include “the best from two worlds”: articles which do not assume that the reader has a master’s degree in economics, understandable language, as well as basing information on serious, academic background and sources. Not only will you readers understand global issues, you can use this knowledge in in-class as well as outside-class discussion. Additionally – if you contribute with writing an article or report, it will look good on your CV!

Anna Birk Hellenes, Editor