Change Architects - Executive summary 2018
- 1. 2 0 1 8CHANGE ARCHITECTS The children become Superheroes when they say I CAN! www.allgrowromania.org EXECUTIVE SUMMARY September 2017 – August 2018
- 2. THEORY OF CHANGE 1 Through experience learning, students acquire 21st century competencies such as team work, communication, empathy, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. The learning process needs to create a space where the children collborate and can take action towards solving problems they care about in their communities. Every child has the capacity to become an agent of change in his/her community when he/she discovers through practical experiences their own capacity to create change. In 2015 the European Commission estimated that over 46% of Romanian youth are at the risk of poverty and social exclusion, percentage higher than national average of 37%. The educational system failed to attract, prepare and retain high quality teachers and offer students access to practical and relevant skills and competencies. For these reasons we need complementary initiatives which contribute to the development of teachers and students. CHANGE ARCHITECTS Change Architects is a strategic educational initiative, which transforms 8 to 18 years old students into Change Makers through community development and social entrepreneurship. The methodology has 4 simple steps: FEEL, IMAGINE, DO and SHARE and has at its base design thinking. The FIDS methodology is a concept developed by Design for Change. The teachers facilitate the application of the methodology in their classroom. The students identify problems in their community, brainstorm ideas and implement sustainable solutions. The students develop new skills such as: empathy, collaboration, communication, planning, leadership, but even more importantly they gain confidence in their own capacity to generate change and inspire others. Change Architects Ecosystem Students – are experiencing the change process and develop new competencies. They are contributing to solving important problems for their community. Teachers – facilitate the application of the FIDS methodology and create a positive supportive environment for the students. They receive support and access to tools and resources. Supporters – MeRCI (Mentor, Role Model, Changemaker, Investor) – are supporting the students and bring positive examples in schools and communities. AllGrow team works directly with innovative teachers, who are facilitating the design thinking process for their students. We are also engaging with professionals who are mentoring and strategically advising the students teams to create social innovations. This ecosystem generates a social impact ripple effect and a change in the mindset of those involved thought collaboration and exchange of know how.
- 3. 2 CHANGE STORIES Feel: The students realized that some colleagues don’t know how to play handball, basket or football and would like to learn. Also, there are students who don’t know how to sing, paint or dance. Imagine: They realized that each one of them has a talent they would like to show and teach their classmates. Each one of them has something to share and there is something he/she would like to learn from a classmate. Do: The students spoke about their talents, passions, skills and recognized their weakness. They organized different workshops based on their skills. Each student became either a teacher or a student. The students organized themselves without teachers intervention. They learned a new skill and also practiced teaching. Share: In the future they would like to expand this peer to peer learning program to even more classrooms and topics P E E R T O P E E R C O A C H I N G No. 7 „Sfânta Maria”, Secondary School Timișoara Feel: 3rd graders fed up with bullying decide to take action and reduce the violence. Imagine: Their approach was to reduce bullying through interactive games during recess. Their objective was to unify the students and teaches them how to be honest, respectful to the rules, team work and overall develop the fair play spirit. Do: They proposed different games which can be played with a large number of players. They found applicable materials (balls, ropes, scarfs, etc.) and created 5 teams. Each team being responsible for a day of the week. They designed posters and wrote jingles. After one week they had to rethink their strategy and scope as they had more students than originally planned. Share: Due to this activity they notice a positive change in the overall attitude, interaction and relationship amongst themselves. P L A Y F U L A P P R O A C H T O I N T E R A C T I V E G R O W T H ,,Alexandru Stefulescu” Seconday School, Tg. Jiu, Gorj
- 4. 3 IMPACT S t u d e n t s S c h o o l s T e a c h e r s 1000+ 230+ 280+ I feel brave and I believe I can do anything I want to. I was shy and reserved but now I am more friendly. I can help those around me. Together we can do anything we set our minds to. We are working better and have more fun when we work in teams. The team worked closely together and our interactions were better. The community believes in us. The community can be mobilized. The community has resources we just need to reach them. Community Team Individual The students were asked what did they learn about themselves, their classmates and the community as a result of this program. The evaluation was completed in anonymous and voluntarily. Change Architects is for me an acknowledgement of the changes my students are capable to create when they are involved in different extracurricular activities. By being part in this project they developed their critical thinking and capacity to take the right decisions based on the situation they are facing. They transformed themselves into superheroes with superpowers! In this process they became friends, learn how to work in teams and developed entrepreneurial competencies. Teacher Adela Andrei Change Architects gave me the opportunity to have my student discover that they have the power to generate change, find creative solutions to challenges they face and prove to themselves that nothing is impossible. The most important lesson was that even if this was not a compulsory activity they participated and by doing so they realized that they have a role to play in their own communities. Teacher Hârșan Carmen Liana T E S T I M O N I A L S F R O M T E A C H E R S
- 5. 4 VISITING THE SUPERHEROES During 2017-2018 school year: - 24 stories of change were created - 6 schools were visited by AllGrow team - 1 teacher will represent Romania at DFC conference in Taiwan Due to the weather conditions and difficult access in Lepsa area we had to cancel the Summer Camp but we didn’t cancel the idea of meeting the students and rewarding them for their efforts. There so we have decided to visit them and spend a fun educational day together. During the visit we played game and organized educative activities. We spoke about their project, it’s impact and what can we do to make their experience better. The winning teams received certificates, LEGO sets, sweets and t-shirts. In this way we were able to connect with more students and teachers. The school visits were an unique way to get to know the communities where the students live and see the projects first hand. The conversations with the students helped us identify new opportunities for change.
- 6. 5 NEXT STEPS • 20+ Supporters • 100+ Change Stories • 250+ Schools • 5000+ Students Launch Phase 1 Launch Phase 2 Launch the MeRCI initiative OCT MAR JUN Attend and facilitate workshops at Design for Change Conference în Taiwan DEC SEPT Publish projects JUL Select the winning teams Summer Camps and school visits AUG GOALS - Organize at least one Summer Camp in a different location - Visit the students in their own communities - Start the Accelerator program for the students who are in the second or third year of the program - Start the Ambassador Teachers Program - Support the students with the supporters program (mentor, role model, changemaker and investor) - Integrate Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) - Initiate exchange programs with students from the USA.
- 7. 6 SUPPORTER ENGAGEMENT Involvement in mentorship activities of students who are part of the program. Someone who wants to help the children and invests it’s own resources. Someone who wants to generate change in his/her community. Someone who wants to inspire the children and wants to bring in a positive example. Me R C IMentor Role model Changemaker Investor Besides these options there are several ways to collaborate, for this reasons we would like to connect and discuss it further. Our email is info@allgrowconsulting.com and phone number +1404610 3556. S U P P O R T E R S : We are thankful to all supporters, teachers, parents and students who believed in us, without you we wouldn’t be where we are today! The association All Grow, like the name says aims to create systemic change thru collaboration between individuals, organizations and institutions. AllGrow is dedicated to helping organizations and individuals promote inclusive growth and advancement by fostering innovation, knowledge sharing and critical thinking. Our mission is to contribute to building an inclusive society, in which ALL members have the tools, resources, and opportunities to GROW. Please contact us if you have comments, suggestions, or collaborations ideas. You can find us at the following addresses: www.allgrowromania.org +0726 158 632 / +1 404 610 3556 info@allgrowconsulting.com https://www.facebook.com/allgrowromania