Introduction, schools for the future, april

1) Introduction

2) Project Goals and Themes

3) Methodology

4) Our Journey 2010-2012

5) Evaluation and Results

6) Looking Ahead

7) Questions and Discussion

Non-profit organization, founded 2008 in Sweden

The Executive Committee, consisting of four people working pro bono, is based in Sweden

A local team in El Salvador, including a full-time coordinator (as of January 2013)

35 individual members of 10 nationalities on 4 continents, one member organization

The project Reading for the Future, run by the local team in El Salvador

Collaboration with Swedish and Salvadoran schools, universities, companies, governmental and non-governmental institutions and organizations

Total revenues 2012: 64 409 SEK

Total spending 2012: 34 144 SEK

Funded by donations from members and other dedicated individuals, and one company (so far)

Awarded as ”Amigo de El Salvador” by the Salvadoran Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2011

Size: 21 040 sq km (Värmland) Population: 6,3 million Coastline: 307 km Number of volcanoes: >25

Sources: nationsencyclopedia.com, Lonely Planet Nicaragua & El Salvador, 2008 m.fl.

HDI ranking: 105/187 GDP per capita US$: 6,020 (Sweden: 32,314; China: 6,200; Ukraine: 5,737; India: 2,993)

Income Gini coefficient*: 48.3 (Sweden: 25; US: 40.8; ; India: 33.4; China: 42.5)

Publ. exp. on education (% of GDP): 3.6 (Sweden: 6.6%, Ukraine: 5.3%; Sierra Leone: 4.3%)

*0=absolute equality, 100=absolute inequality Sources: UNDP

Number of murders/day: 12 (total count: 4,308)

Murders per 100 000 people: 69 (Sweden: 1; USA: 4; Mexico: 18; Colombia: 33; Honduras: 92)

Children physically maltreated at home: 79% Corruption (scale 1-100): 38 (Sweden: 88; Rwanda: 53; India: 36; Honduras: 28) Sources: UN Data http://data.un.org/, UNDP 2010, DN 2012, Transparency International , 2008, Lara Alfaro, et al., 2003

Project Mission

Promote self-reflection Encourage long-term thinking Empower dreams and ambitions for the future Strengthen school- school and home-school relations Develop social networks and capacity building

Leaders of violence prevention

Reading for

the Future

Democracy and human

rights

Peaceful conflict

resolution

Gender equality

Intercultural under-

standing

Environ-mental

sustainability

Letters to words, words to sentences, sentences to texts

Understand context

Analyze Compare Criticize

Act What does ”literacy” really mean?

Methodology

Heterogeneity

Interactiveness

Variation

Methodology

Small, weekly workshop groups Joyful and reflective reading and writing Group exercises Drama, art, music, sports Field trips Include the family Broad network building Sustainability, sustainability, sustainability!

Astrid Lindgren

Sven Nordqvist

Monica Zak

Isabel Allende

Horacio Quiroga

Alfredo Gómez Cerdá

Augustín Fernández Paz

And more

The Journey 2010-2012

Four partner schools

160+ children

Majority 11-13 years old

Urban and rural

2 hours workshops/week/group

Parental meetings

Field trip

Closing ceremonies

3-5 core facilitators

Total project costs 2012: $4,456

Evaluation

Reading diagnosis

Interviews before and after with participants, teachers and families

Weekly evaluations

The facilitators’ perspective

Results

Improved reading and writing skills More tolerance in the group Long-term thinking Study motivation Family interaction Long-term?

"Yes, I have changed. Before, I used to beat

other kids, now I'm more respectful towards

others.“

- Filipe, 12

"I remember what you said about books being our friends. Now,

if I feel sad or if I'm bored, I grab a book and start reading.“

- Ana, 12

"I've seen how the communication within our family has improved

during this project. We almost never talked, and now she tells us a lot

about what you've been doing in the workshops and she asks for help

with her school assignments".

- Older sister

"One day she started to ask me what I thought she

would be doing in 20 years... When I came to the

closing ceremony and saw her life plan I

understood why!”

- Orphanage worker

"I liked that we talked about the war. I didn’t know hardly anything about it, and I think it’s very important to discuss it in order to prevent it from happening again.“

- Elena, 15

“I have to work all the time.

This is the first time we spend a

whole day together, my son

and I.”

- Mother participating in field

trip

Ambition 2-5 years

”Stable” funding

4 full-time team members

15 part-time team members, of which one psychologist

Regional/international volunteer program

10-15 schools and up to 300 yearly participants in our basic program

Fully functioning leadership/ambassador program for former participants

Helping families to apply for educational scholarships and micro loans

Training teachers and parents

Project initiated in at least one other country

Training exchange trips Sweden-El Salvador

Database with didactic material

Schools for the Future, with our knowledge and experience from Sweden and El Salvador, is a voice in the educational discourse in both countries

Ambition 5-10 years

Collaboration with schools in all provinces

Methodology integrated into teacher training on a national level

School network for knowledge exchange and cooperation

Contribute to home-school relationship building on a national level

Continuous exchange with Swedish schools and universities

International expansion

Questions, ideas, feedback?

Minna Levin Co-Founder/President

Tel: +46 70 249 79 07 minna@schoolsforthefuture.org

www.schoolsforthefuture.org

Schools for the Future

Schools4tFuture