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Description
“If current trends continue for another 20 or 30 years the democracy will be toast” said Yascha Mounk, a Harvard University lecturer and expert on crises of liberal democracy. This alarming sound resonates very well with the current status of flawed democracy for Romania. Fundamentally, in order to improve our democracy, we need to repair its’ foundation through civic participation.
A central role in repairing and building the future of democracy is held by young people. Our educational system has failed to give students key knowledge and skills needed for active citizenship and as a result they are currently disillusioned and perceive democracy as an abstract concept rather than a community-centric and vibrant set of behavior and practices they are part of. (Rousseau and Warren 2018)
Our proposed solution is to increase and enhance students’ civic participation by building an ecosystem of collaborators formed of teachers, local community members and students. Using design thinking methodology facilitated by teachers’, students will work together and collaborate with the local community to build solutions to relevant problems prioritized by them. We are re-imagining the schools as centers for social innovation and civic participation who engage the young people in practical activities.
Our project aims to work with young teachers (under 35 years old) from over 15 schools from rural and underserved communities across Romania to change student’s mindset from “spectators” to change architects who make their wishes and needs known in the community and work together towards finding and implementing solutions. Over 500 students will work with their teachers and community members towards designing and implementing practical solutions. In this process, youth will develop 21st Century Skills and will be perceived and acknowledged by community members and authorities as conductors of the success of their community.
Summary of project results
The SCHOOL - CORE for SOCIAL INNOVATION community project aimed to create a collaborative ecosystem consisting of students, teachers and community members to increase civic participation using the design thinking method facilitated by young teachers. The project promoter stated that educational system has failed to give students key knowledge and skills needed for active citizenship and as a result they are currently disillusioned and perceive democracy as an abstract concept rather than a community-centric and vibrant set of behavior and practices they are part of. Therefore, the aim of the project was to re-invent the role of the school in the community and to transform it into a center of social innovation and civic participation that builds the foundation for the future of democracy. At the end of the 18 months of the project, they managed to fulfill most of the proposed objectives. Thus, they trained young teachers in rural areas and created bridges of collaboration between schools, communities and local authorities with students at the center. 32 young teachers from Bacău, Vrancea, Buzău, Brăila and Galați counties discovered the design thinking method and applied it to the classroom to build projects that bring value to the community, increase the spirit and civic involvement of students. Perhaps the best summary of our impact is the children''s words. "I liked that we worked as a team, that we discussed issues in our community, and that our opinions really mattered." A total of 652 underserved students from rural communities in Romania participated in the project and completed over 18 community projects that contributed to changing their thinking from "spectators" to architects of their own future. The website of the project ( https://www.scoalanucleu.org/) became a hub of resources for teachers that want to implement the method at their classes. The project also encountered difficulties mainly related to the pandemic, among which we want to mention the instability and lack of predictability in school activities, limited interactions between students and community members, limited access to school space for outside stakeholders and socio-emotional challenges of students as well as teachers. Despite all these difficulties, the project was successful in contributing to the development of students'' critical skills, including collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, perseverance and entrepreneurship.