Building on Strength - Intervention for those at risk for early school leaving

BSI’s objective was to work with students (14-16) showing early signs of being at risk of leaving school early, using proven methodologies to help them acknowledge and realize their strengths, pas...

BSI’s objective was to work with students (14-16) showing early signs of being at risk of leaving school early, using proven methodologies to help them acknowledge and realize their strengths, passions and values and use design thinking as a process by which they could meaningfully contribute to their own lives, their community and the greater society. The role of BSI was to create a sense of belonging and mattering within a new learning community in which the students came to understand and acknowledge the unique contributions they are each capable of making and how by working together they can make meaningful contributions. Unique to this course was the thoughtful integration of strength identification and the training in the design thinking process in order to provide the students with an early-life experience in using their strengths, values and passions as they develop creative and entrepreneurial skills.

BSI project was split into three primary activities. 1. Development of 24-hours of workshops, implemented through eight 3-hour sessions a. The first three sessions focused on strength, passions and values identification b. The third sessions incorporated the Ikigai to help students integrate their self-learning and begin to identify needs in their communities they are both interested in and are capable of meeting c. The second part, 4 sessions were focused on the design thinking process; in groups students worked to identify a challenge that they could reasonably address and work toward solving. d. The final session, was a final presentation where the students presented their process to their families 2. Facilitation of the 24 hours of modules to students 14-16 in Iceland and Bulgaria showing signs of being at risk of early school leaving 3. Training and guidance to school staff in the approaches and methods utilized in BSI; resulting in a BSI manual in Icelandic and Bulgarian for future use by the school staff and the partners 4. A digital space where all the materials are attractively presented and can be used by educators: www.byggjumástyrkleikum.is The platform includes the manuals and lesson plans 3 languages.

BSI project developed a training manual in English, Icelandic and Bulgarian, enabling both partners and participating schools to continue to use the program for new groups of students. The manuals include a rational for the program, explicit connections to competence frameworks, lesson plans for each of the 8 modules and slides and materials (in Icelandic and Bulgarian) as they were used in each partner country and context. A digital space where all the materials are attractively presented and can be used by educators: www.byggjumástyrkleikum.is A total of 22 students (12 in each Bulgaria and 10 in Iceland) participated in the BSI program and 11 staff (8 in Iceland and 3 in Bulgaria) observed, supported and took part in BSI. In Iceland the 12 students came from 4 different schools all within the municipality of Hafnarfjordur (Öldutúnsskóla, Hraunvallaskóla, Lækjaskóli, Setbergskóli); in Bulgaria the 12 students all came from one school Vocational high school for agricultural mechanization and education in the town of Sptemvri; all the students are from Roma backgrounds.