Impacting the Lives of Youths through Empowerment

According to United Nations, today’s world has the largest generation of youth in history, of about 1.8 billion young people. With them soon becoming our key stakeholders, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon has rightly pointed out that “we cannot talk about sustainable development without the active involvement of youth.”

Despite the immense human potential, many lack literacy and opportunities to break out of the poverty cycle. Nevertheless, this is a more prominent issue in emerging countries, with 156 million (37.7 per cent) working youth in extreme or moderate poverty.

How can we help these youths escape poverty, and tap on their potential to create a better future?

UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report found that 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty if all students in low-income countries get equipped with elementary reading skills. A World Bank research also found that a woman’s earning potential will increase to a maximum of 20% higher for every year of education she completes.

Thailand in this case, is a good example of a developing country that has made remarkable achievements in bringing down its poverty rates – from 67% in 1986 to 7.2% in 2015, by empowering!

Empowering through Education and Emergenetics.

Teach for Thailand is one such organisation that empowers by improving educational attainment, raising aspiration and expanding opportunities for youth in Thailand. Indeed, it’s no easy feat and its work requires great commitment.

Seeing the great work that the organisation does, Dr Nattavut, Country Representative of Emergenetics Thailand introduced Student/Teacher Emergenetics Programme (STEP)^TM theories through the Teach for Thailand Leadership Development Programme and Growth Mindset Camp on 25 February 2017 and 23 March 2017 respectively.

Through these workshops, both students and teachers learnt about their thinking and behavioural preferences and how these would impact the way they learnt and taught respectively.

“Students who previously doubted themselves are now more confident and appreciative of their strengths and differences,” commented one of the teachers in Teach for Thailand.

Students have also since found suitable learning approaches according to their own preferences to enhance their learning.

STEP also became a moment of realisation for the teachers. “There was once I confiscated a student’s drawing book from a student who appeared distracted in class with his drawing. I now realised that he could be a conceptual preference thinker who prefers to learn by creating visuals, and what I did might have hindered his learning,” shared one of the teachers in the programme.

The teachers are now more mindful about the different learning styles, enabling them to improve their teaching techniques and approach in class.

While education is key in empowering youths, Teach for Thailand is a good testament of how we can impact the life of youths with just a simple step of helping them gain self-awareness through the use of tools such as the Emergenetics Profile and the Youth Report.

 

About Teach for Thailand

Teach for Thailand is an independent non-profit organisation, with a total of 40 network partners around the world. The mission of Teach for Thailand is to create an equitable education system with placement of great teachers who are committed to improve educational attainment, raise aspiration and expand educational opportunity for all children.

Teach for Thailand relies financially on donations from large organisations in Thailand. Over the years, it has established trust within the Thai society as a respectable organisation that works with people who strive to become a real change marker in the society.

 

About Student/Teacher Emergenetics Programme (STEP)

STEP is an exciting way to integrate how people prefer to learn and how teachers can facilitate an educational environment that enhances, deepens, and provides authentic learning experiences for all. Based on Emergenetics theory, STEP honours students through seven distinct thinking and behaviour attributes. The result is increased tolerance, motivation, engagement, self-awareness, and an ability to collaborate successfully in cognitively diverse teams.

STEP solutions equip educators at all levels with the necessary skills to enhance culture, create an environment of acceptance and tolerance, inspire 21st century learning in the classroom, and impact student achievement. All of the solutions are customised to fit your educational needs.

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