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Education for Impact: Building Purpose-Driven Learning Communities w/ Mateo Tobar · IB Unplugged

0:00
Welcome to IB Unplugged, a Kognity podcast for IBDP educators
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that tackles your submitted questions and challenges by connecting you with
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experts and peers who share their ideas and stories from real classrooms.
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Hello and welcome to IB Unplugged.
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This week we're talking to Mateo Tobar about empowering change
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and how we can use education for agency and impact.
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Mateo is an Ecuadorian social entrepreneur.
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He's worked in the private, nonprofit and education sectors.
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He's the co-founder and CEO of Boost Change, which is a social impact
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incubator and empowers young leaders and organizations.
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This episode is going to be exploring innovation, collaboration
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and experiential learning
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and how that can empower young people to become real changemakers in your area.
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Yeah.
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So if you were wondering,
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maybe in your school, you feel like there might be a gap
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between what the students are learning in secondary school
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and the kind of real world skills that they need later on.
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If you're thinking that you want to be focusing a bit less on grades
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and more on learner profile, and really bringing that more into the forefront,
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or maybe you want to connect your school more with the local community.
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This conversation is going to bring up quite a few of these different points
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and give you some tips on how to move forward.
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So welcome to the show. We hope you enjoy.
1:25
Hi, Mateo.
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Welcome to IB Unplugged. We're so glad you're here.
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I thank you very much for the invite.
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Absolutely.
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We obviously are looking forward to a great conversation
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with you in just a moment, but to help our guests
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or to help our audience get to know you a little bit more,
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we've got a couple of rapid fire questions for you.
1:41
And I know that you're based in Ecuador.
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So could you tell us what's something that everyone should do
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when they visit Ecuador?
1:47
Well, for sure, going to the Galapagos Islands, which are amazing.
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And it's one of the wonders in the world.
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So, yeah, definitely visiting the Galapagos. Amazing.
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And when we go to the Galapagos
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and then we come back to Quito, which I believe is where you're, located
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right now.
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What are you cooking for us for dinner?
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So I actually love to cook.
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One of my favorite things of,
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like cooking is something called Hornado, which is something.
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It's about pork, and it has a little bit of potatoes.
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I really like it.
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That’s perfect.
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All right. Sounds good, sounds good.
2:21
All right, let's let's turn the corner a bit into some of the stuff
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we're going to be talking about today.
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And I know we're talking about the different sectors
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in which you've been involved in.
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So in your opinion
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which sector has the greatest impact the nonprofit the private or educational?
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So I think that's a tricky question because I think is the complementary
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sector like the complementary part of each sector that makes the real impact?
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So my experience in private sector has also been
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how can we attract non-profits and the education sector to work with us
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and then with the education sector, the same thing.
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So I believe it's really about like
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talking between sectors and making everything makes sense.
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Okay, so not any one, but rather when they with
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with our powers combined then we can do something powerful.
3:07
Yeah, exactly. The power of collaboration.
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And if you ruled the world, what class would you put in every secondary school?
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Students, repertoire.
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What would they have to take?
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Maybe something.
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Focus on entrepreneurship or soft skills?
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I think those are the, the, the skills that you can like really transform things.
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Obviously bringing in mind that you have basic learning
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such as math and language and stuff.
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So yeah, something about soft skills.
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And speaking about entrepreneurship, I know that you are an entrepreneur
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yourself.
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What was your biggest misconception about being an entrepreneur
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before you got started?
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I thought it was going to be easier, you know, but the, the,
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the cool part is that when I, when I started stepping into entrepreneurship,
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I never thought it was going to be also like a personal journey about like
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personal reflection and learning
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so that there has been something really cool and you see yourself,
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as someone that is like trying to push for your dreams,
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but that your entrepreneurship is also impacting others.
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So I didn't have, like, that sense of entrepreneurship before stepping in.
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I thought it was going to be easier. Yeah.
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Fair.
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And then.
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Yeah, our last question is you've done a lot of work
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in a lot of different sectors, but why have you gravitated
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towards education and a lot of the kind of different things you've done?
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So I think education is the basic thing
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that we need in order to like, promote changes.
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Whereas it is in the schools or in communities or in companies.
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I think that people is looking forward, to like opportunities
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to become better versions of themselves.
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And I see in education the, the mechanisms that actually like powered people up
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in you can help you become a better leader, a better,
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CEO and also, like thinking about in more human education.
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Like, how can we create a spaces where people can feel like
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they have the ability to speak up for themselves?
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And I see that education can really open up those spaces.
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Nice.
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Nice.
5:18
So I'm Mateo, you survived the rapid fire round.
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That's it.
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So well done.
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Let's get into the the key part of what we're talking about today,
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which, of course, is that education for agency and impact,
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specifically in Latin America, where you are now.
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And for this first segment, I wonder if we can just sort of talk
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around this idea of like redefining what education means,
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especially for Latin American learners.
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I wonder if you could kind of give us a bit of the context and
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and what is what do you mean when we start talking
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about redefining what that educational experience looks like?
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Yeah.
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So I think that
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the way we have been trying to learn has stayed the same for a lot of years.
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It was like
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we started sitting in the classrooms and there was someone that was like
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the one that has the learning and that is teaching all the things.
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So like, we are becoming a world that is transforming every day.
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So I see location as a mechanism
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in which you can actually, like, empower people
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to be the own leaders in their learning process.
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So I see that's how we see like,
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I mean, myself, transforming education is about making every people conscious
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that they can lead the process of learning and that they have the opportunity
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and the capacity to explore how they see themselves in topics,
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in terms of learning.
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So it's
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really about empowering people and then like practical learning,
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I see that there's a lot of opportunities in
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allowing people to get their hands towards the learning and learning the ways
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that they want, that it is not necessarily
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that you have to learn everything in the classroom,
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but you can also learn things outside of the classroom
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and engaging with other peers that are outside of the classroom. So,
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yeah, I see education, at least in Latin America, like,
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a really big opportunity to, like, break the walls of the classroom
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and really get outside and have a learning process that
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also works with other people that are outside of the school.
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Yeah.
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You've been working with schools kind of across Latin America.
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What are some of the kind of themes of the challenges that you see coming up
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most often? Yeah.
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So I believe one of the major challenges is that we are
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we think that education is like
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only the process that happens in the classroom, or like
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maybe that teachers are are the ones that have to always lead the
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learning process, which is also truth.
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But there's also an opportunity for students themselves to realize
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that they have the capacities
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and the opportunities to expand on the learning that they want to achieve.
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And one of the challenges here is that
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maybe teachers don't have the necessary tools and resources to,
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create more learning, like more meaningful learning experiences with their students
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and on the other side, obviously, students are facing
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like some really personal challenges and situations within their house.
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So we're talking about communities that don't necessarily have the best
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environments in their family or in their home
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that are facing a lot of insecurity, a lot of violence.
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So how can we create learning processes that can actually provide,
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all types of students and all type of persons
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the same opportunity to acquire more opportunities.
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So I want to come back and touch on something
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that you mentioned before, which was with regard to students
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having a little bit more choice of learning what they wanted to learn.
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And it's got me wondering
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to what extent are the changes that you're seeing necessary in Latin America
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due to restriction based off of curriculum and specific content
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that we have to cover,
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based off of what a government might say or some other educational entity.
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Is this talking about changing a curriculum or is there more than that?
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Obviously, there are always opportunities to improve the curriculum.
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But it's also about like providing the spaces and the opportunities
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for teachers themselves
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to realize that they have the capacity and the opportunity to be flexible
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in the learning process.
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But for governmental entities,
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there's also an opportunity to be more,
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to put themselves in the shoes of teachers
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because they have a lot of work and a lot of things to do.
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So, yeah, I think it's also giving the opportunity for teachers of themselves
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and the tools to be more flexible in the learning process.
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Whereas it can be like it's a very
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linear curriculum, but the process in order to achieve
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learning objectives can change and it can be more practical.
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Have you been working more with teachers or more with the students
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yourself in boost change in the other organizations you've been funding?
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Yeah.
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So in the past, I was working more directly with, students and schools,
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maybe at some point teachers.
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But right now,
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what we're trying to do at boost change is we are social impact incubator.
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We are working directly with youth leaders and leaders from non-profits.
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That they might be from 19 to
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maybe 30 years old and that they want to lead change into our communities.
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So that's the main the main bullet that we're working on with,
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but yeah, in the past,
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working with teachers has been also like a great experience of mine.
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Is there any common denomination that you see
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of these young leaders in anything that you think you've picked up on
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from their secondary school education, and then you think that what makes them
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be the ones that are rising up as these young leaders?
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Yeah.
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So one of the things that we have seen is that
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people, when they get out of schools,
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they get out with a lot of ideas and a lot of things they want to change,
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but they do not necessarily have the tools or like the knowledge
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in order to transform those ideas into reality.
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And it need might go back to the sense that in schools,
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they didn't have the opportunities to maybe lead their own
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projects or co-create things with their peers.
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So like what we are trying to do at Push Change is to like, really provide
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the tools, the mechanisms and the connections for,
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youth leaders and leaders of nonprofits to really transform
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the ideas into reality and to make sustainable change possible.
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Because these are not things
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that you necessarily learn in school or in the university.
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So it's about how can we bring practical learning back to the table
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and provide the opportunities for people to learn while they are doing things,
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not necessarily
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just hearing people in the in the zoom call or in the in the classroom.
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So walk me through that a bit.
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What does that actually look like? What does that mean?
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So you say you're giving them a few more opportunities
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or helping them with resources, giving them the tools they need.
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Is this like job shadowing?
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Plus what is what does this look like. Yeah.
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So basically what we do at Boost Change is that we work in two pillars of action.
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The first pillar pillar of action is actually
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providing opportunities for learning to people.
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And what we do is we have, some learning programs in which,
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there are in virtual format, but we also have onsite formats
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and basically is providing people the opportunities to learn about design
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thinking or like maybe learn about how can, they,
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learn project management or topics about, like, fundraising for non-profits.
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So it's not.
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And what we do is not only teaching about the concepts,
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but we are also trying to like giving them tools and teaching them how to use tools
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and how to have a mindset in which if you have a problem, you can look for
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maybe like tools in the internet or like be more creative in the solutions.
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And that's our
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our role that does change, at least in the in this first pile of action,
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like giving the opportunities for people to like, take learning
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with their hands and be really practical in the learning process.
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And we have had a like really
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cool results in which people like 98% of the people that have been trained with us
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say that the tools that we teach them are practical since day one.
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So they start using those tools.
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And then in the other pillar of action is, technical assistance for nonprofits.
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So it's more like,
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a consultancy process for nonprofits itself.
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Okay.
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So if I'm a student who's maybe just finished some secondary ed,
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I could get into boost, change, redefine, or kind of refine some of these skills
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that I may have gained a little bit of really focus more on that design style,
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thinking approach
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that obviously, like the IB diploma program has that sort of design
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thinking itself, but this gives me more the practical hands on thing.
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And then if I want to take that further, I can
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then work with some of these companies that you are partnering with as well.
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Is that right? Do I get that? Yeah.
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Yeah, yeah, actually we have a program that is called boosters for change.
14:08
Okay.
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And what we saw is that many nonprofits
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are requiring some specific skills, from people.
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But when they are trying to look for those,
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skills in people, they realize that they're not able to find.
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So that speaks a lot about the disconnection between
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nonprofits and universities or schools.
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So basically, what we are trying to do also is to helping people
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upskill the profiles and providing some opportunities to learn
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practical things that nonprofits are looking for.
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So that and that's one of our flagship programs that is global search for change.
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And that's that creativity, the project management, the collaboration
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sort of stuff that you were talking about before. Right?
14:48
Yeah, exactly.
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Are you an IB educator wanting
14:52
to improve your practice and needing a just a bit more support getting there?
14:56
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15:00
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15:04
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15:06
Simply visit kognity.com/ibunplugged to submit your question to us,
15:12
and have your question explored in more detail in an upcoming episode.
15:15
And now, back to the show.
15:18
One of your past jobs.
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You were actually in the classroom.
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You were teaching innovation and entrepreneurship, is that correct?
15:25
Yeah. How do you teach innovation?
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That was actually the word that sent me
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to like, become really passionate about learning and education.
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When I started trying to like, teach about like internship and innovation,
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I was like first trying to like get my sense of like, what is innovation?
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And that was really challenging at first.
15:45
But what I try to do is to provide people
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like the opportunities to solve problems.
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So like giving, giving them challenges
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and seeing like, how can we create something together?
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That is also really centered on the person that we are trying to help.
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So for me, innovation is about like this thinking process.
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And my role in the classroom was always like, okay, like we have this challenge,
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how are we going to solve together that challenge?
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And not thinking about the solution, but
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we have to get in love with the problem that we are trying to solve.
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So that was kind of my approach,
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to entrepreneurship and innovation.
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I learned a lot.
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And I also make some mistakes, along the way.
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But that was also like an entrepreneurial journey for myself.
16:34
As I've taken a look at the boost change
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sort of approach or looking at the website,
16:38
I notice there's these things about like localizing innovation
16:41
for youth empowerment and therefore community mobilization.
16:44
I wonder if you could talk to me a little bit about that.
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Like, what does that what does that mean?
16:48
What does that kind of manifest itself as in your communities?
16:51
Yeah.
16:52
So the topic of localization is really important for us to change.
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And in simple words is how can how can we bring
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global opportunities to their communities?
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And also how can we ask first communities, the the things that they want
17:08
to change in their communities and then make it happen?
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So at Boost change, what we're trying to do is always to like,
17:15
not working
17:17
for communities, but working with communities.
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So whenever we're trying to support,
17:23
a group of young leaders or a group of non-profits, we are always
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trying to, like, make a relationship that is really horizontal.
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And then with them identifying the global opportunities that they can,
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that they can, use and like maybe that they can,
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that will support themselves in their communities.
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So at Boost change basically what we're trying to,
17:44
do is to bring global opportunities
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to communities but opportunities that make sense.
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And also providing the skills and tools for people to,
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be able to speak in a horizontal manner with possible
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government or donors or private companies that are working around the world.
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So it's about like grasping, learning,
18:07
to the to the community itself and also making the community
18:12
realize that they have the power and the tools to transform
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their own, territories, and that at Boost Change, we are just,
18:20
as for like an organization
18:22
that is going to support themselves in that, in that journey.
18:27
So that's kind of like how we see localization.
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Because there's been a lot of things that are transforming the world
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and not a lot of opportunities, but there are built in the global north.
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So, like, how can we actually
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make a, like a more horizontal approach
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towards development, and towards innovation also.
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And that it, it makes sense for everybody.
18:49
Yeah. No, I think that makes a lot of sense.
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And I think that, a really easy comparison would be with CAS in the IB
18:55
programs of when they really do build that relationship with the community
19:00
at your school,
19:01
do you guys usually keep your CAS projects to be local in the community?
19:06
Yeah, I mean, there's there's wide options.
19:08
You know, students can go a bit further abroad or they can stay close to home
19:12
and that really local context.
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But yeah, you have this chance of really connecting
19:16
with what the community needs in that specific space.
19:18
And I guess that's something that really attracts me
19:20
about what you're talking about here, Mateo, is it feels like it's very,
19:23
for lack of a better term, grassroots.
19:25
Like it starts with like who?
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Who needs something right here?
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What does this community actually need and who are the different contributors
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to it?
19:34
And so when I compare this to, like the IB diploma program,
19:36
where we have the creativity,
19:37
activity and service component, like you were talking about Court,
19:40
there's parts where you could see it as like,
19:42
oh, I'm just going to go get some CAS credit, if you will, and do this thing
19:45
or the other.
19:46
But what I like about what you're talking about is like,
19:47
it's, it's an engagement across all these different stakeholders to do something
19:51
meaningful that the community has defined as meaningful for them.
19:55
Which sounds like a pretty cool approach to it.
19:57
Really. Yeah.
19:58
And and I think that the, the CAS section of the IB diploma, it's
20:02
like a great opportunity for like, students
20:05
to really engage in how communities can transform themselves.
20:10
And also we we have,
20:14
podcast that is developed with AI, and we just developed
20:17
an episode focused on participatory action research.
20:21
So it's about thinking that it can be CAS
20:23
or it can be also a class about research.
20:27
But and that research has to make sense for the people
20:29
that you are researching, about it.
20:32
So it's, it's all about like bringing again like, okay, what are you doing?
20:36
It makes sense what you are doing with the people that you are working with,
20:41
with the community.
20:42
Or maybe you are working with, teachers.
20:45
Like, it's always about, like, asking for who are you working with? So.
20:50
Yeah.
20:50
Yeah, I see that this is like a great window of opportunity
20:54
in the, in the, in the IB diploma with the, with the CAS, section of it.
20:58
Yeah, yeah.
20:59
When I think about, like, the curriculum, you're kind of bringing it back
21:01
there as an educator, when we talk about curriculum, it's often,
21:04
why are we learning what we're learning and what are we going to learn?
21:06
And then how do we actually go about it?
21:08
But what I like about what you're bringing into this is the who.
21:11
Who are we learning for?
21:13
Who are we doing this? What is the purpose of this here?
21:16
So I guess when we talk about transforming or redefining education,
21:19
at least in Latin America, and what could be applicable
21:22
to all schools everywhere is really rethinking,
21:25
what am I learning to who am I learning this for
21:28
and why are we doing those things in this community?
21:30
So taking that real global idea and bring it down to local context,
21:34
is that sound kind of like what you're aiming to do with this?
21:37
Yeah.
21:37
I mean, for us it's always about like the who and who are you impacting?
21:43
And and
21:44
that it makes sense for everybody involved.
21:47
And also as a students, I think that really
21:52
nowadays students are really like they have a mindset of like social impact
21:57
and they are really eager to like, transform the world.
21:59
And I think that ourselves as teachers or like as educators,
22:04
we have a really important responsibility of making them aware
22:08
that if you want to promote social change, that is incredible.
22:12
But also think about like how you're going to promote that social change
22:16
and then how and how that change is going to impact the lives of people.
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So like,
22:22
I love the part of like you John say, like they who
22:25
I think that's something that we have always to, like, remind ourselves of.
22:30
Like, who are we working for now?
22:32
I really like that idea.
22:34
I really like this kind of way of reprioritizing.
22:39
It's not necessary
22:40
really changing what you're doing, but it's how you're doing it
22:43
and how you're really guiding those conversations.
22:45
But I want to move into
22:47
our second segment, which is about this mismatch.
22:51
If anybody who's listening was at the Engage Ecuador conference,
22:55
you know that Mateo did a session there about kind of this mismatch
22:59
between what we teach and what the world needs.
23:01
And I want to dive into that idea a little bit more.
23:05
And you have this kind of concept of a mismatch
23:10
between what students are taught and what the world demands.
23:12
And I'd love for you to.
23:14
Yeah, flesh that out a little bit for everyone.
23:16
Yeah, that's my favorite topic because myself,
23:20
yeah.
23:21
Because myself when I was studying, in school
23:24
and I entered university, I didn't know what I was doing.
23:29
And then when I got out from university
23:31
to, to look for a job, I realized I didn't also have any skills.
23:37
So, like, this is not only personal, but it is also structural because
23:41
there are a lot of surveys and studies that say that many companies
23:47
they say like, okay, I can teach you technical skills,
23:50
like, for example, in the topic of AI or like technology,
23:54
I can teach you how to program things and use AI.
23:58
But the things that I cannot teach you are soft skills.
24:01
Like for example, how can you work in teams?
24:05
How can you be a leader?
24:06
How can you have empathy?
24:08
So like those soft skills I think are the ones that are left behind,
24:13
in the formal training, because we're always thinking
24:16
at least in schools or maybe in universities especially,
24:20
they're focusing on, okay, you have to be like, a great attorney.
24:25
You have to be a great scientist, and you have to have the skills for that.
24:29
And that's super important.
24:32
But also what we are forgetting about is that we also have to be good
24:37
human beings, and that we also have to be, good teammates.
24:41
And the part of soft skills are the ones that I think are left behind.
24:45
And those are the ones that are also extremely important
24:49
for the private sector. Super tech companies like Google
24:53
are looking for those skills because those are the ones
24:56
that you cannot train internally in a small period of time.
25:00
Like you cannot teach someone
25:01
to have empathy in just like three months in the onboarding process.
25:06
So it's about
25:07
how can we create opportunities for young learners, but also adults,
25:12
you know, to learning of those skills and those abilities.
25:15
Yeah.
25:15
As you're talking here, I'm just I'm growing with frustration
25:18
because, you know, I think about the IB diploma program and there's yes,
25:22
of course, there's a big push on content.
25:23
But right at the heart of it is exactly these skills.
25:26
You're talking about, the IB learner profile.
25:28
You know, it's this like be more caring, be a thinker, be,
25:31
you know, like have collaborative skills.
25:33
All these things that that I know the IB does a research on
25:36
and I know they really think it through with regard to like these are the skills
25:40
that are going to last, you know, beyond this curriculum
25:43
and what I guess what's frustrating here is I know that so often
25:47
students, parents and I know teachers, we just kind of get focus on the grade.
25:51
We get focus on how well is somebody going to do to earn
25:53
this particular qualification and therefore the learner profile.
25:57
But you've just identified as the most important thing
25:59
kind of gets put way back here in the back seat.
26:01
And it's like, no,
26:02
no, no, let's focus on the content. You got to get this grade
26:04
because the grade is going to get you the qualification.
26:06
And all the while,
26:07
what you
26:07
and what it seems like every professional is saying
26:09
is like, no, we need those soft skills more than anything else. We can teach you
26:12
all the content, knowledge, the contextual approach to this.
26:15
But really, if you don't
26:16
have those learner profile attributes, then you're not going to be so successful.
26:20
Yeah, and especially in a world that is changing so fast,
26:23
like with AI like everything that's changing.
26:27
Like no like no timing.
26:28
So like, yeah, I think that most like
26:31
today is more important than ever to sample resilience.
26:35
How can you learn resilience.
26:37
Yeah.
26:38
And that's something we are trying to push forward that push change like
26:41
not only in the schools but also like when when you are working
26:44
and when you are developing any social impact project, like
26:49
be really conscious about this and like topics
26:51
about like respecting human rights and like respecting others.
26:57
And that's what you're saying John is super important.
27:00
Like like the profile that we want to build people to be.
27:05
Yeah.
27:05
And that's the profile
27:06
that ultimately is going to set you up for success with a career too.
27:09
Like, I don't remember the
27:13
the content parts of the people that I've hired or not hired in the past.
27:18
They don't,
27:19
even though some people will still put their, their GCSEs on their CVs
27:23
and they'll, you know, talk about their education and things like that.
27:25
But it's like you think about are you aligned to the company values?
27:30
Are you able to be, like you said, resilient
27:33
and agile and be able to evolve
27:36
in an increasingly volatile and changing world?
27:41
And it's all of the soft skills that you're talking about are ultimately
27:44
the ones that, like you said, everything else.
27:47
Yeah, I can teach you in onboarding, but it really does.
27:50
Those are the things that stick and that make you
27:54
an attractive candidate when you're applying for jobs.
27:56
Yeah, I love what you said Courtney about like that.
28:00
What you remember, I always say, like, the classes
28:03
that we most remember are the ones that we have the most fun.
28:08
So when I'm, when I'm like developing any queries
28:12
or like something like about, like how can we make things that are memorable
28:16
like that, you can have fun and then you can connect with people
28:20
because I think and just highlighting that what you said Courtney because like I think
28:24
that's the way we have to like learning because we are we are people.
28:28
We we like to have fun.
28:29
We like to have passion and to connect with people.
28:33
And that's some of the things that maybe we're like just focusing on the math
28:36
or like on the physics, which I'm not good at it.
28:39
But yeah.
28:41
Yeah.
28:41
Is there any example that you that really stands out
28:45
for you of either a teacher or a school or a program
28:49
that has begun to close that gap in a really good way.
28:54
So in Ecuador, there's a lot of, good examples
28:58
of organizations or schools that are trying to, like, achieve this.
29:03
I used to work at lot 21, which was, social,
29:07
which is a social innovation lab, focused on education.
29:11
And they really push forward on providing the tools
29:15
for teachers themselves to learn how to teach soft skills.
29:21
And they are right now working in a lot of,
29:23
cities here in Ecuador,
29:24
like trying to push for the program that is called Transform Your School,
29:29
which is basically providing like small grants for schools
29:32
in communities for them to, like, propose programs
29:36
that are can transform their schools and the proposals
29:40
have to be co-created with the students, with teachers and with the community.
29:44
So it's about like trying to bring this mindset of like, okay, everything.
29:48
Everybody has to work together and we have to put like,
29:52
all of our soft skills in action, to build this, proposal.
29:56
So that can be like a really good example that I know because I used to work there.
30:02
But there are also obviously other schools that are trying to, like, open up more
30:06
the schools and bringing more connection with communities, with parents,
30:12
with private companies.
30:14
And I think that the best way to like,
30:17
bring like or to highlight the importance of this,
30:22
this profile at the end of the learning process is just like bringing
30:26
everybody to the table because the world is does doesn't work
30:30
like the world doesn't work in silos.
30:33
We are always like interacting between each other.
30:36
So I think that the best examples, you know, is how how can we promote this
30:40
in schools that are opening up or communities that are working together
30:45
with the schools and with non-profits and with private sector?
30:49
Because there's going to be a lot of richness in those conversations.
30:52
Mateo, I really like that because as we've been talking
30:54
here, I'm like, how do you close that gap?
30:56
Because a school can very much be a silo, as you just mentioned.
31:00
It's very easy for the teachers and the students.
31:02
Everybody just build their own
31:03
sort of micro community and be like, everything just happens here.
31:06
And the currency in this community is the grade and the number of scores
31:10
that we get.
31:10
But, you know, as you're
31:12
talking about
31:12
reaching out and kind of connecting with people
31:14
outside of the school and getting the rest of the community involved, you can see
31:17
where that would really help a young person shift their mindset from.
31:20
The only thing that matters is my grade to
31:23
it matters a lot better that I can collaborate with people
31:25
and I can work in a different team, and I can show some empathy and respect,
31:28
and I can develop a better intercultural understanding
31:31
because I'm now with different cultures and different communities here.
31:34
So I love that example, and I think it's really good.
31:36
You know, any educator right now listening could think,
31:38
what are the ways that I could connect with communities nearby
31:43
that take us out of our silo of education, of this classroom,
31:46
in this in the school, and get out and connect with other people.
31:50
Because that's I think the example you just gave
31:52
would be an excellent way of really teaching the soft skills
31:54
and bridging that gap from grades to like, the stuff that matters.
31:57
Yeah.
31:58
And one of the things we are trying to like, highlight a lot at boost change
32:03
with the people that we work or the organizations that we work.
32:06
And that also applies to like to educators and schools, is
32:10
that people is open up to support you.
32:13
And like
32:15
I and I
32:15
see there's a lot of power, for example, in LinkedIn
32:18
or just like walking up to like the company
32:21
that is next to the school or the community that is next to the school.
32:25
Because most of the times if you ask for people to work in
32:28
something together, they're going to say yes.
32:31
And most of the times, if you are asking for help
32:34
to other people, they are really open to, to do it.
32:38
And for example, this podcast wouldn't be possible
32:42
if if LinkedIn would be like a good tool in order to like, connect and be like,
32:46
hey, we're going to do this and like, could you help us so that
32:51
that is something that we are trying also to like highlight, like,
32:55
just don't be scared of, like someone saying no
32:59
because most of the times they're going to say yes. So,
33:03
that's why I love LinkedIn.
33:04
And one of the things that I always tell,
33:07
like young learners or teachers or students is
33:11
like, build a LinkedIn profile and such as, like,
33:14
looking up for people that is like maybe producing information
33:18
that you like and just like, send some messages because,
33:22
I think that the world is full of people, of good people.
33:27
And we have to, like, just connect between each other and help each other.
33:31
And I'm sure that they're going to say yes.
33:34
Yeah.
33:34
I do think that's also quite a bit of a skill
33:38
of the reaching out piece, too, because I think that
33:42
the community is as involved as they feel like it's a collaborative thing as well.
33:48
Like if
33:49
if you're a student and you're going and you go to this business
33:52
or this community, you say, I'm going to fix your problems by doing this.
33:55
And it's like, okay,
33:56
yeah, you can't just come in and tell me how you're going to help.
34:00
But I think that, I mean, I don't know if it's still the case,
34:03
but in the business management,
34:05
IA that was, one way that I know that a lot of students were struggling
34:09
as they would approach a business
34:11
with their business idea of how to improve their business.
34:14
And I think that there's
34:15
a lot of skill development that can come in there of, like,
34:18
how do you connect with a community and how do you get involved?
34:23
Because if you show up
34:25
on their doorstep and say, I want to help, but I don't know how,
34:27
or if you show up and say, here's my proposal for what
34:31
we're all like, what I'm going to do for you.
34:33
There's that middle ground part that I think is really important.
34:36
Yeah, totally.
34:38
And I think there's also like a lot of skills going into, trust building.
34:43
And how can you build like relationships based on trust?
34:48
And that's why
34:49
whenever I'm trying to build something, the first thing that I say
34:53
and that we're trying to like tell all the people
34:56
that this might be like a good idea because we're not perfect.
35:00
I'm not perfect, but it's just like having a coffee and having a conversation,
35:04
like a meaningful conversation and just trying to understand, each other.
35:09
And maybe there's going to
35:11
there's not going to be an opportunity to work right now together.
35:15
But the door is open and the connection is open.
35:18
So, Yeah. What do you say
35:20
Courtney is super important because otherwise, while forgetting about, like,
35:24
the, the who that were talking before,
35:28
how can we build like, this relationship of trust,
35:31
which obviously connects a lot with the soft skills part.
35:35
Like how can we have this type of, like, personality or like,
35:39
how can we build this confidence in ourselves to have these conversations?
35:43
And I know that is really hard because for us, it's also harder
35:47
at Boost Change
35:48
like approaching some like big nonprofits or like big companies
35:53
and trying to speak with the CEO or like the executive director.
35:59
But what we are
35:59
trying to tell ourselves is that we are all equal.
36:03
And maybe there's also like an opportunity for them, to collaborate with us.
36:09
And it can be like, maybe it's
36:10
not right now, but maybe in the future just let's have a coffee.
36:14
I can see where a lot of that would be very relevant.
36:18
And I think we would help quite a bit with like developing some agency
36:21
within a young person, for example,
36:23
they can see like, here's my role and how I can work with them.
36:26
This group that I've just kind of been put into,
36:28
but I want to kind of bring it back to some.
36:30
You mentioned earlier with regard to joy and like how important it is to have,
36:34
you know, joyful experiences and things that we like doing.
36:37
How do we how do we kind of connect all these ideas together?
36:40
How do we make sure that something's relevant and as soon
36:42
seems like they're a possibility for agency and at the same time, ignite
36:45
a passion that's built out of some really enjoyable, playful experiences.
36:50
Great question.
36:51
I don't think I have the the answer,
36:55
but what I will say is maybe
36:58
just reflecting a lot of that.
37:01
The learning process is, is a process and that you as a, as a teacher
37:07
or as an organization that is promoting like education
37:11
and trying to like build these these objectives for students.
37:15
It's like you can also learn in the process of teaching.
37:19
But the most important thing is for you to be truthful, to like the learning
37:23
objectives, but also to like the values that we were
37:26
talking before, like being, do no harm.
37:29
And like when I go trying to be the best version of yourself
37:33
as a, as a teacher or kind of as a guide of, of the learning process.
37:39
But I think you, you will have better, a better answer for that John than me.
37:44
Well, I
37:44
mean, there's always the, I think there's the gimmicks or the like.
37:47
There's things in the toolkit that any teacher has.
37:50
It's like, this can be a little bit of fun.
37:51
And this is, you know,
37:52
and I think sometimes it's sometimes you put a lesson together where it's like,
37:55
I just the main objective right now is that we enjoy it,
37:57
and I want somebody to fall in love with this particular subject a little bit more.
38:01
I can think of that plenty of times as a biology teacher
38:03
with certain practical experiments that I do where I'm like,
38:06
this has about a 30% chance of working, but it's it's a hands on thing.
38:11
And they do these things and actually, it,
38:13
it teaches so many other things along the way as well.
38:15
And it's a memorable thing as well.
38:17
So, I think sometimes we almost have to sacrifice the, like
38:22
here's the specific curriculum objective or whatever might come from this and,
38:25
and instead say, but this will create some collaborative collaboration.
38:29
This will develop some leadership skills.
38:31
This will help people become more open minded.
38:34
And they're gonna have some fun doing it as well.
38:35
We're going to make a mess and it's gonna be something they remember.
38:37
And I think sometimes as a as an educator, you gotta allow that pendulum
38:40
to swing over there and go, this is still going to be
38:42
a really important, memorable experience.
38:44
Even though I may sacrifice some content knowledge
38:47
or content progression to develop these skills as well.
38:50
Yeah, totally.
38:51
And I think I'm thinking about like past experiences, the thing of time.
38:57
Like you always like
38:59
looking at the clock and you have like, okay, I have one hour for this session.
39:03
And what do you say is really powerful because maybe
39:06
sometimes you just have to say like, okay, I'm not gonna
39:09
end the planning that I had, but they're having fun
39:12
and they're just enjoying the learning process.
39:16
Because that's the good thing.
39:17
Maybe I'm going to see them again next week.
39:19
Yeah, it can be a bit dynamic, right? Yeah.
39:22
So it feels like
39:23
what we've spoken about here is like when we talk about a mismatch of
39:26
of making learning relevant, it sounds like it's more about
39:30
set this in the community itself, get people outside of their own silos
39:34
of the classroom and the school, interact with the community
39:37
and find those moments of yes, you know, something that's relevant
39:42
and allows them to develop some agency, but also those chances
39:45
where passion and joy, and that's where stuff can come up
39:47
by integrating with the entire community,
39:49
not just staying within the school itself.
39:51
Is that is that kind of a fair summary, or do you feel like there's other things
39:54
that we can mention with that?
39:55
Yeah, I think that's for summary, I would only add that I see
40:00
schools are as hubs for transformation.
40:04
Because they are located in specific point in the, in the territory.
40:09
So like in, in other projects or like other experiences,
40:13
what we have tried to achieve in my experiences in other jobs
40:17
is trying to transform the schools in hopes of transformation
40:20
for the territory itself, because, for example, roads next to the schools
40:25
have to be usable for people to walk to the school.
40:29
And then how can you promote,
40:33
the transformation of some specific environments within the school?
40:36
So just seeing the school as really like a spaces where good things happen.
40:42
And that would be like for me, the dream of like when we're thinking
40:46
about the schools, they have to be spaces where people feel safe.
40:51
They they are eager to learn, but more importantly,
40:55
they're like hubs for good things to happen in the community.
40:58
So that's why I always push forward to like
41:01
the schools have have to be open and they have to, provide
41:04
a learning experience that is fun and enjoyable.
41:08
That actually hit me really hard right now.
41:10
I like that a lot,
41:11
because so often you think about a school as as I've mentioned before,
41:14
here's the place where just these people are going to be impacted.
41:16
But I love what you said.
41:17
Schools are a place where good things can happen for the community.
41:21
That's a really powerful thing.
41:23
Yeah, I love it.
41:24
And as we kind of come to a close, I'm wondering, you talked
41:28
about the school being the heart here that you can have change in a community.
41:33
And are there any examples you can think of Top of Mind
41:36
where you've really seen that happen, where you've seen an initiative
41:39
or a project bring about a collective impact for a community?
41:44
Yeah.
41:44
So right now at Boost Change, what we are,
41:48
we are supporting one program
41:52
raise your voice in English, that is funded by Fondazione Bogner.
41:57
And that we, basically the project
41:59
was to build, healthier cities for adolescents.
42:03
And we're working in two cities in Ecuador.
42:07
There are, small kind of small cities that are growing fast.
42:12
And I see that the project has done
42:15
amazing things because they have, one,
42:18
one component that works with teachers and they support teachers,
42:22
to provide them tools for all the things that we were speaking about.
42:26
But, what we are also doing is that we are providing nontraditional
42:30
learning opportunities for kids, to have something to do after the school.
42:35
Because what we have realized is that, for example,
42:39
Quevedo is a city that is, with really high rates of violence.
42:44
And we're
42:45
trying to, like, create a spaces where, kids and students
42:49
and young learners can feel safe after school.
42:52
And, and to, to use the best
42:56
and to, to make the best use of their time.
42:59
So I see that that project is doing some really powerful things,
43:03
and also ourselves, at boost change what we are
43:06
doing is we are providing learning experiences for
43:11
young learners that are currently working in the nonprofit sector.
43:14
And it's also about like providing them with the tools for them
43:18
to be better at their jobs, but also,
43:22
be more conscious that if they have a dream or a specific goal,
43:25
the world is full of opportunities and then you can access those opportunities.
43:31
Because, yeah, I think that
43:33
the world is full of good things and you can apply to many things,
43:37
but not necessarily all the or the kids
43:40
know that they have that vast access to, to the global,
43:45
set of opportunities that they have.
43:47
Awesome.
43:48
Mateo, this has been a really inspirational, discussion for me.
43:51
And as I got my wheels turning as an educator, I'm
43:53
just thinking of all the ways
43:54
that I can kind of take some of this back into my own context as well.
43:57
Just things like how we can really transform
43:59
a little bit about what we're talking about within education.
44:01
What's the point of it? Who are we doing education for?
44:04
Not just the the why, the wider the how, but who is this for?
44:08
And then also,
44:09
yeah, just thinking a lot about ways in which the school community can expand,
44:13
like go outside of that community, don't just stay within the gates.
44:17
Really, really good stuff. Yeah.
44:18
I really appreciate this conversation with you.
44:19
It's been really inspirational for me.
44:21
Also for me. Thank you very much,
44:23
John and Courtney, I think we have to do more, more spaces
44:27
like this, to democratize the access to information for,
44:31
it can be teachers, learners or the general population.
44:36
Because at some point, I say like, people is doing
44:39
great things in, in all the regions of the world.
44:42
And we have to connect more and to learn more from each other,
44:46
because that's the only way in which we're not going to be
44:49
we're going to be able to, like, actually transform the world.
44:52
And more important than like, not thinking about the world, but our communities.
44:55
Like maybe there's something that we are doing in India, for example,
44:58
or Vietnam that we can take and try to like adapt it.
45:04
Thank you very much for this conversation because I see there's a lot of powerful,
45:09
power in it.
45:10
Sorry. And, and. Yeah, thank you very much.
45:13
Thank you.
45:15
IB Unplugged is a Kognity podcast
45:17
hosted by John Patton and Courtney Marline and produced by Katilina Gaffney.
45:21
Be sure to subscribe or follow and share with your fellow IB educators.
45:25
If you'd like to submit a topic, request, or question, please do
45:28
so on kognity.com/ibunplugged.
45:31
Let's keep the conversation going
45:33
and support each other in teaching with confidence, creativity, and joy.
45:37
See you next time.