What impact do our corporate volunteering projects have on schools? The school year is ending, and we’re grading ourselves. Not the kind of grades that qualify, but the kind that set ideas to help us improve. Mariano Martín, director of one of the secondary schools where Fundación United Way España has been working the longest, helps us with this assessment.
We always write EDUCATION in capital letters to make clear our commitment, because we know that school dropout is a problem of such magnitude in Spain that it could lay the groundwork for a bleak future. Meanwhile, the 2022 Survey on University Trends, carried out by Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, reveals that 75% of university entrance exam (EBAU) candidates say they did not receive enough information to choose their studies after high school.
One of our methods to alleviate these two problems is to bring corporate volunteering into classrooms so that it generates a realistic picture of future working life for those who are unsure whether to keep studying.
Mariano Martín, director of one of the schools we’ve worked at since 2018, has a very concrete opinion on the role of the productive sector in schools: “Companies have their role but they shouldn’t determine how the education system works, education must be protected. We train people, not just productive people.” However, at his school they’ve spent years receiving staff from companies that run job-motivation workshops around professions with a future. On this he has no doubts either: “Companies are made up of people who want to do more things. If institutions can capture that will, it enriches what we do, that’s good for everyone. It’s a give and take.”
Boosting that exchange is what United Way’s work is about. We identify a purpose, design a tailor-made project, propose it to a company, and it provides financial and human resources so a specialized social entity can carry out the activities. In this case, they are workshops with tech companies that combat school dropout under the title Tech4Change, within the umbrella program Youth Challenge.
According to Mariano, the program’s success rests on several keys: first, good integration of activities into the school schedule, to ensure they fit with teaching work; then, thorough training of volunteers so they can convey their knowledge well. And third, an area of action outside academic performance (that is, without grades), so the workshops take on a somewhat playful character.
But no less effective for that: “The impact on the kids is high because of the novelty factor, because they work with an adult who is not their teacher, not a mother or father, who are role models associated with denial. It’s someone with whom they can have a different attitude.” Mariano also values planning: “With United Way there’s a very notable point, and that is, it’s not just landing something and leaving, there’s really a journey in the activities, there’s a living relationship that grows and that we keep enriching. In that sense the methodology is a great asset; United Way controls the volunteering, company and collaboration ecosystem very well. And since we’ve been repeating this for several years, they know very well how we work, they know the messes we have at the center, they know that some things aren’t easy, they know how to adjust. It’s a truly comfortable collaboration.”
But what Mariano highlights most is the qualitative effect, the change in students’ ideas about themselves that underlies the spark of real change: “These workshops are very useful for students who struggle most academically, because for once they get to shine, succeed. It gives them a chance to shed the labels of good or bad student, they directly influence their self-esteem.” Something we hear time and again from teachers, students and volunteers in this and other projects we coordinate.
We ask Mariano if there’s any special reason why his school hosts activities like ours. Again, his answer is clear: “I don’t think we’re a top-tier school, we simply try to be agile, to take advantage of opportunities. At first there were very few students and it was strange to have people who aren’t from the center in your classroom, but the teaching staff has grown comfortable and the program has kept growing. We try to make it easy, not be afraid to complicate our lives, even if it means a bit more work.” True, his school is very attentive to STEAM (the acronym pointing to the most competitive disciplines of the future, including the A for Art), has a wide offering of languages, and is committed to holistic education that even includes managing a vegetable garden. About promoting technology, by the way, Mariano insists on an important nuance: “We’re aware of its enormous social weight and that’s precisely why we emphasize promoting its conscious and moderate use.”
So far, then, it seems what we do in schools is on the right track. Is it worth, then, involving more companies?: “I imagine some companies might find it very complicated, they need encouragement to take a simple step, to overcome inertia. A little, over the years, is a lot. Our experience is that it works better when companies let themselves be guided. I’d say that, in general, the most important thing is to start with simplicity, with humility. It’s also very interesting for teaching staff because you come into direct contact with the current circumstances of the labor market.”
The website of the school Mariano runs says: “Our work is a passionate work. We work with people, we help them discover their potential and make the most of it, to know and overcome their limits, to observe the whole world around them. Educating is not just transmitting knowledge, it’s much more.” We couldn’t agree more with this approach; it’s the same one with which we involve companies so they can shed the label of ambition machines they still carry. So they can take part, in the best way possible—and alongside those who need it most—in the task of building the bridges that connect us to the future we must build.