THEory into ACTion
A Bulletin of New Developments in Community
Psychology Practice
June 2014
Vía Educación, A.C.: Promoting Citizen
Competencies and Community Development
By Olya Glantsman & Carlos Luis
Vía Educación, A.C. is a non-profit organization located in
Monterrey, Mexico. It aims to improve people’s quality of life by providing
opportunities for social development through educational strategies. One of the
founding members of the organization is Armando Estrada, who’s a strong advocate for educational
causes. His interest in education began early on
when he was growing up in one of the poorest parts of Mexico, witnessing rural
poverty and the differences in opportunities between people in the country and
people in the city. He thought that if we wanted to improve people’s life
conditions, we ought to start through organizing, by collectively identifying
needs and resources, and finding alternatives. He considered that organizing
required training and skills development, which made him aware of education’s
importance in social development.
With this in mind Armando decided
that he wanted to get a Master’s degree, opting to study International
Education, as he believed this could help him evaluate the differences between
systems (e.g., economic, educational, etc.) and their relationship with the
wellbeing of people. While studying he met many people who, like him, were
touched by the idea that education can solve social issues.
Upon completing their education in
Harvard, Armando and two of his colleagues came back to Mexico and started Vía Educación. Their first project
focused on civic competencies (self-efficacy, empathy, participation, community
organizing, democratic deliberation and peaceful coexistence). The project was
called “Aprender a Participar
Participando” (Learning to participate by participating) and was directed
at primary and secondary school teachers, who received training from Vía Educación facilitators in order to
develop civic competencies among their students, whose age ranged from 11 to 15
years old. This process was done within the civic assignments which were part
of the student’s regular curriculum. For this specific project, Harvard faculty
was involved, specifically collaborating on defining how the competencies could
be taught and learned.
The development of the competencies
occurred both in the classroom and through the implementation of participatory
projects lead by the students and supervised by the teachers. Each project
intended to improve a given aspect of the community, and students chose, after
doing a needs assessment, which aspect they would like to focus on. The process
of the program consists of:
1. Enabling
a platform for social cohesion among community members
2. Identifying
the community that the student will be working with (school, neighborhood,
etc.)
3. Identifying
a need within the community, through a needs assessment
4. Identifying
the resources available and social capital
5. Developing
an action plan in order to work with the identified necessity
6. Executing
the action plan
7. Measuring
its effects in the community and evaluating the project
8. Celebrating
and defining next steps
The program has been implemented
since 2005, and for the 2013-2014 period, 184 teachers participated and involved
their 6,440students, who generated 184 participatory projects to improve their
communities. The following video presents testimonials from teachers involved
in the program throughout its implementation: Development of
Democratic Citizenship Program
As the program “Learning to
Participate by Participating” continued, the need to work in different
community settings arose, and 3 other programs were created; all of which
followed the same series of steps from the first program: identifying a need
and resources, developing an action plan, executing it and evaluating the
results. The creation of the other programs permitted to work more directly
with secondary youths in a program called “Círculos
Juveniles de Participación” (Youth Participation Circles), with adults at
organizational settings in a program called “Círculos Ciudadanos para la Transformación Social” (Citizens
Circles towards Social Transformation) and with marginalized communities at a
program called “Red Comunitaria”
(Community Network).
The project’s mission and values,
such as empowerment and citizen participation, and its focus on social justice
and community engagement, closely align with those of the field of community psychology,
as each of the projects developed by the students, youth and adults aim to
bring a positive transformation to the community.
Vía Educación
is a way for the people to become active members of their communities and to help
transform them with their views and concerns, through the implementation of
participatory projects. Another plus is that instead of the team having to go
to one school or setting once a year, this process promotes people to become
facilitators of change in their own communities, which leads not only to
empowerment of its members, but to sustainability. Such open communities help connect even the most disconnected
communities.
In 2012 Vía Educación was evaluated by Filantrofilia,
a national leader in third sector evaluations, and ranked 6th among 200
non-profit organizations in Mexico. The evaluation was based on the organization’s
reach, efficiency, efficacy, and return on investment. Additionally in 2013 Vía Educación was recognized as a human’s
rights advocate by Nuevo León’s State Government.
It is Vía Educación’s ultimate
belief that through educational strategies and empowerment, communities have
the potential to transform themselves and better their life conditions.
To learn more
about Vía Educación, click on the
following links:
- Video from the program Youth Participation Circles (you can get subtitles, in the CC icon)
- Website: http://viaeducacion.org/
- Annual Report (2013): http://www.viaeducacion.org/descargas/annual_report_2013.pdf
- Idealist Profile: http://www.idealist.org/view/nonprofit/z6cDXN5Jn8Np/
This
is one of a series of bulletins highlighting the use of community psychology in
practice. Comments, suggestions, and questions are welcome. Please direct them
to Bill Berkowitz at William_Berkowitz@uml.edu
