From Morocco to Tajikistan

One of the first things that people will do if you ask them about education is to talk about their own experiences of schools and teachers.

They will say “I went to a great school” or “I’d didn’t like it”, or “I had a great teacher, and that’s why I am doing what I am doing now”.

Schools help shape young people and their influence continues throughout peoples’ lives. They are one of the main formative influences for young people.

However, a lot of education policy dialogue takes place over their heads – even though ultimately they are the most affected by policies.

Making the Connection

With The Skool I’d Like we are trying to make sure there is this connection – high-level policy dialogue can be enriched by the voice of the students.

That is why the ETF is starting The Skool I’d Like project. Our aim is to listen to young peoples’ voices, to learn from them, to hear first-hand what students think is most important for them. Ultimately, it is to enrich the policy processes that the ETF tries to help with.

This concept is inspired by the project run by the UK’s Guardian newspaper, which asked the same question to UK students and received some stimulating responses. The ETF however, is inviting young people to share their ideas for schools they would like through social media, on a special Facebook page and on Twitter.

Why social media?

Because social media is the pre-eminent platform where young people discuss things and express their opinions. We want to hear their messages. We have successfully used social media in the past in an award-winning 2010 project for events on women and work and promoting social inclusion.

This time it is different. This is more of an open-ended exercise. We are asking a broad question: ‘what school would you like?’ We don’t attach it to any event. It’s the beginning of an ongoing dialogue, part of the way we work. We want to involve people from all ETF partner regions.

This approach has both risks and opportunities. There are no right answers to the question. And we also need to work out how to make the information we collect readily available to the politicians, policymakers and think-tanks.

Concrete question

Although broad, our question is also quite concrete. It concerns things from everyday experience, specific opinions and aspirations, it’s not about abstract concepts, it’s about individuals and their first-hand experience.

This will show us what people think about when they think about their education. We want people’s messages to inform our policy thinking, make us aware of some issues we were not aware of, shape the way we communicate and how we engage with policymakers in ETF partner countries.

People have always demanded to have a voice but don’t always expect to be listened to. Now, the new communication tools and the new social context give anyone with an idea the chance to go on record, talk to experts, speak to those who give advice to policymakers.

We want to listen and be part of this new conversation to better respond to the real needs of young people.

Find out more:
The Skool I’d Like on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheSchoolIdLike
Twitter: Send messages and search using tag #ETFskool