Vocational guidance for children in Mexico

 During the past months, we have been measuring the impact of the activities of Mundo de Talentos. We have the objective of reducing barriers to educational and vocational development opportunities as a means to reduce school dropout rates. Therefore, our efforts are aimed at improving skills and abilities that allow the reduction of these barriers, through strengthening self-esteem, the sense of belonging to society and the increase in knowledge and experiences related to the professions and crafts available to the target population.

Knowledge about thematic modules

Regarding knowledge of the content of the thematic modules of the Mundo de Talentos program, we were able to see an increase in the three evaluation groups. Both in the first- and second-year groups of San Cristóbal de Las Casas and in the first-year group in Oaxaca, an increase in the students' knowledge in all topics was observed. In the first-year group in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, the percentage of participants who answered between 80 and 100% of the questions correctly increased from 35 to 45%. This percentage increased from 20 to 48% for the second-year group in this city. Although there was no significant knowledge increase observed in Oaxaca, an interesting aspect in this group was that the students mentioned many crafts and professions that they had learned about during the pilot project, including e.g. virtual reality, aviation and robotics, topics that were treated in the Communication module and the Innovations module.

Strengthening self-esteem and the sense of belonging to society

We measured the strengthening of skills and attitudes that show good self-esteem and a sense of integration in society. The items that were measured related to self-esteem included recognition of abilities, facing challenges and taking responsibilities, recognition of personal achievements, recognition and expression of emotions, response to frustration, and expression of ideas and proposals. Regarding the sense of belonging to society, we focussed on the areas of social commitment, spaces for participation and decision-making, care for others, contribution to society, and opinions regarding adults.

In questions related to self-esteem, the girls found it most difficult to recognize their own abilities. In both the surveys at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year, boys named and recognized their abilities, while in girls an improvement was noted between the time of entry into the program and the end of the year. We recognize that it is important that at Mundo de Talentos we work to strengthen the self-esteem of all students and especially girls. The gender module is essential in this sense because it shows the opportunities that women have in the world and recognizes the skills and talents of both women and men. On the other hand, regarding personal achievements, both at the beginning and at the end of the year, boys mentioned having greater difficulty in recognizing them, while girls, for the most part, showed greater ease in doing so.

Based on the surveys we found a high capacity to face challenges and to take responsibilities in all groups. This is reflected in the responsibilities that students assumed during the sessions. For example, in the Research module, a strong commitment to the activities was noted when students continued with their research tasks outside the Mundo de Talentos space. They made an effort to comply, resolve and carry out teamwork. They wanted to be well prepared for the Talent Fair where everyone presented their research results. Some children met with their team or continued with parts of their investigations during the week in order to meet objectives.

Also, in the Entrepreneurship module we observed this level of taking responsibility and facing challenges. The students were excited about the prospect of participating in a real flea market where they would offer their products and services, which resulted in them meeting during the week and continuing with the implementation of their plans. Furthermore, in general during the year we noticed in all groups that the students assumed teamwork very positively to organize and carry out the activities. Likewise, there was a good response when students were asked to bring some materials from their homes to use during the sessions.

Likewise, the response to students' frustration is strengthened in all groups. At Mundo de Talentos we place a lot of emphasis on this skill because it helps us face life's challenges and accept our own mistakes and those of other people. We strengthen this ability by accompanying students through containment and the search for tools to assertively face stressful or challenging situations. In this same skill, regarding facing challenges, more girls than boys said that if they do not know something, they would take the challenge and ask how to do it, which also shows good self-esteem, related to learning new things.

Another topic where we emphasize in the project is the identification and expression of emotions. At the beginning of the project, we observed that the majority of the girls identified the emotion they have and expressed it, while the majority of the boys identified the emotion, but did not express it. At the end of the year, the number of boys expressing their emotions increased. Mundo de Talentos´ thematic modules that have an artistic focus, such as Cinema and Arts, lend themselves to working with emotions. In these modules, students are invited to feel their emotions, identify them and express them and then use them in the art works they are creating. In addition to this, throughout the project, in a transversal way, we try to give space to the expression of emotions and relate them to the topics we work on. During the sessions, the students were asked how they felt, sometimes at the beginning, or when they faced a challenge, such as during the research project. How certain situations make us feel has consequences for our actions. Identifying and expressing how we feel helps us channel emotions and makes it possible to build a healthy and happy environment.

Another skill that we see strengthened in the Mundo de Talentos students is the expression of ideas and proposals. Boys and girls usually feel encouraged to express the ideas that arise during the sessions. This can be related to the fact that they recognize Mundo de Talentos as a safe place where they feel confident to express their thoughts. At the beginning of the school year, students identified places like home and school as the spaces where they can give their opinion and be heard above Mundo de Talentos, while at the end of the year Mundo de Talentos was the place they identified first as where they can express themselves and be heard.

Finally, a striking and unexpected issue was the positive integration of some students with a degree of autism in the project. In both the two groups in Chiapas and in the Oaxaca group, there was participation of one or two students on the autism spectrum. Even though this situation was not foreseen, the students managed to participate fully in the activities, sometimes with some adaptation in the tasks, largely because the other students took into account the limitations of their condition.

Links:

• Mundo de Talentos website
• Mundo de Talentos LinkedIn
• Mundo de Talentos Instagram