Building A Classroom for Quality Education

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Building A Classroom for Quality Education

London, United Kingdom
Organization type: 
nonprofit/ngo/citizen sector
Website:
http://aswegrow.org
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

#aswegrow believes each child has the right to a proper education that matches its needs and effectively prepares it to address the issues of the community in which it lives. Our funding strategy is focused explicitly on projects that improve educational outcomes, and in particular help ensure that children don’t just enroll in school but also derive meaningful and lasting benefit from it.

About Project

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

We are trying to change the overall perception on Education. Learning how to read, write and count form the mere basics to properly function in this world and the more people we can give access to such basic life-skills, the better. But getting children in school, providing them with educational access, sadly hasn’t proven to be enough. Many of the children who are offered the opportunity to go to school, do not get the opportunity to finish it. And those that do finish school often end up with a degree that has little to no meaning for their direct environment. In the world of traditional charitable giving, quality education doesn't yet have real standing. And if we want to make an educational change for the better, we have start giving meaning to those words as soon as possible.

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

Our solution lies in changing the perception. When we talk about classrooms, we don't want people to think a room with a couple of tables, benches and a blackboard, but we want people to realise that children need the whole package. That's why we aim to build Classrooms for Quality Education, genuinely catered for its students to grow. The #aswegrow classroom blueprint is our little attempt to better understand the complex process of education. First of all, the classroom should be a quiet space used to exchange knowledge and nurture continuous learning. Each classroom has to be built with that specific objective in mind. Once its’ walls, doors and windows are there, we suggest that the classroom is divided in three main areas: The front of the classroom, or the teacher’s area for #aswegrow-we teach. The middle of the classroom, or student’s area for #aswegrow-we learn. The back of the classroom for #aswegrow-we eat.
Impact: How does it Work

Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.

Our model (the #aswegrow- blueprint) consists of three programs: 1) #aswegrow-we teach: Quality Education in the classroom starts with the teacher. This program works with organisations that create and implement teacher training, school methodology and vocational skills programs. 2)#aswegrow - we learn: Quality Education only works with good learning material. This program works with organisations that build the actual school buildings, provide writing equipment, classroom furniture and other vital study materials. 3) #aswegrow - we eat: Quality Education needs to be supported outside of the classroom. This program works with organisations that identify and resolve obstacles that keep a child away from school. Our primary activities as a non-profit are raising funds and awareness for educational grassroots organisations. We started our activities (as stichtingangels.nl) in 2002 and always experienced problems in understanding/explaining how one (educational) problem related to the other. This overview gives us something very clear and 'universal' to go by. Potential donors as well as grantees now more easily understand the relation between one obstacle and the other and more importantly realise that by only focusing on one element of the classroom, it can never grow as a whole. We use the model both as a checklist as well as an incentive for grantees to invest in areas where they haven't invested in before.
Sustainability

Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?

We admire many non-profits and social enterprises but the two we feel the closest to are: - Room to Read: because of their business approach to resolving an educational topic and their idea to relate education to (popular) reading, an activity that we all can identify with. - Acumen Fund: because of its slow capital philosophy. The investment approach makes it very transparent, yet, due to the fact that a Return on Investment is not directly expected, people can take their time to make their business grow. We greatly admire UNICEF in the way they gather and communicate about educational statistics in our world. Currently we are different from the above mentioned organisations as we are smaller and specifically focus on Quality Education rather than on actual access to it.
About You
Organization:
aswegrow
About You
First Name

Aldo

Last Name

de Pape

About Your Organization
Organization Name

aswegrow

Country where this project is creating social impact

, LND, London