Michele de Cássia Dzindzny
Innovative experience
“My experience at the Growing Up Right Institute is innovative, keeping away from what used to my professional job as a Social Assistant. Spending time with the apprentices and the identification of their realities have been inspiring. With a great exchange of intellectual achievements with the young, everything is construction. It is just like the life experiences I take to them, they bring their experiences to me, resulting into a generous exchange of knowledge.
I see that, to the young apprentices, there has been a positive impact since the very first day of the course, starting with the meetings in circular form, differing from traditional classrooms. Equally, since the beginning, the apprentices were impacted by the methodology that differs completely from the classical system of the schools, with the focus on personal fulfillment and encouraging them to be protagonists. Another characteristic of the course is to bring together theory and practice, with external activities and pedagogical visits, always with the aim to improve the knowledge of the apprentices.
I also realize that the young apprentices feel that they are held in high esteem because it is a course specific for young rural adolescents, where they have an active voice about what is really happening in the farms and communities. They have a sense of belonging, a perception we did not have before the course of the Institute started here in São João do Triunfo. Therefore, they value highly the rural environment, have an opportunity to talk about their experiences and life experiences in the places where they live and think about improvements. I observe the pride they express when talking about their communities, respect for agriculture and show that they are aware of the opportunities in the rural setting. To us, a small municipality whose flagship is agriculture, where tobacco farming prevails, the Institute represents new opportunities for rural adolescents”
Michele de Cássia Dzindzny, social educator at the Rural Professional Learning Program held by the Growing-Up Right Institute, in São João do Triunfo (PR). She has a graduate degree in Social Service
