Schools encourage empathy to train students for the market – 09/08/2023 – Folha Seminars

International organizations and companies have highlighted the importance of socio-emotional skills, such as empathy and flexibility, in young people entering the job market.

For mid-level or technical positions, they are among the three skills most sought after by companies, according to a survey carried out in 2021 by Itaú Educação e Trabalho. 802 employers in the areas of services, commerce and industry from all regions of the country were interviewed. These skills were mentioned more often than experience and knowledge in the field.

Initiatives in public and private education seek to prepare young people in this sense. In Salvador, Colégio Integral joined the LIV (Intelligent Life Laboratory), a platform created by the Lemann Foundation to help teachers in the socio-emotional development of students.

In an eighth grade class, for example, a debate about gender inequality in the world of work was started based on a video.

According to Professor Caio Teles Dultra, the project helps to improve communication skills, in addition to raising awareness on different topics.

For Daniel Santos, from the Laboratory of Studies and Research in Social Economy at USP, it is essential that the school acts in this development. “In article 205 of the Constitution it is written that one of the social functions of the school is to prepare for the world of work, but the entire Brazilian educational arrangement is focused on preparing for the Enem.”

In 2022, the Secretary of Education of the State of São Paulo created the Coexistence Project program, which consists of weekly classes to work on respect, tolerance, solidarity, perseverance and other skills in students in the first years of elementary school.

After a training course, teachers have access to a book that serves as a guide to generate debates. In conversation circles, children are encouraged to come up with solutions to problems.

At the State School Professora Juventina Patrícia Sant’Ana, in Cidade Ademar, in the south zone of São Paulo, more than 800 students from the first to the fifth year of elementary school participate in the initiative. According to Maria da Guia Souza, pedagogical coordinator, the aim is to develop skills throughout the curriculum. The subjects discussed are taken up again in Portuguese or history classes.

In higher education, these skills are also requirements. In the second phase of the entrance exams for graduation in medicine at the Faculdade Israelita de Ciências da Saúde Albert Einstein, interviews assess skills such as communication and empathy.

“Young people are hired for their technical skills and dismissed because they don’t have the socio-emotional skills,” says Carla Chiamarelli, knowledge management manager at Instituto Itaú Educação e Trabalho.

“Academic knowledge is no longer enough for professional success,” says Andreas Schleicher, director of education and skills at the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).

German, he was one of the formulators of PISA (International Student Assessment Program), an exam that evaluates knowledge in reading, science and mathematics.

For him, the Brazilian context brings challenges. “Students from privileged strata have much more support to develop socio-emotional skills.”