A new paradigm is emerging and the current education is adapting at a slow pace, slower than necessary. Fortunately, there are changemakers who are driving and accelerating positive transformation in education.
We had the pleasure in speaking with Óscar Pérez, CEO of The Social MBA, who has informed us what are the forgotten points of education programs today and how The Social MBA proposal seeks to solve those challenges and demonstrate that another type of training is possible.
The proposal is innovative in two main points: the focus of educational approach and then the access to the program.
- Focus
The current education does not actually promote self-knowledge or the importance of learning to manage solitude and silence, which are key aspects into navigating our daily life.
From a purely intellectual perspective, a majority of programs continue to propose techniques and methodologies that reinforce the old paradigm, focused exclusively on economic success, with individuals focused on achieving personal benefits, without repairing the situation of others or the environment.
Today, education is immensely disconnected from social action and nature.
Instead, The Social MBA combines personal development tools with social action methodologies, proposing another way of “doing”. Specifically, those who enroll in the MBA are prepared to face global challenges not only taking into account economic variables, but also social and environmental aspects, and learning from a practical experience.
Another key aspect is the selection of facilitators. In addition, these are individuals with extensive professional experience and above all, aligned with values. From different places, the course facilitators work actively in the construction of the new CO paradigm: collaboration, co-creation, collective intelligence, cooperation, and the common good. In this way, teachers are sought who live and work in coherence with these values mentioned above.
- The access
Another current issue at hand is that higher education is not democratic and necessarily accessible to everyone.
In Africa or Latin America, for example, the majority of young people finish their studies after primary education and very few can study secondary school or dream of going to a university.
Furthermore, the Social MBA aims to improve access by offering a program that is more economically accessible than conventional proposals.
Instead of a model of 30 students per classroom paying between 4,000 and 60,000 euros for an MBA, thousands of students are expected to access this opportunity for a total of 599 euros.
Additionally, The Social MBA has a One for One policy, where through local NGOs in different countries, places are offered at no cost to particular individuals who cannot afford it, to improve their employability or develop as changemakers.
Ultimately, in these moments where many people are in need, they do offer a 50% discount to unemployed people in Spain.
From Efecto Colibrí we had the honor of participating as facilitators in the modules of Ecosystems to Support Social Enterprises (together with Ekhos) and in the Communities.
