Abstract:

The Ubuntu Leaders Academy (ALU) is a non-formal education program aimed at training young people with high leadership potential in challenging contexts. True to the principles of Ubuntu’s Philosophy and Social Ethics, the program is based on a participatory methodology of relational nature whose method develops five core competencies: self-knowledge, self-confidence, resilience, empathy, and service. This methodology promotes experiential learning with a strong impact on the personal transformation and sense of belonging of the young participants. In recent years, Ubuntu has been adopted at various levels of formal education, including higher education.
Seeking to better understand the potential of the methodology in 8 schools of the 3rd cycle of Basic and Secondary Education in the municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia, we developed a research project that aimed to understand the effects of training, resorting not only to the application of questionnaires, but also to interviews and focus-groups with participants, their guardians, trainers and school principals.
In this paper, we present the results of the content analysis of 4 focus-groups carried out with students participating in the Ubuntu Clubs, from 4 schools in the municipality of Gaia, giving special emphasis to the references that the participants make about the effects of training on students, on class and at the school itself, as well as the suggestions for improvement that they make to the program.

Keywords:

UBUNTU, informal education, active methodologies, social-emotional skills.