The education system, educational institutions and their employees, are certainly a very important component in the growth of young people, an essential step for their future activities, and often an incubator for creating a mature and strong personality. That is why IOM's approach through the project "Providing Support to Youth in Local Communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina", which is financially supported by the Government of the United Kingdom, includes, in addition to young people and parents, educational institutions with which it develops cooperation and provides support.

Through this project, IOM has developed the MoviEQ methodology, which, through the workshop of the same name, in a very interactive way, works on developing critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and strengthening skills such as active listening, perceiving a broader picture, and resolving conflicts.

Last week in Bihać, Cazin and Velika Kladuša, MoviEQ mentoring workshops were held, and employees of the education sector - professor, and pedagogues from several educational institutions in the Una-Sana Canton – were facilitators. Prior to these workshops, the facilitators underwent training to facilitate MoviEQ workshops, which they will be able to implement in their institutions after the completion of the mentoring process.

In a conversation with educators, who now have the role of MoviEQ facilitators, they told us that the education system needs to improve efforts to develop critical thinking among young people and, although there are certain activities within the curriculum related to critical thinking, this is certainly not enough, especially nowadays when young people face many new challenges.

Prof. Haris Smajić, Expert Advisor for Professional and Pedagogical Supervision for Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian, believes that this methodology can benefit young people in the process of independence, making their own judgments and opinions on problems within communities:

"These workshops are an opportunity to work on the development of young people through schools, associations and non-governmental organizations, so that young people can develop critical thinking and their own judgment about a problem that occupies community, or a challenge they face personally. Young people are limited within groups, molds and established norms, and very often they cannot express their own opinion because they fear the condemnation of society, even to some extent the condemnation of professors and teachers. "

When we asked what she thinks about the training she attended and about these workshops, doc. dr. Šejla Bjelopoljak, an employee of the Faculty of Education at the University of Bihać, said:

“Based on my experience, I will generalize that MoviEQ training is a support to the educational system in the educational paradigm aimed at the individual: children and youth. At the same time, it contributes to the development of teacher competencies that imply a balance between educational content and real needs; directs young people to ask what connection the contents they learn have with their lives, why it is important what they learn, etc. It essentially helps the individual to develop skills that will enable him to conclude about synthesis, that is, one whole, how it works without accepting what is offered in everyday life without checking it. The goal of education should be to educate a person capable of doing and creating something new, and not just repeating what previous generations have already done - people who are researchers, creative and innovative people. The goal should also be to shape minds that are able to critically re-examine reality - that test it and do not accept everything that is offered to them. MoviEQ is focused on this goal, which is why I consider it a support in finding ways that will provide quality education for all. This kind of story must be true at all levels of education, higher education is no exception, especially not teacher training colleges. We are obliged to prepare students for future work who will be able to respond well to the challenges of the future and who will "on time" internalize the stated goals for their values. "

Fuada Cerić, a pedagogue at the Todorovo Elementary School in Velika Kladuša, says that the role of education workers in developing critical thinking among young people is very important and that we should therefore work on developing the competencies of as many educators as possible:

"We are facing the problem of young people joining groups that do not suit the behavior of society and the characteristics of a society. There is a growing number of such groups that young people join either through social networks or through socializing in communities. By joining groups that are not acceptable in society, young people harm themselves and others. It is very important to work with young people, encourage young people, develop their awareness and work on the development of critical thinking. That is why we need as much of this content as possible so that people from education can work on developing their skills and then transfer their experience to young people.”

Muhamed Ramić, a professor at the Local High School in Ključ, says that this is a new and necessary experience, especially at a time when we are witnessing the departure of young people:

"It is very necessary for young people to develop critical thinking, to think differently, to position themselves in awkward situations and react in the right way. Madi have a lot of ideas, the support of the society is very important. In my previous role as Minister of Education, I witnessed many good ideas and recognized that young people in most cases only need support, wind in the back. This is what we, as a society, should all strive for. The involvement of young people in associations and organizations is very important and it has proven to be a good way of acting and an alternative to young people for the negativities they face. This workshop opened the insights that I plan to pass on to young people who are gathered in such organizations, and with whom I work. I think that young people are often neglected, on the margins, and it is our job to encourage them to do good for themselves, but also for their communities. "

The participants of the workshops enthusiastically welcomed this kind of content, which differs in many ways from the usual teaching process. Looking back at the workshop, they said that they learned to see other people's perspectives, that not everything is always as we think it is, that it was very interesting for them to listen to other people's opinions on topics they would not otherwise raise, that they overcame fear of talking about their own views, and that they have found a way to think and approach different situations.

At the end of this mentoring process, Una-Sana Canton has a total of 26 educators trained to facilitate MoviEQ workshops. After last week's workshops that they conducted in the educational institutions where they work, and after certification, they will be able to organize these workshops in accordance with the identified needs and opportunities.

In the future realization of MoviEQ workshops, educational institutions bring new tools that contribute to the work of educators, but also to young people who will in this way become more skilled in perceiving the world around them and dealing with today's challenges.

Finally, we convey the message that Fuada sent to her colleagues in education, but also to young people:

“We need to educate for the future, live for youth and work with young people. Young people learn from us what we should be like, what we should cultivate in ourselves, what are the real human values, which have unfortunately lost weight. We need to develop skills in young people and influence their awareness not to make decisions for others, not to do things and not to make decisions that will be negative for them. Education does not end with high school or college, we must constantly learn and work on ourselves, learn from the examples of positive people in our environment. We all have role models, but we need to look for role models in positive personalities. I would especially like to tell young people not to look for role models in personalities who are current today, and who do not bring anything good. "