Gabrielle Paul Pascual - My Blog

“Leaders learn by leading, and they learn best by leading in the face of obstacles. As weather shapes mountains, problems shape leaders.”
-Warren Bennis, U.S. educationalist and writer, (1925- )

During our project’s execution, it is certain that we will be facing a lot of obstacles along the way. As the main driving force behind our project, it is our responsibility to keep on hurdling above these obstacles and eventually, learn and grow from them. After all, we only have two choices once we encounter these obstacles. The other one is to let ourselves be intimidated by the obstacle and succumb.

Like any project, one of the main challenges that Students for Tomorrow will face is time constraints. Since we are all still pursuing our studies, it is inevitable that some homework, exams and school activities will interfere with our plans. The obvious solution to this problem is time management. However, there will be times when we cannot sacrifice our studies for the project. What we can do about this is to be flexible with our plans. We should develop a foresight to possible obstructions and make schemes into which we can easily divert in case anything goes wrong with the first one.

Another obstacle that any project may face along the way is the lack of resources- whether it is human, financial or physical- to carry out plans. The best way to tackle this is through proper and meticulous planning and budgeting. We must admit that we only have limited resources. It is now up to us on how we will capitalize on our resources.

Project teams can also sometimes face scenarios when one of their members really needs to leave the group because of something. A way to face this problem is through a good transition of responsibilities. Each one in the team should be prepared to take on somebody’s work until a replacement is found. A precaution that we could take is to not rely too much on someone with the responsibilities. This can cause panic within the team once that someone is forced to leave.

A problem that could be unique in our project is the lack of interest and cooperation of the target students with the project. Some private school students might refuse to collaborate with public school students and vice versa. One thing that we can do about this is to evaluate the students’ actions. Why are they refusing to cooperate? What can we do about this? We can interview their teachers or the students themselves so that we will know what approach is necessary. Another way is to make sure that the students we are targeting shows interest even at the beginning.

These are just some of the problems that we may face along the course of our project. It is important that we recognize the existence of these obstacles for in one way or another, we will come across them during the courses of our projects.

Students for Tomorrow will include high school students, both from public and private schools. We will focus only on this level of students for now. We believe that doing so will still create the necessary lasting impact that we want to achieve. Our project implementation will also be first limited in Jakarta, Indonesia and in Baguio City, Philippines. However, we intend to expand the project in the future once we see through our evaluation stage that there are positive reactions and results to the project and that there are still means to sustain expansion.

There are several outcomes that we wish to see after we implement our project. One of these results that we perceive is an increase in the involvement of the students in the development of their respective communities. Another one is an increase in the interaction and communication between the two student factions. We would also like to ensure that our outcomes will have a long-term and significant influence on the people who will be involved. Lastly, we would also like to accomplish a positive evaluation at the end of the project implementation.

Our project’s mission, values and goals will play a key role in preventing scope creep. First, we will ensure that everyone in the team understands and lives up to the mission, values and goals of the project. This will be done by having further discussions about the established mandate. Each step that we will take should also be individually evaluated to make sure that they all match up to our goals. Another necessary precaution is the wise selection of whom we will trust with matters concerning our project.

Since scope creep can sometimes still occur even with the utmost safety measures, a scope creep plan is necessary. This should be executed immediately after signs of scope creep have been observed. The first step in this plan is to assess the extent of the scope creep and what might have caused it through investigation. It should be determined whether the activities leading to the scope creep should be completely stopped or continued with the necessary refurbishing. Next, measures that will deal with the extent of the scope creep should be devised. Lastly, the situation should be documented so that in the future, we will know how to prevent it from happening again.

Community development is a dynamic process which involves all factions of the locality, including the often unnoticed youth population. A crucial part of this process is the creation and maintenance of channels of interaction and communication among diverse local groups that are otherwise directed toward their more individual interests (Barnett, Baugh & Brennan, 2007).

Two “diverse local groups” that our communities face are the student groups from public and private schools. In Jakarta, Indonesia, a cultural gap is prevalent within these two divisions. Conflicts among the members of the different ethnicities occur (Reges, 2008). In Baguio City, Philippines, the situation lies in a socioeconomic gap which casts a line between the students. Students from both school settings distinguish themselves from one another and as a result, a void which is supposed to be filled with interaction is left in the middle (“Has Anyone”, 2010).

What is wrong with these current scenarios? Felix (2003) states that challenges to youth involvement in communities include lack of communication and turf issues among groups. In other words, unless this problem is addressed, communities will never see an increase in youth involvement. The barriers between the public and private school students pose a threat to community development, a process that demands utmost participation and cooperation among the citizens. If we desire to fast-track community development, these barriers should be bridged- if not brought down.

As these castes had been coexisting with the present educational structures, there will be no point in persuading people to remove them from the system. Instead, we believe that the best way to address this current trend is to provide an avenue for both private and public schools students where they could work together for the progress of their communities. It has also been identified that by facilitating interaction and developing relationships, diverse individuals interact and begin to mutually understand common needs (Barnett, Baugh & Brennan, 2007). This collaboration also leads to skill enhancement, confidence building, and ownership that prepare them as they navigate toward adulthood.

We also believe that targeting students in this project is more effective because of the fact, like what we have stated in our previous blog, that students are receptive and more pliable to change. Once students engage themselves in activities directed towards social growth, their older counterparts will eventually be pressured to act. Nitzberg (2005) also suggests that if the youth are to learn to function as effective members of society, they must be fully engaged and involved in change efforts at the community level.

References
Brennan, M., Barnett, R., & Baugh, E. (2007, August). Youth involvement in community development: implications and possibilities for extension. The Journal of Extension (JOE). Retrieved April 13, 2010, from http://www.joe.org/joe/2007august/a3.php

Felix, A. (October 2003.) Making youth voice a community principle. Youth Service Journal. Youth Serve America: Washington, DC.

Has anyone experienced racial discrimination in the Philippines? (n.d.). Yahoo! Answers. Retrieved April 14, 2010, from http://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100206092214AAe

Nitzberg, J. (2005). The meshing of youth development and community building. Putting youth at the center of community building. New Directions for Youth Development, No. 106: Summer 2005.

Reges, B. (2008, July 28). INDONESIA Muslims storm Protestant school in Jakarta, scores of students injured . Asia News. Retrieved April 14, 2010, from http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=12865