Addressing Dimensions of Quality Education Holistically through Capoeira

What is Capoeira?• Afro-Brazilian art

of empowerment• Non-contact• Movement, music and singing

Why Capoeira?

• Effectively engage young people

• Social isolation• Unaddressed

trauma symptoms • Lack of enrolment

in formal education

• Refugee/host community relations

• Lack of health awareness

Approach and lessons learned

• Dialogue through songs and stories• Self expression through movement, music and interaction

Key Lesson learned: continuity is key

Impact• Participatory, empowerment approach to evaluation• Quantitative attendance data for Jordan August 2015 to March 2016: 1780 students Average students per class: 22 46% Female

KEY AREAS OF IMPACT

1. Increased physical wellbeing and connection to body

“I definitely feel stronger since I started playing Capoeira. Every time I play I feelstronger”. (Girl, 14)

“I feel stronger physically and more agile since playing Capoeira. I think about Capoeira all the time – I’m thinking about how to do the movements and feeling them in my body”. (Boy, 16)

Impact cont…2. Enhanced psychosocial wellbeing

• Development /strengthening of social relationships“I am very happy to come to Capoeira classes. Because in the house I am very busy with work for my family and sometimes I don’t feel good. I look forward to Capoeira every Sunday. I like to see all the other girls and the Capoeira trainers”. (Girl, 15)

• Development/strengthening of positive values“The first thing is respect. We learn to respect each other in the game of Capoeira. And the second thing is that you shouldn’t be bad-tempered. So if someone hits you, you shouldn’t just hit him back. You should talk to him first…. So we learn about this in Capoeira but we can use this in the rest of our life”. (Boy, 16)

• Confidence and self-esteem“I play capoeira in my home. When my family see me they think it is unbelievable that I can do these things and they love it. That makes me feel good inside”. (Boy, 17).

Impact cont…3. Development of leadership and other soft skills “I want to be a Capoeira trainer. I will work hard and follow the instructions so I succeed”. (Girl, 13).

“We also do handicrafts workshops. These workshops are to learn a skill that we can use when we go back to Syria but Capoeira is different because we to learn how to defend ourselves. We feel that Capoeira will help us to be able to protect ourselves”. (Girl, 15)

Questions