Community Practices Learning Program

Country: Estonia

Duration: short-term 

Procedure for involvement: Open call 

Specific Criteria: 

The program is intended for students so they can take part in a short internship with a non-profit organization. 

Description:

The purpose of the Community Practices Learning Program is that Students get a more practical curriculum, schools get a more diverse programme and NGOs get to meet their local youth and future champions. More than 48 schools and 250 NGOs take part in the program to accommodate nearly 1000 youth annually. 

Students select an NGO of their liking in which they take part in a short internship doing something useful for the organisation, while learning about the structures, goals and practices of the non-profit. They participate in everyday work and see how citizen initiatives are born and executed. Students learn which civic problems are tackled by NGOs and why. NGO provides an instructor who explains what they do and why it is important. In school, teacher will help analyse and understand what they learned, combining it with theoretical knowledge. 

The program is based on the International Baccalaureate initiative “Creativity. Action. Service” and joint movement of the American educational institutions and community called “Community Service”. 

Source: Community Practice – Network of Estonian Nonprofit Organizations