Project Problem Definition

The project I understand, I can and I will – personal development of young people in Croatia addresses the problem of high school students’ lack of awareness of their own identity: who they are, what their life values ​​are, what their interests, talents, abilities, ambitions are, what they want to do in life communities of which they are an integral part. They are lost in a world of great opportunities and expectations. Formal education and the Internet give them access to a lot of information that they often do not know how, why, for what purpose and for what purpose to use in their own lives. Lack of vision of one’s own life leads to the phenomenon of lack of motivation to learn, difficulty concentrating, poor time management and the consequent appearance of test anxiety, and ignorance of one’s own values ​​and virtues is associated with lack of self-confidence, initiative and faith that an individual can change. positive direction. In this regard, there is a lack of interest of young people in community issues and more and more frequent decisions to emigrate from Croatia. Finally, the popularity of social networks reduces the frequency of direct communication and loses knowledge and application of the principles of quality communication to establish healthy relationships with the environment which are one of the most important factors for healthy personality development and building future active citizens of Croatia.

These problems have been expressed as a result of several scientific studies, and confirmed through the experience of the First School of Economics, High School Ilok and Life Potential organization in working with young people. Indicate the needs of:

• introducing young people (high school students) to the concept of value and encouraging them to think about their own values, interests, talents, abilities and life ambitions in an atmosphere of support to raise awareness of the direction in which they want to lead their lives, improve its quality according to their interests and abilities,
• introducing students to psychological tools and techniques that will help them keep their attention, increase learning motivation, set their priorities, manage their time more constructively, cope better with stress and fear in exams and public appearances and develop a better opinion of themselves,
  pointing out the importance of communication with oneself and the environment, introducing students to the principles of quality communication, practice and improving communication and presentation skills as a tool for establishing healthy relationships with the environment and more successful teamwork,
• strengthening the self-confidence of young people and developing initiative, creativity and entrepreneurship in order to raise awareness of the possibility of creating their own job in the absence of vacancies in existing companies and institutions, but also changes in the local community,
  for the development of young people’s interest in the issue of community, solidarity and inclusion in social issues so that high school students today are the initiators and bearers of positive changes in society – active citizens and
• by providing space and time for activities that meet the aforementioned needs and raising awareness of peer support forces.

Methods

The central activity of the project are personal development workshops for high school students that will respond to the stated needs of high school students, and are based on tools in the field of neurolinguistic programming, coaching, gestalt psychotherapy and mindfulness. As part of the project, a program for a heterogeneous group of students will be implemented with a total of four grades of partner high schools. At the First School of Economics in Zagreb, there is also a ten-hour program for overcoming anxiety and strengthening the leadership skills of socially gifted students. The methodology of each workshop will be available on the lifepotential.org/razumijem-mogu-i-hocu project website, available to every professor and person working with young people interested in the topic. Following the personal development workshops, the students involved will materialize their learning outcomes and present them at school events as part of a campaign on the importance of personal development education for high school students conducted by partner high schools with the support of partner associations.

The project will also conduct a research questionnaire on the level of personal development before and after the mentioned education in order to quantify its effect. The project will be developed by volunteers from a partner student association. The entire project will include a total of 12 volunteers – students of psychology, sociology and other teaching faculties of the University of Zagreb – who will contribute to the project with their professional knowledge and gain new knowledge in the field of personal development and project implementation.

This website was created with the financial support of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia. The content of this website is the sole responsibility of the Life Potential Organization and under no circumstances can it be considered as a reflection of the position of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia.