Social Seminar – Kommende Foundation beneVolens

The Social Seminar of the Kommende Foundation beneVolens in North Rhine-Westphalia is aimed at socially disadvantaged tenth-grade students at secondary modern, intermediate, secondary, and comprehensive schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods around Dortmund. In this supplementary, experience-oriented educational program, experienced instructors promote personality-building skills over twelve months: participants strengthen their self-esteem, develop social action competencies, and expand their knowledge of social participation. Topics such as globalization, fair trade, political education, drug and violence prevention are conveyed vividly through simulation games, role plays, group exercises, and excursions – for example, to a drug rehabilitation farm or the Auschwitz concentration camp. The program concludes with an oral examination, the certificate of which facilitates entry into the workforce and documents social engagement. As a subsidy project, the foundation supports close cooperation with the participating educational institutions and accompanies the implementation methodically and organizationally.

Registration takes place at the beginning of the school year through the respective schools; ongoing funding opportunities enable participation every year. A prerequisite is enrollment in the 10th grade at a participating school in a socially disadvantaged area. The aim of the Social Seminar is to impart valuable orientation and life skills to young people that are often lacking in regular classes. Through its peer-level approach, a trusting learning environment is created in which all participants feel taken seriously. The Social Seminar thus makes an important contribution to strengthening social cohesion and supports disadvantaged youth in participating confidently and responsibly in political, social, and professional life.