Skills4Life - Promoting the Transition to Active Life through Gamification and Game-Based Learning

Objective

SKILLS4LIFE aims to support care leavers in improving their preparation for the transition to adulthood, while using and developing their skills. The aim is to develop and practise the necessary abilities, skills and competences to feel prepared, integrated and accompanied. “Care leaver” comes from the English. According to the wording, it means “care leaver”. This term is used to refer to people who have spent part of their lives in a foster family or, for example, in a youth welfare institution and are now leaving this institution. They are setting out on their own path towards an independent life with a view to a new future and career.

Within the framework of SKILLS4LIFE, various learning activities are developed, implemented and evaluated. In order to support care leavers and adult educators,

• a SKILLS4LIFE serious game or game-based learning tool is developed and implemented
• an in-service training or professional development program including a training event will be developed and tested, and
• a handbook for the development of programs for the transition to autonomy will be designed, all available on a digital platform.

The project will also have a broad impact (in the sense of community engagement and outreach) through the publication of a policy paper, the organization of multiplier events and a final conference.

Young people leaving care are disadvantaged in many countries around the world compared to their peers without care. Statistically, they are often invisible. Without data that documents their particular circumstances and paths in life, it is hardly possible to quantify the problems and develop support measures for a group of young people whose increased need for support was recognized at the age of under 18 and thus recognized as children. There is increasing evidence that both cognitive and non-cognitive skills determine the social and economic success of young people and adults (Heckman et al., 2006; IYF, 2014).

In fact, life skills programs enable adolescents and young adults to create a life plan and equip them with the skills to take steps towards achieving their goals. They also help young people to better understand healthy personal behavior. In doing so, they help to strengthen young people's self-esteem and future expectations (IYF, 2014; Ibarraran et al. 2012).

Life skills are directly linked to preparing for autonomy and adulthood. Noom, Dekovic, and Meeus (1999) established three levels of autonomy skills: the first is referred to as attitudinal and cognitive autonomy, which includes the ability to set goals, as well as the ability to reflect on our own actions; functional or managerial autonomy determines the ability to make decisions and develop strategies to achieve our goals; and finally, emotional autonomy, which occurs when there is confidence in defining certain goals independently of the opinions of peer groups (Reichert & Wagner, 2007).

In recent decades, the effects of globalization and deindustrialization have led to an increase in the duration of youth transitions. Fleming (2004) points out that the transition from adolescence is characterized as a profound paradox because it delays the onset of adulthood and prevents young people from reaching adulthood with established autonomy. This paradox has consequences in the form of tensions and conflicts, mainly at the social and family level. Furthermore, during the process of seeking autonomy, young people's relationships with peer groups change. Furthermore, the employment and financial instability of all the countries in the consortium hinders the emancipation process of young people today (Gaspar & Gaspar, 2017). The specific needs of young people in terms of support for an effective transition to adulthood are rarely the focus of social protection systems, even though failure to invest in youth can have long-term impacts on society. Therefore, the Skills4Life project aims to support the development of the transition to autonomy by promoting life skills with institutionalized young adults.

The main target groups of the project are:

a) social workers, community educators and adult educators;

b) young adults in institutional settings or in alternative care.