Youthification of group facilitation 2018
What is this Training Course about?
The training course “YOUTHIFICATION of Group Facilitation 2018” organized by Subkult, is the third edition of the set of training courses for youth workers. Subkult identified that the work with young people is mostly done in groups. Youth workers have a need to always improve their competences in managing youth groups in order to achieve their goals. We recognise the area of facilitation competences as a crucial element in youth work and that is why we would like to contribute into the development of these competences among youth workers from Europe.
Facilitation as a method has been incorporated by many youth organisations and groups as a tool which will enhance the integration, inclusion, involvement, participation and equality of all members of a community. Facilitation enables and empowers young people to carry out a task or perform an action. The facilitator does not perform the task, but uses certain skills in a process which allows the individuals/group reach their decision/ set their goal/learn a skill. Facilitation is a developmental educational method which encourages people to share ideas, resources, opinions and to think critically in order to identify needs and find effective ways of satisfying those needs.
The main aim of this training course is to train youth workers who work with groups of young people to ensure the highest quality standard in organising, implementing and evaluating workshop sessions with different groups by developing strong facilitation competences.
The specific objectives are:
– To increase participants’ knowledge and understanding about group work and group dynamics
– To develop participants’ skills for facilitating group processes with special emphasis on verbal and non-verbal communication
– To explore different methodologies and concepts within non-formal education that can improve the quality of group work
– To offer participants a safe learning environment for trying out the tools and methods they learned by implementing small workshop sessions
– To increase participants’ awareness of providing and receiving constructive feedback as a very important learning tool
– To promote and support intercultural learning as core principle when working with groups of young people
– To present to the youth workers the different learning opportunities on European level that are offered by the Erasmus+
Methodology
The approach in this training course is process-based with significant emphasis on the Practical Implementation of Workshops and the Learning to Learn concept. The training programme is designed on a way to provide not only theoretical knowledge about facilitation of groups and interactive exercises during the learning, but also in the second half of the course there will be 2 days of practical work in pairs where each participant will have the chance to prepare and run a small workshop of 40 minutes and learn by doing. These workshops will allow the participants to implement right away the learning gained in the first part of the training course. We consider this to be the best way of learning, when such combination between theory and practice is being done.
The activities follow a logical flow that is compatible to the target group and provide platform for exploring the issues in a safe learning environment where mistakes are allowed to be made. The training course is based on non-formal learning principles, approaches and methodologies. The participants will be encouraged to analyse, reflect on and develop learning from every aspect. During and after activities there will be time-out periods where the participants will be challenged to analyses dynamics, to explore what is going on in the group, to understand their own actions and reactions. There will be inputs and theories, case studies, coaching sessions, role play & simulation activities, experiential learning, exercises where participants will practice skills and use different tools.
One of the crucial skills that will be developed is the giving/receiving constructive feedback, especially during the practical implementation of the workshops. Here the learning will be happening mostly from the received feedback by the trainers and the other participants as peers.
Nik Paddison
nik@odd-socks.eu
Anita Silva
Empada_com_mayo@hotmail.com
Stev Levajkovski
stev@subkult.ch
Ena Peeva
ena@subkult.ch
Who can take part in this training course?
To be eligible to apply for this training course you have to fulfill the following criteria:
- to be a youth worker or volunteer who is actively involved in the work of a youth organisation and who is still beginner
in leading groups and facilitating group processes; - who will be responsible for or involved in conducting workshops and group work activities in the organisation after this training course;
- has to be well informed about the organisation’s activities and is able to present its work to the other participants;
- has basic understanding of youth work principles and values;
- be able to communicate in English;
- has to be committed to attend the full duration of the training course;
- must be supported by an organisation before, during and after the training course;
- to be above 18 years of age.
The candidate will also need to show:
- a strong commitment to young people and an understanding of the factors affecting their lives;
- the ability to provide reliable support to young people in times of stress and act with integrity;
- excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to establish good relationships with young people;
- patience, tolerance and flexibility in terms of cultural diversity;
- a sense of adventure and a willingness to try new things;
- the ability to treat young people’s concerns with respect, tact and sensitivity, while being aware of the limits that are required by confidentiality and the boundaries that govern the youth/youth worker relationship;
- a great deal of resilience.
Partner Organisations
In this project, together with Subkult, there are 12 other partner organisations involved from 12 different countries:
- Association for Education MLADIINFO (Austria)
- Be International (Czech Republic)
- Youth Association Droni (Georgia)
- Loesje e.V. (Germany)
- ELIX – Conservation Volunteers Greece (Greece)
- Eduactive Società Cooperativa (Italy)
- Society for educational development and international student exchange EDUAKTIV Skopje (Macedonia)
- Palavras Infinitas – Núcleo de Inclusão, Comunicação e Media (Portugal)
- Ulyanovsk Club of international Friendship (Russia)
- Udruženje EmPower (Serbia)
- Asociación Gantalcalá (Spain)
- OpportUNITY GLOBAL (United Kingdom)
The partner organisations are responsible for the pre-selection of the potential participants from their country. Thus, you can apply for this training course if you are a member of these organisations. In case you are not a member of these organisations, but some other youth organisation, you can also apply by filling-in the application form, having in mind that priority will always be given to the candidates from our partner organisations who fulfill all the criteria mentioned above.
You can directly contact the partner organisation from your country and discuss the possibility to apply as participant for this training course. Each organisation has its own rules of deciding who are they sending on this kind of international projects.
Subkult, as coordinating organisation, will make the final selection of the participants after reviewing the pre-selected candidates. If needed, Subkult will organise Skype interviews with applicants, in order to make the right selection.
Logistics & Expenses
The training course will take place in a small village called Leysin on the Swiss Alps.
The participants will be accommodated in a 3-star hotel with full-board and perfect working conditions.
This project is financially supported by the Swiss National Agency MOVETIA Exchange & Mobility and the Swiss Government. Thus, there are certain rules that have to be taken into consideration before applying for this training course.
- Accommodation and food, during the whole stay of the training course, will be covered by Subkult;
- Travel expenses for each participant (except Swiss participants) will be reimbursed up to maximum of 300 Euros, after handing over all the receipts, invoices, boarding passes and tickets;
- Travel expenses for Swiss participants will be reimbursed up to maximum of CHF 50, after handing over all the receipts, invoices and tickets;
- Participants have to pre-finance their travel tickets on their own and collect all the travel documents which will be proof later during the reimbursement. The sending organisations could also arrange the travel of their participants and be later reimbursed by Subkult;
- The reimbursement of travel expenses will be made via bank transfer after the training course, when Subkult receives all the necessary travel documents, also for the return trip;
- Each participant has to pay a participation fee of 50 Euros. This amount will be deducted from the reimbursement of the travel expenses after the training course. The sending organisation could also pay the participation fee for the participants;
- Visa expenses will be also covered in total by Subkult, after providing all the receipts and invoices.
Deadlines
Once the participant is informed that has been selected, s/he will have 48 hours time to confirm her/his participation by email. After the confirmation, the participant and the partner organisation will have time until 20th of May 2018 to book the flights to Switzerland and send to Subkult the booking confirmation and invoices. More information regarding this topic, the selected participants will get after they have confirmed their participation. Please be aware about this conditions before sending your application form.
