Training Course on Coaching Action 1 projects

Are you a youth worker, youth leader, trainer or an Action 1 officer?Are you looking for training opportunities on...

1. How to support young people & make them active throughout the whole project?
2. How to offer the support needed each step of the project?
3. How to ensure a good balance between coaching and autonomy?

This training course will give you the opportunity to work as coaches (multipliers) supporting peer training for young people involved in Youth Exchanges, Youth Initiatives and/or Youth Democracy Projects.

Your objective will be to increase the quality and support of youth exchanges, youth initiative and youth democracy projects in the framework of Action 1 of the Youth in Action programme.

• Requirements:

- Having supported/ coached at least 1 youth group within the framework of YOUTH/ Youth in Action programme ;
- Able to communicate and work in English ;
- Resident in the "Youth in Action" programme countries (27 EU countries + Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Turkey, Croatia and Switzerland).

• Background:

Over the past few years youth participation has become one of the most important issues in youth work and youth policy and also, in a broader sense, in society. Within the Youth in Action programme youth participation is emphasised as a precondition for active citizenship. Coaching has been introduced as a way of supporting young people with the aim of increasing their participation within projects and in the community and society. A number of events and specific work have taken place in the field of coaching during the past few years:
- SALTO Participation Resource Centre has published a Coaching Guide. This is a publication on coaching Youth Initiatives and can be used as a tool to aid reflection and understanding of the importance of youth participation and suggest means of supporting young people. The coaching guide is available for download here

- In cooperation with several National Agencies SALTO Participation has organised the international training courses "Peer 2 Peer" and "Coach 2 Coach" focusing on youth participation and coaching ;

- Other international and national events on coaching and youth participation.

• What for?

- To reflect and share coaching experiences
- To work towards developing a common understanding of the terms & actions of coaching
- To be able to identify and improve knowledge, competences and attitudes of coaching
- To prepare participants to exchange their learning experiences with other coaches in their countries (multiplier effect) and apply them in their work with young people
- To be able to identify available support & resources required for the coaching process
- To experience methods, tools, materials and practice used for coaching.

• What is it all about?

Category	Description
Participants & organisations	Participants present themselves, their organisations/institutions; get to know other people and organisations/institutions.
Youth in Action programme & Action 1	General information about the Youth in Action programme is provided. Detailed information about Action 1 and its three different sub-actions is provided. Quality criteria for the three sub-actions are explored.
Coaching in Action	The concept of coaching is introduced and used as a tool for increasing youth participation. Experience in supporting youth groups that run local/transnational projects is shared among the participants.
Coaching mirror	Skills and competences in coaching youth groups that run local /transnational projects are explored. The role of a coach is considered and knowledge of coaching is shared.
Coaching process	The main steps of the coaching process are introduced : motivating, getting to know, building and maintaining the relationship, identifying needs & competences, supporting, evaluating. Practical experience is organised in coaching youth groups.
Resources	Tools are provided to support future Action 1 projects.
Action plan	The follow-up ideas of the course, co-operation with National Agency, network of coaches, future trainings are shared and discussed.

• Which methods will be used?

The course will be based on the principles and practices of non-formal education taking into account your needs, motivations and experiences.

Communication between participants and mutual understanding will be encouraged in order to enable you to exchange your knowledge and competences and reflect upon them.
The group will be used as a resource for the learning process taking into account individual and group learning. Additionally there will be some theoretical input on the given topic, presented to the group in an interactive way.

A diversity of working methods will be used for learning about the role of the 'coach' and the approaches for supporting Action 1 projects in order to ensure a balance between theory and practice: workshops, input, simulation exercises, presentations, discussions, debate, etc.

Your previous experiences in coaching Action 1 projects will be the starting point for the programme and for the learning process. Room will be given for regular feedback and evaluations.

• Who are the trainers?

The training team is composed of traineers experienced in the field of Youth Initiatives:

Buzz Bury (UK), youth worker and freelance trainer in The UK, has wide experience in coaching and monitoring youth projects at local and international level

and Nerijus Kriauciunas (Lithuania), freelance trainer, has experience in coaching youth groups who run local and international projects. Extra trainers can be recruited if needed.

• Who pays what?

All the costs (travel costs, insurance, accommodation, food, programme activities, local transport...) will be covered by the National Agencies.

• Where & When?

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