TC: YOUTHIFICATION of Group Facilitation 2018 in Switzerland

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+. 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 permanent resident of one of the eligible countries; - 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.