"Youth work- navigating challenges with critical insight"

Is this learning opportunity what you need at the moment? What is your answer to the following questions?

• Are you a youth work practitioner (youth worker, coordinator of youth projects or volunteers, mentor, facilitator, etc.)?
• Do you often face difficult situations in your work related to conflicts, difficult and sensitive topics or issues, the emotional well-being of the groups you are working with, project/organizational management problems, unsuccessful partnerships, different expectations and frustrations, etc.?
• Is your professional life currently piled up with unexpected challenges or complications for which you don’t have enough tools, energy or time to adequately handle them?
• Do you feel you don’t have enough time to reflect on the projects or major tasks completed to truly digest, understand and critically reflect on them?
• Are you motivated to stop and reflect on your current professional routine?
• Are you interested in critically reflecting on your practice and approach in difficult situations?
• Are you willing to change and incorporate new practices to improve your professional life?

If your answer is "Yes” to all these questions, then maybe, this course is what you need at this moment! 

The main aim of this training course is to contribute to more qualitative youth work by mainstreaming critical reflection as a regular practice in youth workers' lives.

This training will provide space for stepping back from your context, analysing your challenges through different angles and perspectives, exploring different tools for handling and coping, sharing practices among participants, refreshing the approach to addressing difficulties, etc.

Analysing a critical incident from your work may help you to: 

• “reflect-on-action” (on your past experience) 
• “reflect-in-action” (as an incident happens), and 
• “reflect-for-action” (to plan actions you may wish to take in future experiences) 

Sometimes action is just "too hot" for us to consciously "reflect-in-action" (as the incident happens), this is why a critical reflection framework may be more appropriate as it requires reflection about past and future action. 

Critical reflection is an extension of “critical thinking”. It asks us to think about our practice and ideas and then it challenges us to step back and examine our thinking by asking insightful questions. It asks us not only to look into the past and at the present but importantly it asks us to speculate about the future and act differently in the future.

Critical reflection is the process by which invite professionals in the youth work field to analyse and assess their practices, approaches, beliefs, and values and to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges they are facing and new pathways ahead. It involves questioning assumptions, considering diverse perspectives, and exploring ways to manage and deal with difficulties and challenging situations. 

By participating in this course you can expect to increase your:

• understanding of different theoretical models in the context of critical reflection practice in the youth work field;
• capacity to reflect deeply on your personal history in youth work, identifying patterns and tendencies, and find ways of skilfully transforming these where needed;
• capacity to identify and draw upon the sources of nourishment and inspiration that support your engagement and help you realise your potential in the youth work field;
• ability to compromise, to manage conflicts, to reach joint decisions and to communicate meaningfully with others;
• toolbox of different reflective methods transferable into youth work practices;
• awareness on how to better accommodate different individual needs and capacities;
• capacity to deal with unknown futures, stress and uncertainties  
• feeling of empowerment and emotional resilience
• ability to look for creative solutions and to think 'outside' the box;
• confidence about being able to work more effectively;
• group working skills and how to collaborate successfully in diverse teams;
• ability to set personal learning and professional goals and to follow them through;

The approach that the training team will take will be:

• Centred around the experiences participants bring into the room
• Based on working with real situations and professional challenges from the past and present
• Supporting the creation of enabling environments and using the framework of courageous & caring spaces
• Focused on developing critical self-awareness and acquiring specific practical tools to support critical reflection of various past and current ongoing challenges present in the youth work field.

The learning process will be guided and facilitated by an experienced team: 

• Andreea-Loredana Tudorache has been involved in the international youth work field since 2003 in various capacities. She is one of the founders of A.R.T. Fusion Association and over the years has trained numerous professionals around the world in various topics. (http://trainers.salto-youth.net/AndreeaLoredanaTudorache )
• Tuba Ardic is the Director of Creative Connection, a Trainer at the National Agency of Norway and a passionate youth worker, active mentor, trainer, facilitator and social researcher since 2010. 
• Elena Stevkovska, youth worker, volunteers manager, theatre facilitator and trainer since 2021 (https://www.salto-youth.net/tools/toy/elena-stevkovska.6009/ ) 

Do you resonate with this course and want to be part of it? This is who we are looking for: 

• Members or close collaborators of an active Youth Organization (staff or active member, paid or not). The organization should have a valid OID number.
• At least 2 years of experience as a practitioner in the youth work field 
• Willingness to be open and share your personal current or past experiences difficulties and challenges in the youth work field;
• Good command of the English language; 
• People older than 18 years and with a legal residence (proven by documents) in the country they are currently residing in.