TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Hristescu Costin Adrian
The objective was that, at the end of the training course, the participants would be able to do the following in the Erasmsus + context:
(a) to define/mention TIC/e-solutions specific for the youth field;
(b) to select/adapt TIC/e-solutions of managing the youth work;
(c) to use/implement TIC/e-solutions appropiate for youth work;
(d) to evaluate the TIC/e-solutions used in the youth work field.
Given the fact that the contemporary society is more and more dynamic and interconnected, the use of IT&C in youth activities (transnational mobilities) is more frequent and so, the organisations that joined this project needed to develop their staff skills in terms of using IT&C in youth work
The participants were 24 youth workers from Armenia, Italy, Macedonia, Romania and Turkiye.
There were various training methods involved:
- D.J. P.E.T. and Personal Interview, for getting to know each other
- Movie making - on the topic of Erasmus+
- Job interview - on how to create a selection announcement and what informations to include
- Role play - on participation, by assigning different roles in a society and asking the participants to organise a youth day
- The international cooperation game - "Win as much as you can" - for understanding advantages and disadvantages of different communication techniques
- Crisis management game - "Hot chair" - for understanding how to react in a crisis situation
- various energisers like: Bazunga, Pizza massage, Call me maybe, the Shepard, Bombay buses, Domino
Based on the monitoring and the evaluation of the training, it was considered to be a success. Participants considered that training was nice and useful for improving their vision and developing skills on project management in the context of Erasmus+, EVS, Youth Exchange etc. At the same time, they enjoyed the environment that was created and the cultural and social interaction with the other nations contributed to broadening their perspectives on youth projects/programmes.
They were very satisfied about training methods because of teaching style. They assessed it as enjoyable and didactic / instructive without making them bored. Most of what they enjoyed was the choice of methods that made the course interactive and most important thing that it was in a non formal education format. They also got inspired for their future youth work and acknowledged that this project was a big opportunity to share their opinion and improve their skills, so that in the future they can make more creative and effective projects.
I was the lead trainer, with responsibilities both in facilitating the learning process and also in adapting the agenda of the training and choosing and even changing some of the methods so that they better fitted the profile of the participants, which was a little different than planned.