TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Milica Zarkovic
GENERAL AIM: to improve the level of key competences and skills of 25 leaders of teenage workcamps in an international/intercultural supportive environment.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:
* to provide information on IVS movement in general and IJGD in particular;
* to privide insight to possible future involvement on national and international level;
* to identify rights, responsibilities, limits and role of a camp leader and co-leaders working in highly diverse cultural contexts, but with the same target group and aims;
* to provide structured space to discuss issues about volunteering;
* to provide young trainees with information and resources on how to design IVS projects as structured methodological and pedagogical tools:
* to point out different leading styles, importance of self-organisation in a workcamp, group processes and dynamics and to exercise the role of the future camp leader in a safe environment;
* to provide information on: risk assessment, safety, emergency and other procedures and forms;
* to discuss and provide input on conflict prevention and management, overview of typical conflicts in workcamps;
* to provide participants with a set of specific tools and techniques on how to make it more likely for the intercultural learning and dialogue to happen in an international volunteer project and how to make a deep and durable effect on local community;
* to inspire the participants to practice inclusion during IVS projects and to understand the concept and principles of social inclusion;
* to introduce different groups of people with fewer opportunities and reflect about each of that group’s needs;
* to provoke self-reflection on sustainable practices of the participants and how environmentally responsible they live their lives;
* to trigger reflection about gender roles in one’s own societies, in different societies and to examine critically aspects of own lives from the gender perspective;
* to introduce different methods (theatre as a way of expression, world cafe, evaluation methods, energizers, team-building activities, fishbowl, etc) possible to be used in workcamps.
Trainer's team was composed from 3 international youth trainers from Serbia, all experienced in field of volunteering and IVS.
Group of participants had 25 members from 9 countries (Germany, Serbia, France, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Macedonia, Albania and Greece). Training targeted active volunteers in partner organisations who may have coordinated workcamps before (not teen workcamps) or who have been volunteers in workcamps before, both willing to engage this or next year in coordinating workcamps.
Training was based on non-formal education methodology. Some of the methods used were: Ice-breakers, Name games, Treasure hunt, Brainstorming, Discussion, Exercises, Practical simulation, Research project, Small group work, Theater, Facilitation, Creative group evaluation...
Training had received a great evaluation from the participants. More important, most of the participants are judged to be well prepared for the role of camp leader and will have an opportunity to lead a workcamp and/or a teenage youth exchange during the summer. Those with less experience are supported to join as additional team members with more experienced leaders. Final outcomes are to be followed by tracking the progress of participants by the end of the year.
As a trainers team member, my task were to:
▪ Adjust the existing program and prepare the session methods of the Training together with other 2 trainers;
▪ Participate in 1 day in person preparation meeting in training venue together with the team;
▪ Deliver 7 days Training Course together with the training team;
▪ Participate in daily evaluation and planning meetings together with the team;
▪ Provide support and feed back to participants during the Training Course;
▪ Participate in final evaluation of the Training and give recommendations for future similar activities;
▪ Provide written report for all the sessions, final timetable, resources and materials used