TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Eleni Stamouli
General aim: This TC aimed at providing empowering practical tools to professionals involved in processes of activation, engagement and participation of young people in democratic life. Objectives: to create a common understanding of youth participation and of its processes, trends, obstacles and opportunities;
to provide participants with practical, hands-on methods, tools and approaches enabling them to contribute to young people’s activation, engagement and participation in democratic life; to reflect on participants’ role in and develop the necessary skills for activating, engaging and motivating young people to become active citizens; to provide space for networking, as well as for reflection, sharing of ideas, practices, and visions concerning youth participation; to present Erasmus+ and other opportunities that can support the development and implementation of youth-initiated cooperation and projects.
This training course is targeting two categories of practitioners:
-experienced professionals in the field of youth participation with an interest in improving their contribution to youth engagement and in boosting their approaches,
-and those that have not directly worked in the field of youth participation, but have a strong interest in enhancing their knowledge, skillsand practices in order to get involved in youth participation initiatives and projects
This is a six-day training course that involves a follow-up phase ensured by the trainers,aiming to assess the activity’s impact on participants’practices. Please note that, in case you are selected, you will be required to actively participate during the training days, as well as in the follow-up part. The training courseis embedded in non-formal learning methods, based on Kolb’s experiential learning cycle, including a combination of simulation exercises, community directedactions, practical workshops on elements of project management, and other relevant topics according to participants needs, following a self-assessment, and a field visit in Athens.
In terms of the learning curve of the training, we could see from the evaluations of the participants that we achieved a large number of learning outcomes. First of all, we achieved the learning objectives of the training, and secondly, a learning curve that goes beyond learning outcomes and reaches the awareness of the importance of self-direction in learning, starting from self-analysis, personal learning plans and seeking the opportunities to achieve personal development combined with the realization that activating and engaging young people is many times a matter of methodology and commitment. Kolb’s learning cycle has been evident and understood fully, with an emphasis on the reflection part and the step of making experiences and their learning outcomes more conscious through self/group reflection/assessment, mirroring and peer learning. Furthermore, the soft skills workshops we offered throughout the training to support the simulation (action planning, needs analysis, project management, creative thinking, participatory decision making, coaching, etc.) were valued by the partivcipants.
I was a full time trainer, involved in the preparation, the implementation, the evaluation and the report of this training.