TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Alberto García García
The aim of the on-arrival training seminar is to provide a set of practical information to EVS volunteers for their on-going voluntary service. More precisely, the following objectives were pursued:
- To get to know the Youth in Action programme, the European Union and the Spanish National Agency for the Youth in Action programme.
- To present the geographical, historical, social and cultural context of Spain.
- To provide intercultural learning and communication tools and resources to the volunteers, in order to improve their skills, knowledge and attitudes during their EVS.
- To allow volunteers to plan and develop their own learning objectives during their EVS.
- To facilitate a meeting and exchange space to the volunteers.
More information about the aims & objectives of the on-arrival training seminar and how are addressed the needs of the participants can be found in the document “EVS Training and Evaluation Cycle – Guidelines and minimum quality standards” published by the European Commission.
A group of EVS volunteers recently arrived to Spain were the target group. The on-arrival training seminar is one of the compulsory activities included in the EVS Training and Evaluation Cycle and, therefore, all EVS volunteers are entitled to attend. It’s organized by the Spanish National Agency of the Youth in Action program who delegates in a pool of trainers the implementation of the activity.
23 EVS volunteers attended to the training course. More than twelve nationalities were represented on it, mainly from the European Union.
Taking into account that the on-arrival training is one of the key elements of the European Voluntary Service Training and Evaluation Cycle is needless to say that non-formal education learning methods were used during the activity.
The trainers’ team pursued the creation of a structured but flexible learning frame for the participants. Moreover, fostering the participation of the volunteers was the second of the priorities of the trainers. Many different techniques were used in order to achieve it: debates, round-tables, open-space technologies, world-café, role-games, etc.
According to the evaluation activities carried out during and after the course, we can conclude that the objectives of the seminar above mentioned were accomplished. As of the satisfaction with the course, the participants rated the activity with 9,1 points out of 10. All of them considered useful the on-arrival training and very suitable the methodology.
The trainers’ team comprised four people: coordinator, two trainers-facilitators and a person in charge of logistics. I worked as full-time trainer-facilitator and approximately half of the sessions where implemented by me.