TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Paul Kloosterman
The introduction of the Youthpass as a form of recognition of the learning in Youth in Action projects puts new challenges on the agenda of those who support and guide young people in these projects. The Youthpass process makes learning more explicit. By using Youthpass young people will have to be more specific about what they learned and in what way they learned that. On the one side to show to others more clearly what is learned but on the other side to make themselves more aware about their learning. That is not something young people will just do. They will need support and facilitation in that process.
Most people will agree with the statement that young people learn a lot as a volunteer in their EVS project. A relatively long period which is challenging in many ways for the volunteer. Being in another country, meeting new people, learning another language, taking up new tasks, taking responsibility for your own life……many new experiences where young people can learn from enormously. The Youthpass is an important instrument to state the learning outcomes to show to others but also for recording for yourself what you took from that experiment.
But the Youthpass is more than an instrument, more than a certificate. To be able to record at a certain moment your learning outcomes you need to be aware of your learning, you need to know what you want to learn and in what way. As said above: Learning becomes much more explicit and comes much more into focus. Which brings us to one of the essential Key Competences formulated by the European Commission in the Life Long Learning Strategy: ‘Learning to Learn’.
Aim of the course:
The course aims at development of EVS mentors’ competences to support and facilitate learning processes of EVS volunteers with special focus on Learning to Learn competence
Objectives:
• To reflect on their own learning to learning processes in EVS
• To experience and get better understanding of learning to learn and self-directed learning
• To explore the role of mentor as a facilitator of learning:
• how to assist volunteers to set their learning objectives
• how to support volunteers to take responsibility for their learning
• how to support volunteers in finding their own way/style of learning
• how to assist volunteers in assessing their learning
• what can be the role of peer-learning
• how to work with feed-back
• how to motivate volunteers to overcome barriers
• what are tools and methods to facilitate learning
• To try out practical mentoring tools and strategies how to support volunteers learning
• To stimulate development of their own mentoring style and approach within and after the course
mentors for EVS volunteers
9 countries involved
Programme elements:
• Exploring (my own) learning
Looking at different concepts of learning taking the participants’ learning experiences as a starting point.
• Self Directed Learning
Looking at learning in a different way. The learner is responsible for his/her learning. How does that work? Does that work?
• The role of a facilitator of learning
What are the roles and competences needed for facilitation of learning? What is you responsibility when the learner is responsible?
• Evaluation/Reflection/ Assessment
To be aware of your learning you need to look back, to think about and to decide if you learned enough. Approaches, methods and tools
• Supportive talks
Suggestions, ideas and exercises on motivating talks, asking good questions.
• Learning with others
Learning is not only a ‘solo-activity’. Exploring possibilities in learning with peers.
Main outcome of the training course was that participants said they had now a much more clear concept of the role of a mentor and felt confident to start implementing this new role for themselves.
trainer