TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Natalia Skorik
The long-term training course InFormal part II – ReVision was an attempt to use non-formal
education as a tool for youth empowerment in order to address all the mentioned issues and to
build a stable and productive co-working platform for educators coming from formal education and
youth field (NGOs and other youth authorities).
Aims and objectives
This is the second and the last activity in the frame of the project. The main aim of this TC is to
assess outcomes from the practical stage as well as the personal and professional development of
the participants.
Specific objectives of this training course:
l Assessing personal and professional development
l Reflecting on the outcomes from the practical phases of LTTC
l Assessing personal training style and personal expression
l Sharing “best” and “worst” practices of integration of NFE in the formal education in the field
of youth empowerment
l Discussing different approaches to NFE, youth empowerment
l Creating new tools for youth empowerment
l Re
The countries involved in the project were Germany, Russia, Italy, FYROM, Estonia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Greece, Latvia, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Armenia, Albania. There were 31 participants for each activity – educators, youth workers, trainers, youth leaders, teachers.
We structured the program in a way that we made participants understand the logical steps based on the learner-centered approach and experiential learning cycle theory, all the methods we used were experience-based, it means that participants passed through the interactive real-life learning experience, and were involved in the debriefing process afterward that helped them to reflect, to conceptualize and to develop competences. The methodology of the project was the active involvement of participants in several actions and recognition of their expertise and experience in certain topics, active sharing and participation in the discussions ensured diversity and complexity of the learning process. All the methods of the project were non-formal, non-frontal (presentations should be done in the most participative and interactive way), and highly participative fitting different learning styles and preferences.
By the end of the project, participants gained competencies in providing NFE activities. Thanks to the balanced program with broad and informative knowledge part, participants had a very intensive and fulfilling practical experience, which contributed to building skills necessary for planning, implementing, and evaluating NFE activities. During the LTTC special attention was paid to the attitudinal part of forming competencies. In a broad picture, participants learned and by putting the knowledge to practice gained the knowledge and skills in the main following topics: what is youth empowerment, youth participation, its principles, and values. The participants learned and practiced different non-formal methods, tools, and practices that can be used in both formal and non-formal settings, they found practical ready-to-use strategies of integration of non-formal methodology to the formal education, they gained practical skills in facilitation of groups and learning process, learned and practiced debriefing, feedback, as well as strategies on planning, implementing and evaluating of non-formal educational activity, they learnt and practiced the skills in giving space and responsibility for the learning process for learners. They learned and discussed how to address common challenges such as social exclusion, lack of participation, and intercultural misunderstandings with NFE tools, in general, to empower, encourage and motivate. Among the attitudes, a special accent was given on the non-judgment approach, acceptance of differences and different opinions, the value of youth participation, ethics of educator, the importance of equality in the education process.
Developing of the TC programme
Working with the participants
Implementing working sessions
Facilitating education process
Assessing and evaluating each TC and the whole LTTC in general