TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Vladimir Kozachun
The main aims and objectives:
• to raise emotional self-awareness, self-management, self-expression, broadening emotional spectrum and to develop empathy and EQ in general;
• to provide the tools and possibilities to express emotions naturally and ecologically;
• to provide the tools and possibilities to relive the personal stories and experiences (especially traumatic ones) safely, see them from different angle and, therefore, gain insights, find new solutions, form new attitudes and discover new meanings;
• to prevent emotional burnout;
• to develop mental flexibility, resilience, sustainability and well-being;
• to supply the participating organizations and youth workers with the innovative practical method and tools for the prevention of emotional burnout of youth workers and youth work with various vulnerable, marginalized and challenging target groups;
• to create new projects’ ideas for the development of the local communities in participating countries, based on the Playback Theatre methodology;
• to develop partnership and capacity building.
The participants' profile of the TC:
• 18+ years old youth/social workers/leaders/NGO key staff;
• working with various vulnerable, marginalized and other challenging target groups; being at risk of emotional burnout;
• responsible, motivated and open to the new experience and learning opportunities;
• open-minded and flexible towards new knowledge, viewpoints and perspectives;
• with knowledge and experience in working with NFL programs (desirable, but not mandatory);
• ready to contribute to the project implementation: share relevant knowledge and experience, organize a workshop, lead a session, etc.;
• ready to implement the learning outcomes, project experience, results and outcomes in their further work;
• with good command of English.
The training involved 24 participants from 8 countries: Armenia, France, Georgia, Italy, Moldova, Portugal, Romania, Ukraine.
Playback Theatre is an original form of improvisational theatre, based on emotional expression and play of the personal stories, where the participants can share their emotions and tell their personal stories as well as enact (play back) the emotions and personal stories of others.
Playback Theatre is spontaneous – it is theatre created through a unique collaboration between performers and audience that allows self-disclosure and self-expression in a safe environment, that builds connection, dialogue, and change. Volunteers from the audience tell personal stories from their lives during a performance, guided by the conductor, then choose actors to play the different roles and watch as their story is immediately recreated and given artistic shape and coherence.
While people tell their stories, listen to other’s stories and watch the theatre that is created, a “red thread” of common experience begins to weave through the performance, building and strengthening our connections to each other as a community. It enables audience members to see each other in a new, often more compassionate light, especially across differences of background, experience or values. Overall, the Playback practice helps both the “actors” to feel their bodies, feel and express their emotions, deal with their own personal experiences and relive them, develop their emotional intelligence, flexibility and resilience – and the “tellers” to see their emotions, feelings, personal stories and experiences from aside, in this way, relive them safely, get relief from the accumulated emotions, gain insights, find new solutions, form new attitudes and discover new meanings.
Created by Jonathan Fox in 1975, based on improvisational theatre, oral traditional storytelling, Jacob Moreno's psychodrama method and the work of educator Paulo Freire, Playback Theatre is nowadays done in over 70 countries around the world.
During the first part of the training, with the help of the Playback method and tools, we worked with the prevention of emotional burnout of youth workers.
During the second part of the training, we delivered the method and tools of the Playback to the youth workers in order for them to apply it in their follow up youth work with their target groups and local communities.
During the third part of the training, the youth workers were creating and developing their own local projects/ideas/initiatives aimed at work with their local communities with the help of the Playback method and tools.
For 9 days, 24 youth workers deeply dived into the topic, playing, discovering and assimilating our working methods suitable for small and large groups.
The learning by doing approach ensured many immersive activities, such as short and narrative forms of Playback, role-plays, performances, jams and other theatrical techniques. We had long debrief sessions on all the elements of each method, ensuring a detailed understanding and feeling for all participants.
This project significantly increased the quality of youth work of participating organizations, brought innovations to youth work in general, and had a sustainable impact:
• on the participating youth workers: through prevention of their emotional burnout, development of their mental flexibility, resilience and sustainability, support of their mental well-being;
• on the participating organizations and youth work in general: through supplying them with the innovative practical method and tools of the Playback;
• on the local communities in participating countries: through the main practical outcomes of the TC – created new projects’ ideas for the development of the local communities, based on the Playback Theatre methodology.
I was one of the full time Trainers responsible for the content.