TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Vitalie Cirhana
Simulation for education is a Training Course (TC), which is about designing and implementing simulation games for youth. Participants of the projects will be youth workers and trainers, who works with and for youngsters, who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETS). It is extremely important for youth workers and trainers to improve their skills, knowledge in their work with NEETS.
The overall goal of the project is to bring existing expertise of project partners, learn how and create their own simulation games for working with NEETs. The participants shall be introduced to various methods of Simulation Games and furthermore have the possibility to learn how to create new Simulation Games, which would conform the needs of the target group and learning objectives of beneficiary and even to conduct an own simulation game.
Overall objective of the project – improving professional skills of youth workers and trainers working with NEETs.
Specific objectives:
1. Share existing experience of simulation games used for trainings with NEETs.
2. Increase knowledge and improve skills on creation of Simulation Games as a tool for non-formal education, focusing on the work with NEETS.
3. Broader multicultural understanding by sharing experience of each country and each trainer.
The "Simulation for Educaiton" TC was organized for 24 youth workers from 3 partner countries (Republic of Moldova, Belarus and Armenia) and 3 program countries (Lithuania, Poland and Italy) of the Youth in Action program.
A simulation games is a model of reality in which participants make choices, implement them and receive consequences of those choices in an effort to achieve given objectives. It purports to have a relevant behavioral similarity to the original system. Simulation games are one potential tool to gain different learning objectives.
Because the method itself is all about learning by experiencing, we want to teach the method by making the participants experience the variety of possible goals to reach through simulation games. With our concept we want to combine theoretical knowledge with practical experience in order to deliver a comprehensive way of learning. We are convinced that the best way to get to know a method is to apply it yourself.
As results of tghe project, participants:
1. Shared experience and good practices among partners in the field of implementation of Simulation Games as a method for work with NEETs.
2. Improved knowledge and skills of 24 youth workers and trainers for educating their target groups (NEETs) with simulation games as a one of the tools.
I was responsable for leading session:
* Youth Work and non formal education: Exchanging on experiences
* Lead different Simulation Games
* Explaine to the participants the process of designing a simulation game
* Brainstorming / Collecting ideas for new simulation games
* Simulation Games and Youth work: Aims and
potentials
* coaching participants in Developing a simulation game (working on the topic, on the scenario, on rules and procedures, on the actors)
* Evaluation of developing process