This is not a clowning training

Aims & objectives

Aim:
To explore the power of clowning attitude in youth work.

Specific Objectives:
+to explore what is clowning attitude and the concepts of failure and success;
+to deepen the understanding of emotional well-being and equip participants with tools of taking care of their own well-being as well as support the emotional well-being of the young people;
+to learn creative methodologies such as participatory theatre, creative writing and clowning;
+to explore how the inner clown can support building trustful connections with young people.

Target group & international/intercultural composition of the group & team

The group of participants consisted of 24 participants from 8 countries: France, Spain, Portugal, Latvia, Romania, Italy, Austria and Germany. Their profile was: youth workers, facilitators, artists and activists.

Training methods used & main activities

This training was shaped with the non-formal education approach, with group dynamics and creative activities that promotes active participation during the training course. The process was based in experiential learning, also giving some theoretical input and space for individual/group reflection.

Creative methodologies such as Clowning, Creative Writing, Participatory and social Theatre were used to dig deeper in the topics of this training course;
Creation of a Safe (enough) Space where every participants feel free to express ideas and proposal;
The learning process was shared among individual participants, the group of participants and the trainers. The program was flexible and sensitive to the participant’s needs;
ETS Competence model for youth workers to work internationally was used as a framework to reflect on the learning journey in relation to competences.

Outcomes of the activity

This is not a clowning training has been designed to develop the competence area of “facilitating learning” (reference to ETS competence model for youth workers to work internationally), by tackling specifically the attitudes component of this competence. All the flow was moving from experiential learning to a more cognitive dimension by bridging the clown to the youth worker, what values and approach to life can enrich the work with young people and how can we relate with the unexpected and mistakes while delivering activities. Participants explored and uncovered their attitude to be surprised, to be playful, curious and kind, in order to create a safe space enough to be brave and motivate the growth of young people.

In particular we touched different dimension of the competence “facilitating learning”:
Attitude:
+Readiness to improvise and accept ambiguity;
+Being open towards learning/unexpected learning (for oneself and others);
+Readiness to self-reflect to understand own motivations;
+Openness to using different ways and methods to encourage creativity, problem solving and ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking;
Knowledge:
+Knowledge of group processes, mechanisms and principles (including privilege and power relations);
+Knowledge about emotions and emotional mechanisms;
+Knowledge about crisis mechanisms and management;
Skills:
+Skill of building up and supporting the self-confidence of young people;
+Skill of empathising in a way that others can learn from one’s experience;
+Skill of addressing crisis situations;
Behaviour:
+Is honest, respectful and transparent;
+Aims at reaching educational aims by using specific ways and methods that encourage creativity, problem solving, ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking, in different environmental aspects;
+ It is OK with imperfections, failures, and mistakes.

Besides that the participants learned about the basics of mental health and how to maintain it during the work with challenging youngsters and in challenging environments.

Your tasks and responsibilities within the team

My task in This is not a clowning training was to co-design the program according the aims of the hosting organization's Erasmus+ accreditation goals and co-facilitate with the other trainer Marco Marinelli. It was also our task to support the participants and adjust the program to their needs during the training course. Besides that, we also wrote parts of the report that were related to the methodology, support of participants and learning outcomes, as well as monitoring and evaluating the course.

I worked on this training for 6 days as a full time trainer.