Youth Work in Contested Spaces - Training for Trainers

Aims & objectives

Training for Trainers
Agreeing the content and purpose of a manual for trainers

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

The team was led by myself and Professor Mike Baizerman of the University of Minnesota (Youth Studies). Participants were from Israel, Palestine and South Africa (15 people including trainers).

Training methods used & main activities

The event included two main elements - the first was presenting and discussing local projects that had been carried out with young people in each of the countries over the previous two years. We tried out some of the workshops, games and other activities that the young people had used, and reviewed their materials including video and other visual materials.
The second was to co-design a manual - trying out and amending the exercises we had designed. We agreed to create the manual around the interrogatary - a series of questions about the worker, the community, the organisation and the society in a contested context.

Outcomes of the activity

The primary outcomes of the activity were:
1. The sharing of learning from the work in each of the contexts
2. Agreeing the format and purpose of a manual "Building Democracy with Young People in Contested Spaces" which was later published.

Your tasks and responsibilities within the team

To co-lead the team, train the trainers, and agree the outline of the manual (and later I oversaw the design and publishing of the manual).

I worked on this training for 12th - 17th April 2008 days as a full time trainer.