YMCA Europe invites Young Leaders of Civil Society Organisation to apply for the training course to strengthen their skills in the sphere of non-formal education: “Youth Educates: strengthening the capacity of youth civil society organisations to run non-formal education activities” co-funded by European Youth Foundation.
Aim: Raise the quality of youth work by strengthening the capacity of youth civil society organisations to organise non-formal education activities
Objectives:
- Equipping young leaders with the necessary skill set to plan, deliver, and evaluate non-formal education activities;
- Promoting the competencies framework described in the Council of Europe Youth Work Portfolio;
- Involving youth from marginalised communities in activities of non-formal education promoting intercultural learning, equity, inclusion, peace and diversity.
The Work Plan will have the following 3 main phases:
- International Activity One, 5 full days of work, 8-14 April 2024, Slovakia (8 April – arrival date; 14 April – departure date)
- Local Educational Activities planned, delivered and evaluated by the participants of International Activity One, May-October 2024
- International Activity Two, 5 full days, 29 October – 2 November 2024, Belgium (28 October – arrival date; 3 November – departure date)
Profile of participants
- Experience with group facilitation, but at the beginning or intermediate level (with little theoretical knowledge on it);
- Motivation to develop themselves in the area of a group facilitator, educator, trainer, youth worker;
- Being part of a Civil Society Organisation and motivation to apply gained knowledge within the civil society sector;
- 18-30 years old;
- Good command of English;
- Ready for intensive education (the training days will include evening sessions) and for implementation of practical assignments (design and implementation of educational activity);
- Working with youth with vulnerable backgrounds will be the priority for selection.
Key knowledge to be obtained
- What is non-formal education and its difference from formal and informal;
- Principles of non-formal education and ways of implementation;
- Theory of Change, how to set expected results;
- Group Dynamics;
- Logic of building an educational programme, key thematic blocks and their peculiarities; Kolb model;
- Interactive methods of education;
- Algorithm of debriefing and art of asking questions;
- Monitoring and evaluation of reaching expected results;
- Peculiarities of communication with people of different cultures, social and economic contexts; working with marginalised communities; “coping with difficult participants”;
- Working with the motivation of participants;
- Different roles of a group leader: trainer, facilitator, coach, expert, etc.;
- Working in a team/in a pair with a peer;
- Functions and key competencies of a youth worker based on competencies framework described in the Council of Europe Youth Work Portfolio;
- Self-assessment of competencies of a youth worker and a trainer of non-formal education;
- Online resources with toolkits and relevant digital platforms.
Key skills to be developed:
- Setting expected results;
- Building a balanced logic of an educational activity;
- Choosing appropriate methods of education;
- Giving instructions; using the algorithm for debriefing; formulating questions in an effective way;
- Open communication with peers from various cultural, social and economic contexts;
- Setting a system of monitoring and evaluation;
- Self-assessment of competencies of a youth worker;
- Setting a personal development plan;
- Finding relevant online platforms and needed materials.
Methodology
Non-formal education face-to face (60%): we will use methods of non-formal education during 2 face-to-face meetings (5 full days each).
Online (10%): between face-to-face meetings we will suggest studying some theoretical materials and organise online support meetings.
Learning by doing (30%): practical design and implementation of educational activities.
Application process
Please, submit the application form by 15 February 2024 by filling in the form.
Participation fee includes
- Board and lodging in youth hostels, in shared rooms with common bathrooms for the days of the training;
- Covering cost-efficient and ecological travel costs to the training sessions;
- Programme costs, including work of external experts;
- Administrative costs which includes communications and mentoring during the practical assignments implementation.
PARTICIPATION FEE: 500 euro
Subsidies are possible, please, mention this need in the application form.
The responsibility of National movements:
- To provide mentoring at all levels, especially at the stage of educational events’ implementation;
- To provide further involvement of the participants in YMCA activities at local and national levels.
Contacts:
If you have any questions, please contact Olga Lukina, olga[at]ymcaeurope.com
More information about YMCA Leadership Academy scheme is available here.
