TOT:DEVELOPING THE
YOUTH
TRAINER
TOT: Developing the Youth Trainer
Partners:
Network for European Citizenship and Identity Cyprus, FOCO Spain, NECI Italia, HAIR REDIVIVUS Romania, PREVENT Serbia, YouthClub Active Estonia, Achaia Adult Education Institute Greece, Walk Together Bulgaria
International cooperation between experienced and not experienced Organisations and individuals but also between target group, youthworkers who aim for eliminating discrimination and marginalisation through social inclusion practice
To develop projects to leave an efficient impact for the next Erasmus period on the topic of social inclusion and intercultural learning
-To develop skills and competences to youthworkers for improving solidarity and social awareness.
- To develop competences of youth workers to design their own sessions and work in international level of trainings based on social inclusion
List Title
REFLECTION DIARIES
Danah (Greece)
21 people gathered for this Training Course: Training of Trainers and learnt multiple useful methods and tools. We discussed about different mindsets, Active Listening, Rapport, importance of reflection and evaluation, ways of learning, naw roles and tasks, elements of the Training Agenda, Coaching time, Thinking Hats, S.W.O.T analysis, Eisenhower Matrix, S.M.A.R.T. goal for establishing better communication at work(objectives), the Ws&H questions (Why, What, How, When, Where, Who), Dissemination and an introduction to how to create a workshop (+feedback) and project.
Except from the knowledge that we gained, we had the opportunity to network with different NGOs, discuss and create new ideas for the future and make a list with different and unique NFL exercises to use in our future training.
Anastasia (Greece)
I enjoyed most of the activities and I am going to use them in my field work. Particularly the following:
Functions-> Competences (Council of Europe)
The SWOT Analysis
Self-assessment tools
Active listening techniques
Benefits of establishing Rapport
Workshop design
Creating evaluation tools
What is more, I appreciate getting very useful input and feedback from the two trainers, Renos and Inga, as well as sharing ideas and experience from most of the participants, such as Sara, Andreea, Eugenia, Yago, Pele, Lucia, Dana, Iasmina, Petros, Despina. I feel thankful and more empowered!
Dimitrije (Serbia)
This training course fulfilled my expectations. The training course was excellent and very inspiring. I liked all the activities. All participants were very interested in the topic. I learned that good facilitation requires trainers listening more than talking, actively engaging learners, and asking good questions so that learners develop their own insights, examples, and analogies. Working in groups was productive. We have developed many interesting ideas and projects. On the project, I expanded my knowledge and met interesting people from other parts of Europe.
Gabriela ( Bulgaria)
The training was absolutely amazing experience. Most of my expectations were met. I appreciate the effort and time the trainers put in the organisation and implementation of it.
I Learned lots of new methods and tool which I will definitely use for my training courses.
I also met like-minded people with whom I exchanged some helpful tips, ideas. Furthermore, I discovered few new opportunities in a work plan and made strong promising connections.
Jevgeni Vazev
Thanks to this project, I had the opportunity to share my knowledge and skills with the rest of the project participants. The project program was designed in such a way that everyone had the opportunity to work with different people. The purpose of my participation in this project: to obtain the necessary tools to optimize my work and be more productive at work. Using the experience of other participants and trainers, I had the opportunity not only to learn about new methods, but also to test and immediately apply them in my work. I believe that analyzing the work done immediately after completing the exercise helped me draw conclusions more clearly and clearly and understand how this or that method works. The knowledge gained was very logically connected with each other. The chosen methods contributed to productive work in a safe and comfortable environment. It seems to me that the organizers of the project created comfortable conditions, taking into account the needs of everyone. The experience gained will be useful to me in my work and will allow me to achieve my goals using the acquired knowledge.
Lidia (Spain)
My process during the training has been progressive and I feel very satisfied with the tools I received. Some days when we had very theoretical sessions were harder, but as soon as we started applying the tools in groups everything was much more bearable.
It has been very easy to establish relationships with the group, I think we were all open to getting to know the rest and that has been fortunate. The people with whom I have had the most professional connection (and with whom we have already talked about working together in the future) are Andreea, Pele, Lucy and Anastasia. I would also very much like to work with Marina when she is part of an association.
Also, and although this has been outside the program, the fact of working again these days with Gonzalo has made the desire to work together again stronger. We are developing the way to do it from our two regions.
Petros (Cyprus)
During these project I was inspired by many people.
Yago gave me great insights into how theatre can be used as a great tool into developing empathy and creativity. He described the improv methods he uses in his job and I would like to employ them
Lidia and Gonzalo: The “take the lead activity” was a surprising deep exercise where participants were working in pairs accepting their actions and emotions through a simple verbal ping pong
Sara: for her warm presence and friendship. There is a possibility to work with her in the future in a summer camp in Milano.
Eugeny (the father) with his abundant energy and positivity. He described how his organization is using NonFormal education tools into the daily schooling of youngsters which found very formative. Possibility to work with him in the future in Estonia.
Renos: I felt safe and well-taken cared of because of his calmness and wisdom. I was keeping notes from everything he explained and I am looking forward to analyze it all during my own time to make the most out of it. Possibility to collaborate together in Cyprus through internships as well as more TC. A great friend too, who was there when I needed him and provided me with fatherly advice.
All the energizers and ice breakers were very effective. They brought us, the participants, closer together and strengthened our bonds.
The story telling activity using improv and one word was fantastic. It helped us improve our creativity and public speaking skills
The Six Thinking hats activity was also a very memorable one, where we practiced empathy into recognizing other’s feelings as well as showing the feeling that was assigned to us.
The pizza making exercise aimed at developing self-awareness helped me identify my “hidden power” (most effective skill)
The create your own TC was very creative and I am very eager in making my own project.
I enjoyed tasting the cuisine of all the participating countries especially the freshly made dishes from Serbia (cheese pie) and Romania (polenta and meat)
Sara (Italy)
IN GENERAL I KNEW THE TOPICS COVERED BUT I WILL SURELY BRING HOME NEW TOOLS THAT I WILL BE ABLE TO USE IN THE TRAININGS THAT I ORGANIZE LOCALLY WITH TEACHERS AND YOUTHWORKERS.
THE MOST EDUCATIONAL THING FOR ME WAS DEFINITELY OBSERVING THE TRAINERS IN action AND learning from their example.
I am also very satisfied with the working group and I found people who were very involved and focused on the topic.
In particular I had the opportunity to share experiences with Jevgeni Vazen, Mauro Taccari, Anastasia, Dalai, Pelle, Jago, Petro, Lucia, Claudia.
I am grateful for the opportunity and I thank Renos and Inga for enriching my path.
Iasmina (Romania)
Last time I visited this place changed my life. Only imagine my enthusiasm when I saw the call for this TC. I returned to this place as a proud kid who wants to show his parents or teachers that he did a beautiful painting. I wanted to show Renos that what I learned the last time I also used and the mark he made on me was not superficial. I came eager to prove myself and eager to take myself to the next level: to absorve new informations, to learn as many new things as possible and to find a way and an advice to overcome the things I realised in the past year I'm missing or I can't control.
Of course my expectation were not only just met, but they were overcame by far. I have discovered things about myself that I did not notice before, I have learned things that I didn't even knew I need and I have met people who made me understand I'm going in the right direction ( either by associating myself with them and finding an easy and productive way of working together, either by understanting that we have totally different way of acting and thinking and that's an amazing thing ).
I realised how excited I am about everything that happend and the process I went through the past 8 days when the first thing that I did this morning was to text my partner for the next project to tell him " we need to have a meeting on Monday to tell you how many things I learned this week and how many more things we have to do. "
I'm writing this feeling greatful as hell for the people I have met on my road, proud of myself for everything that I am and that I'm not and ready for what's coming next.
Bogdan (Romania)
Being the first project of this kind, I felt that things were going in the right direction. I had the opportunity to work with experienced people to develop my self in the right direction.
Although there was a lot of information, I had time to reflect on it and I received the necessary support to understand.
Beautiful and dynamic group.
Jevgeni Belusov
As this is the first project in my life it has proved to be a rewarding experience for me. From the time I was invited here until today I felt stable. The only thing that confused me was what I said on the first day (my English). After all it is not my first language and I forgot many words. It was not easy. But I felt supported by my colleagues and I want to thank them.
The participants of the project were different people, but I don't know where you found them - they are all great.
Everything was interesting in this project, I learned a lot of new things, as I have only recently started working in this field. I learned a lot of new things. I learned new types of reflection. The method of team building. Communication was super. The presentation of material at the height. The trainers are really cool people. Perhaps it would be right to say that a great team! I thank them for the opportunity to participate in the project.
The games, as I like them, are just cool. I have recorded a lot of them and will use them in my work. Thank you
The kitchen was good too, they took into account all my wishes,,,,,thank them.
As for where we work, I'm tired of the same place and the white chair.
The presentation is super, your team is great.
Free time was good and it was enough. I want to learn the language of communication and come to you many more times because you are a super team. Thank you
Gonzalo (Spain)
The ToT training course has generally been a very rewarding experience, full of new ideas and new knowledge.
During the different sessions we have analysed and understood the fundamental aspects of facilitation and the most useful techniques for young people to acquire competences and skills.
Through practical activities, specific cases and examples we have been able to go through all the stages and steps of facilitation, as well as the creation and implementation of projects and activities with a target group of young people.
We have not only learned through the facilitators but also by sharing experiences and new practices with other youth workers. This has allowed us to connect, network and get to know the work of other participants. Through these networks we will create new projects and initiatives that will make the Erasmus+ programme bigger and more diverse.
Yago (Spain)
The ToT hosted by neci
was a complete experience in all posible ways.
The program started with some tools that I had already practice but the excitement of being around so many people with different backgrounds and perspectives keep myself open to learn deconstructing myself and rebuilding again old knowledge.
It is true that was hard in the first days to keep the attention because of the rithm of the first sessions but the velocity turn faster and become a challenge everyday since the third journey. I was happy, excited, frustrated, confuse, curious, and excited and happy again. It was a challenge that I would love to repeat because I had learn a lot of things about myself as facilitator, trainer and person even.
I felt that I solve a few blocks that will help me to keep building my career in lots of different ways.
Marina ( Cyprus)
In this project iam amazed of how much useful tools I learned about creating a project from training agenda to coaching tools to learn about your self and also to use. Like the smart tool the why when how where what. Making my own workshop with group with others made me realise how much different mindset we have and how some are more experience than others but they don't lay back and let others take the lead also and this is very important if in your team you have people that are not so confident or experience. I think after this project iam ready to use all the tools to write my own project or workshop and after my evaluation from the trainer iam ready to improve my false and work more to the things I need to improve. I also discover that being involved in this project gives me more meaning in to what I want to give to society and to people. I feel like with the right guidance or mentoring I can improve my self us a new trainer. I also met like minded people and people that had the same experience as me in the field of youthwork and with some push from the right people they also improved their work to the best.
Claudia (Italy)
I took part of this project without knowing exactly what to expect since it was my first international training of trainer experience. But despite my lack of knowledge in a some topics, I re-discovered the strength to put all my effort to catch up with subjects, taking notes from the trainer and learning from all the other amazing participants. Sara Marini helped me in those moment of discomfort and I had occasion to learn a lot from her. Also Jevgeni Vazer and his experience as a trainer was very expiring. I know I still have to study a lot but I am positive for the future because I know I start with some solid knowledge I gained here
Eleni ( Greece)
Στο πρόγραμμα ΤΟΤ που έλαβε χώρα στην Κύπρο τον Σεπτέμβριο του 2023 διαδραματίστηκαν πολλά ενδιαφέροντα εργαστήρια, ασκήσεις κ.λπ. τα οποία είναι βέβαιο πως μπορούν να φανούν χρήσιμα σε έναν εκπαιδευτή ενηλίκων και παιδιών που του αρέσει να αξιοποιεί μεθόδους μη τυπικής μάθησης.
Προσωπικά έχω ήδη αρχίσει να εφαρμόζω στο μυαλό και το χαρτί τις πρακτικές που μάθαμε. Βρήκα πολύ χρήσιμη τη δραστηριότητα με τα 6 καπέλα σκέψης του De Βοno και το wheel of life. Κι ακόμα κι αν οι δραστηριότητες είναι κατά κάποιο τρόπο ήδη γνωστές, είναι πολύ βοηθητικό να βλέπεις πως εφαρμόζονται στη πράξη.
Φυσικά η διάδραση με τους υπόλοιπους συμμετέχοντες του προγράμματος και τις ιδέες που ανταλλάξαμε έκανε τη διαφορά. Απόλαυσα πραγματικά τη στιγμή που δημιουργήσαμε ομαδικά ένα δικό μας workshop, βρήκαμε κοινά σημεία σκέψης και καταλήξαμε σε ένα ικανοποιητικό αποτέλεσμα
Pele ( Serbia)
This training course was extremely useful for youth workers who wants to become trainers. We passed a lot of skills and methods trainer should have. The workshops were meaningful and useful. I learned a lot new methods that I can use in my further work.
I would especially like to single out the "design my own workshop"that we had the opportunity to pass, for me this was very important because we could practice, and enter in the role of trainer.
Lucy (Romania)
"This project has been a great experience to learn and improve professional skills regarding youthwork. I feel more confindent to lead activities and create workshops that will help others develop themselves in different contexts. We have discussed about different profiles of youth and youthworkers we want to target, how to reach these people and interact with them in a constructive manner. I have trained my creative muscle by developing workshops suitable for different issues that are of importance nowadays (minorities, people with fewer opportunities, people with diverse backgrounds). My team constructed activities meant to improve soft skills of NEETs. I have overcome some barriers regarding public speaking and gained confidence in this regard. I still need to work on my presentation while in front of an audience but I am confident the feedback and encouragement received here will help me improve myself. I am looking forward to applying the lessons learnt during this experience in the future project that I am taking part in. I am grateful for this project and the people I got the chance to work with. I hope Renos will receive me for the next TOT and get to the next level on my jurney as a trainer."
All the best
Lucia Chiriacescu
Andrea (Romania)
This training course was really useful and helpful for me as brought me to the next level in terms of knowledge as a professional trainer. During this week I learnt a lot through several activities about new tools and also how we can use these tools as trainers while designing our own sessions/workshops.
The session that I think was really helpful for me was the designing the sessions by taking into consideration the tools we received here.
A very useful and Interesting session was the active listening. Special the exercise when 2 people volunteered to deliver a quick session for us and we were instructed to listen for few minutes after which we would have to act like we are not listening. Through this session I realized the importance of having multiple tools in mind to use in case something like this happen in my sessions, so be prepared in case something unexpected happens. And also how important is when you are in such situation to calm down, don’t lose yourself and try to adjust/adapt on the way. And also I feel reinforced about the importance of active listening from all parties (trainer, participants, support stuff, project coordinator).
The team consists of people from different countries and different types of characters and sometimes it was difficult to work all as a team. That was a challenge how you can work with people that you don’t have anything on common and for me was a chance to develop my self and find my limits when I work in a group and also a reminder that sometimes I need to step back and look at the bigger picture. I did found in this project people that challenged me in a good way and with whom I will most probably collaborate in the future, so it was a rich training when it comes to networking.
It was also a good opportunity for me to share my experience and this made me more aware and conscious about my competences in this field. I am thankful for the opportunity to improve myself, learn more about training process in youthfield,
meet people from different countries and have a very fruitful, rich in information time together.
Despina (Cyprus)
T. O. T. was a very well-constructed training where I felt most of all welcomed and supported whenever I needed it.
During the program I received lots of knowledge regarding the design and structure of a project, useful tools to use about evaluation and reflection, how to set S.M.A.R.T. objectives, how to define my participants needs more effectively, and how to be more of an active listener.
Our trainers, Renos and Inga, are very experienced in such trainings, and they were ready to create a healthy dynamic among the group and sustain it throughout the whole project's process.
They were very supportive and willing to support our knowledge journey and listen to our needs, and so I felt all of my needs were met.
For sure it was a very pleasant experience and I would love to participate in more projects like this. I had the opportunity to meet trainers from other countries who are way more experienced than me and through many constructive conversations I received fruitful information about possible ways to move forward, opportunities I didn't know they exist for example, and made me realise how full of opportunities the world of Erasmus+ is.
I had good collaboration with all project's individuals, but I would say that three of them stood out, those were:
Andreea, very open and honest, carries a lot of knowledge and experience regarding projects, with pleasant character. She has a special way in delivering information and she was always willing to help me with questions and/or inquiries I had. We had lovely reflections on multiple tools we learned during the program.
Evgeny (Father): Very pleasant personality to be around, with vibrant energy, lots of experience in non-formal education an open to share it with me. We had a lovely reflection conversation on non-formal education and its importance/impact on youngsters and on society in general
Gonzalo: He holds a huge palette of tools on how to build a project properly, useful suggestions for future project applications, communicative and willing to help. We had a lovely reflection on how to build a well-constructed project and what evaluators expect from us when applying.
I would love to thank you Renos once again for the opportunity to be here and part of the training. Thank you for all your support, evaluation and reflection conversations.
Mauro (Italy)
The training “TOT: Developing the Youth Trainer “give me considerable help on my path to become a well-rounded youth-worker.
Experienced youth-workers participants Jevgeni Vazev and Sara Marini gave me personal advice and good practices.
It has been a great opportunity to design and deliver a session with other participants on young entrepreneurs. Renos Georgiou and Inga Protuc feedback allowed me to improve and deliver better sessions in the future.
Almost all group dynamics have been constructive and collaborative.