YOUTHIFICATION of Group Facilitation 2018

Day 5 is the day when participants are divided into pairs and they are working on preparations for their workshops that they will facilitate starting from tomorrow. This is the practical part of the training course when participants should put into practice all the inputs they got earlier this week and in a safe learning environment to try new approaches and learn from the constructive feedback given by the participants and the trainers.

Mornings always start slowly in the quiet space where everyone is taking some time to prepare him/herself for the day by using the reflection diary. Right after that, today we started with brief presentation about the relevance of Learning Experience Design in Youth Work. So, what we did is in small teams of 4 or 5 we were invited to design a common learning space that will hold different “corners”. Each corner developed by one of the groups.  This design process was done step-by-step: Step 1: The topic was randomly chosen: human rights. Once the topic was chosen each group could separately brainstorm subtopics within that main issue (eg: small aspects that can be explored when learning about human rights such as: freedom of speech, torture, laws, conventions, etc.). The brainstorm of each group was recorded in a piece of paper. Step 2: After choosing the main topic out of list of topics and exploring possible sub topics, we determined the type of the space to be a restaurant.

As usual today we started again in our quiet space reflecting about the learning points from yesterday. Setting the stage for today’s challenge. Following our discussion from before, today we dive deeper into the elements of group dynamics. How does the group develop, grow and dissolve? What kind of processes are happening during this development and how to identify the needs of the young people from the group? To give adequate answers on these and many more questions, we had few theories on the menu today to digest. By connecting the theories with the experience of the group members, we managed to bring better understanding and raise awareness about the role of the facilitator in the group and the responsibilities that come along. Later we put the focus on the needs of the young people in the group. We had exercise to identify categories of needs of the young people like: personal needs, learning needs in terms of content and methodology atc. Afterwards in pairs we tried to fi

It is morning again in Leysin. We all got together in the working room anticipating what comes next. From today on, we will always start the day with the reflection diary, individually assessing and reflecting on the day before, what did we learn, what is still open as question and topic, how do we achieve our goal that we have set for each one of us. After 15 minutes of reflection time, we were already ready for the first session of the day which was emphasizing the importance of the group work. We explored what is the meaning of group work and first of all defining what a group really is. Coming back to the Kolb Cycle and non-formal learning concept, the group was divided into small groups and worked on creating posters with the moto: “in youth work being in a group means…” After a session of sharing and discussing, each group had the chance to present in plenary their outcomes. After the comfort break we started exploring the context of the group. By using the “C’ Wheel model

Morning sunshine in Leysin with awesome warm weather! We all woke up with high expectations about the official start of the training program today. Everyone had a nice sleep after a long trip and with full enthusiasm entered the working room. After a short introduction we went outside in the nature for a “Walk & Talk”. Breathing the fresh Alp air under the shiny sun, we had an activity to ask interesting questions to each other and discover even more details about each of us. After asking the question and getting an answer, we exchange the questions on piece of paper and hand it over the person who gave us an answer, so then we look for another partner with whom we continue to ask other questions and receive even more insights of their personality. The aim of this activity is to break the walls and barriers between the group and also it is a nice start of building our group that will work together the following 7 days. After a round of one hour we went slowly to the hotel and had a

Application forms, travel arrangements, packing and handling the way up to the Swiss Alps in Leysin is finally over and it is in the past. All participants arrived on time and met their roommates and colleagues with whom they are going to spend the next 8 days. Subkult took care everyone to have the right information in order to prepare themselves for the training course. The most important thing at the beginning, of course, to learn the names, something more about each other and celebrate the official start of the project. The first moments in getting to know each other could be very precious as they build the image of the person right away. What is hidden behind that first impression, the participants have 8 days to dig deeper and to discover other perspectives of the diverse personalities represented here. So many different cultures mixed together, so many different stories yet to be told, therefore the welcoming evening offered the safe learning space to share and explore. From t