Take part and learn!

The link between participation and learning will have a central place in this course. Raising participation leads to developing valuable skills such as critical thinking, taking initiative and collaborative project design. As a youth worker, it is important to realise what youngsters can learn from participating and how you can assist that learning process. This will help you to challenge the youngsters you’re working with and it will increase the quality of youth work. As a participant, you will actively contribute to the programme of this course, and by doing this you will learn how to initiate and support participative methods and processes. We want participants to experience what it means to take up an active role in group processes, and secondly, to understand better what motivates young people and which obstacles discourage them to participate. The methodology of this training course will be based on non-formal learning, game-based learning and self-directed learning. The programme aims to give room for playfulness and experimentation. For example, we will use music, games and digital platforms as tools to investigate the potential of participation. The programme will be built upon the experiences and knowledge present within the group, debates, and self-reflection on (y)our own learning processes. In combination with sufficient informal time, those elements provide great conditions for intercultural exchange. This training course is the practice project from the current Training of Trainers programme. Therefore we (as trainers) intend to share our experiences with the group on the implementation of participative methods to share both sides of the learning experience, and we will ask for your feedback. Dates and venue: The TC will last 5 full days, from Sunday 13th (arrival) to Friday 18th of May 2018 (departure) at CJT-Ten Berg (Merelbeke) in Belgium. Target group: We aim to gather a diverse group, coming from different parts of Europe. We are looking to balance the group in terms of age, gender, background and experience. Our participants should be: - Youth workers, youth leaders or civil servants actively working with young people; - Motivated and interested in exploring the concept of youth participation; - In a position to multiply the experience gained during the course in their realities and to make concrete plans to do this effectively; - Available for the full duration of the course; - Able to work in English Objectives: - To explore the concept of youth participation in a broad sense and raise awareness on the importance of young people's active participation - To identify obstacles and provide solutions to increase active youth participation - To explore how non-formal education and youth work can support learning for young people especially through volunteering and active participation in society - To offer space to exchange experiences, good practices and ideas in the field of participative learning, and allow participants to try out and explore participative methods hands on - To let participants actively take part in the design of several sessions within the course - To identify the opportunities of learning from participation in the Erasmus+ Programme and to create an environment for future engagement