Active citizen – The power is in your hands!

Topic/ theme: using non formal education methods and community engagement to increase democratic life in the school and active citizenship of the students; to increase participation in civil society of school staff and students, increase awareness of European values and principles

At your request, the courses can be structured for a different schedule (5-10 training days).

Sending partners: educational organizations involved in formal, non-formal and informal learning: kindergartens, schools, adult training centers, resource centers and other relevant organization active in the adult education field established in Erasmus+ program countries.

Participants: 20-25 adults involved in education

Course fee: According to the Erasmus+ guide, 80 euros / training day, including course preparation, training, training materials, administration costs, organizational costs, 24 hours emergency support.

Trainers: A multinational team of trainers – Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Greek, Cypriot, Italian,Polish, SALTO affiliated, with training in more than 15 European countries.

Languages used: English, Portuguese, Spanish, French. The training materials will be provided in English. On request, Spanish and French.

Profile of the participants:

The participants are teachers (working in kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools etc.) or adult trainers active in the sending organization interested in non-formal methods that can be used to include and integrate every student, with or without previous experience, willing to develop themselves professionally not only through the course, but by involving themselves in preparatory and follow up activities. They must be interested in other cultures and in developing the institution’s European dimension.

Objectives:

To develop competences regarding applying non-formal education activities and techniques in order to encourage democratic life in the school and active citizenship of the students
To increase awareness of European values and principles
To develop skills for dialogue, tolerance and collaboration, using games and exercises;
To develop communication, collaboration, presentation, problem-solving, negotiation, critical & creative thinking skills;
To increase the school’s European dimension
To share best practices and transfer knowledge and methods between different cultural zones and different learner ages regarding successful active citizenship approaches
to enable students to make visible changes in their immediate world in areas of importance to them
to increase positive engagement among students and provide an alternative for constructive rather than destructive behavior
to provide stuents with skills in analyzing and tackling problems, along with concrete opportunities to use these skills in meaningful ways
to provide outlets for creative energy and the chance to address issues of concern to youth by youth
To increase students empowerment to engage in the local community
To develop the participants’ competences of ensuring harmonious group building in civil society engagement of students by usage of non-formal group dynamics
To be better aware of inclusion issues in different cultures
To promote the use mediation and negotiation tools in community engagement
To promote European cooperation in the field of education within the framework of the Erasmus+ program by partnership building

Learning outcomes:

By taking part in this training course, the participants will:

Develop competences regarding applying non-formal education activities and techniques in order to encourage democratic life in school and student involvement
Gain competences of developing the school’s European dimension
Develop communication, collaboration, presentation, problem-solving, negotiation, critical & creative thinking skills;
Develop competences of ensuring harmonious group building (taking into account diversity challenges) and transforming the class as a group into a team
Have a better understanding of their own competence as teachers and will learn how to develop creative strategies for dealing with community challenges
Learn how to understand the students’ needs and empower them to implement changes in the community
Identify at least opportunities for increasing students’ active participation;
Have a better confidence in using non-formal tools;
Learn how to integrate European values and principles in the curricula
Improve their interpersonal relationships
Learn how to introduce new tools & resources within the classroom to foster community engagement and encourage volunteering
To promote European cooperation in the field of education within the framework of the Erasmus+ program by partnership building

Methodology

The main methods will be through practical training, exercises, role-playing, cooperative work, various activities and discussions. The content is based on „ learning by doing” combined with ” reflection upon action”. The training course has a holistic approach:

Experiencing: different educational settings, different non formal education methods (role play, simulation game, exercises etc.)
Reflecting: on the methods and its impacts, on the power and limits of non-formal education, on building a pedagogical process etc.
Transferring: to the own reality of participants, in order to improve ways of working with their students
Sharing: different perceptions, current situations and experiences.
Developing: the building capacity of the participants (to be transferred to their students) by including them in the decision process of the training course designing
Lessons learnt and best practices on non-formal education in school activities

Days	Module	Details of activities and methodology
Days 1,2	Culture and interculturality	Course introduction Needs and expectations evaluation Intercultural games. Working in an international project – how to communicate and connect. Team building: working with colleagues and parents – practical exercises followed by a debate. Stereotypes and prejudices in the classroom. Cultural and group values. Project tour exploring exterior manifestations of culture
Day 3,4	Community volunteering	Communication (assertive, aggressive, passive). Games for improving communication. Civil society organisms. Stakeholder maps in local volunteering. Initial training of volunteers. Promoting volunteering in the school: simulation, role-play games Practicing, designing and delivering non-formal volunteering projects. Evaluating student gained competences through volunteering activities.
Days 5	Values and attitudes	Volunteering atitudes. Managing attitudes and expectations in the volunteering team European values and civil society activism. Solidarity in school and local community. Public Achievement program – skills of public problem solving and public creation. Soft skills for European teams: listening to differing opinions, balancing own needs with others’ needs, reflect on effect of how their actions impact others in their communities. Midterm evaluation
Days 6,7	Community projects	Coaching tools for young people looking to develop their active citizens skills: zone of fulfillment, values, wheel of life, comfort zone. Writing a project – basics. Synergies with other European funding mechanisms: European Solidarity Corps volunteering projects and Solidarity projects. Study visit to local civil society organisation. Dissemination of previous community projects made by all partners. Working with stakeholders.
Day 8	European institutional dimension	What is European dimension? Introducing European dimension in school curricula. European collaboration using dedicated platforms: E-twinning. European international projects to increase the school’s European dimension.
Day 9	Evaluation, dissemination and certification	Dissemination and valorization activities planning. Using European certification tools: Europass Mobility certificate, upgrading the Europass Language Passport and Europass Skills Passport. Project evaluation.Certification ceremony.

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