“TAKE THE LEAD”, A TRAINING COURSE ABOUT LEADERSHIP AND THE ROLE OF GROUP LEADER FOR ERASMUS+ YOUTH EXCHANGES

“Take the lead” is a project funded by the European Commission through the Erasmus+ programme.

The project involved 22 young people from different countries in a multicultural experience. The project involved several non-formal education activities. That is where the project acts: create a safe environment where people with different backgrounds, cultures and points of view can share experiences, learn and appreciate the process.

This article was written by participants during the project.

Objectives of the project are:

• To improve youth workers’ sense of initiative
• To support youth workers’ growth as facilitators of non-formal education activities
• To provide youth workers with a better understanding of youth mobilities projects and non-formal education methods
• To improve mentoring and coaching skills of youth workers
• To reinforce the cooperation among partners with a view to future partnerships involving TALE participants
• To discuss ways of involving youngsters with fewer opportunities (“how to reach them?”) and building local partnerships for the purpose
• To raise awareness about youth mobilities for youngsters

In few words

In the past two years, Kora and its partners have been involved in a large number of youth mobilities. Even though each project has its own lifecycle, a common pattern started to appear, when comparing outcomes and experiences from different projects: the involvement of group leaders during the different phases of a youth mobility is much related to the quality of its outcomes. The group leaders are often not involved properly in the preparatory phases, and, in practice, too often the person in charge of most of the activities is a facilitator. This dynamic undermines the strengths of peer-to-peer learning and non-formal education, and can lead to situations where participants feel like a teacher-pupil relationship. Through previous partnerships, organisations realised once again that the youth leader plays a key role in the different phases of a youth mobility. That is why TALE wants to put the youth leaders on the spotlight: they should be the centre and the focus of a real non-formal education experience. The peer-to-peer learning process needs experienced youth leaders that can facilitate the inclusion and the active participation of young people.

In one sentence, the goal of TALE is to improve peer-to-peer learning in youth mobilities by enhancing the involvement of group leaders in the activities.

Partners

• Associazione di Promozione Sociale Kora – Italy
• Associacao Quinta Das Relvas – Portugal
• Youth Center of Epirus- Greece
• Mladiinfo Slovensko – Slovakia
• StepEurope ry – Finland
• Saldus jauniesu dome “Es un mes” – Latvia
• Vega Youth Center – Serbia
• Association pour le Developpement du Haut Cabardes – France
• Asociatia Puzzle OptimEast Tg. Neamt – Romania
• Asociacion Brujula Intercultural – Spain
• Sustinea – Spain

Contacts

For any further information about the project, please contact the project officer at Associazione Kora via email: [email protected]