Talking Youth Work

In this episode, we had a conversation with Mark Postema, an EduScrum trainer who also teaches English and Physics. Edu what? You might say. EduScrum is a framework that comprises tools and ceremonies aimed at creating a user-centered learning experience. It involves learners and a facilitator working together to achieve this goal, with the framework built on four pillars: transparency, adaptation, review, and trust. During our discussion, Mark emphasized the significance of trust, which we believe is a fundamental aspect of both formal and non-formal learning experiences. Without trust, we cannot perform at our best. We also explored the boundaries between formal and non-formal learning, ultimately realizing that there will come a day when we will discuss learning in a broader sense. This recognition is key to personal growth, regardless of age, whether we are 14, 30, or 70 years old. Collaboration is a crucial element within the eduScrum framework, highlighting that learning is a collective effort. There is no such thing as a "self-made learner." EduScrum provides a well-structured set of principles that can guide us as we navigate the subjects we seek to explore. One excellent example is the use of planning poker, where we evaluate the "cards" we have to play with. The assessment of progress is conducted in a manner that prioritizes the learning process rather than just achieving a certain goal. It involves assessing our current position, determining where we want to be, and understanding how much work is required to reach our desired destination. We genuinely enjoyed this conversation, as it was thought-provoking and inspiring to discover the similarities between EduScrum and other frameworks. However, we also recognized its unique qualities that benefit both ourselves and the young individuals we work with. If you're interested in learning more about eduScrum, you can find a wealth of valuable information in the following links:    https://eduscrum.org/ https://www.nonformal-education.eu/metody/eduscrum/

Hello dear listeners, In this episode, we had the privilege of speaking with Vika Matuzaitė, a non-formal education trainer and facilitator, who enlightened us about the concept of Queer Youth and how youth workers can support Queer young people. In today's world, there can be significant confusion surrounding this topic, where gender, identity, and sexuality are often erroneously treated as interchangeable terms. It also happens with other terminology. While the LGBTQI+ acronym encompasses certain aspects, the term ‘queer' transcends gender and sexuality, encompassing a broader spectrum. Unfortunately, queer young individuals encounter numerous challenges stemming from the lack of understanding they often face, particularly within their own families and social circles. Society bombards them with messages suggesting that deviating from the norm is ‘wrong,' leaving them feeling inadequate, isolated, and excluded. Tragically, the queer population faces a higher risk of homelessness, addiction, and suicide. Therefore, it is crucial for everyone to gain a deeper comprehension of diversity and actively embrace the unique challenges faced by queer youth from a young age. Vika shared a poignant story about a 16-year-old who confided in her, expressing gratitude for being the first person with whom they could openly discuss their experiences of the world. This example forces us to reflect on the essential role each of us plays in creating inclusive spaces where individuals can authentically express themselves and find acceptance for their experiences. As someone's grandmother wisely said, ‘We need create the space where people matter more than opinions.' We encourage you to listen to this enlightening conversation and share your thoughts with us. The EU LGBTI strategy: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52020DC0698 Youth worker's resource: https://cara-friend.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/22307-CaraFriend-Youth-Worker-Booklet-LGBTQ-Final-screen.pdf Working with kids with the topics of gender and sexuality (Compasito companion): http://ifm-sei.org/educational-resources-2/rainbow-resources/ A kick-start reading about queer theory: https://iconbooks.com/ib-title/queer-a-graphic-history/

Dear listeners, In this edition, we had the pleasure of conversing with Jan Lai, an expert in international youth mobility, non-formal education, youth work, digital literacy, and online learning. Jan is a passionate and restless soul who enjoys a good challenge. During our chat, Jan shared how he initiated an esports* team with a group of young people in his hometown, Cagliari, with a modest budget. *Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games.[1] Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. (Source wikipedia) In addition to playing games, the youngsters were tasked with assembling the computers they would use to play. This undertaking was a unique learning experience for all involved, as they had to learn how to work together as a team to build computers from scratch. The project is recent but already a success, and the young people learned valuable skills such as teamwork, patience, and technical know-how. Video games can be an excellent tool to engage young people in learning experiences that may not otherwise pique their interest when presented in a formal educational setting. Furthermore, gaming can serve as a platform for socializing and teamwork, where young people can work together towards a common goal. By encouraging young people to step out of their comfort zones, learn new skills, and commit to something they are passionate about, they can become more motivated and interested in developing their abilities. Other groups across Europe are also creating esports teams and organizing tournaments to compete, socialize and share experiences beyond virtual settings. We hope you enjoyed this episode as much as we did.   Here's the link to a publication about Participation with Videogames. https://participationpool.eu/resource/exploring-participation-with-videogames/  

  Hello dear listeners, In this episode, we talked to Snežana Bačlija Knoch, an educational consultant in the European youth field and a facilitator of learning for nearly two decades. She loves to create encouraging and inviting learning environments, facilitate action-oriented value-based learning, and experiment with (and sometimes create) different educational tools and approaches. We started by trying to understand what creates enriching learning environments. Is it the people? Is it the physical space? It's a combination, for sure, but it's interesting to explore how the environments influence the group and vice-versa. It's not the same thing to discuss diversity with a non-diverse group of people in a plain white room or having a diverse group that goes into town to explore and talk to people on the streets.  As mentioned in our episode about learning experience design, it's important to “start with the learners in mind. Who are they? What do they know already? And how can we help them learn something new?” Now we might add: What environment will this need? What kind of space? What group of people? Of course, in real life, there are spatial limitations, we don't always have the training rooms that we would like to create the environment that would best suit the learning experience, but we can always be creative in how we use it, or explore the surroundings, find a park, a library, a coffee shop nearby, that will help facilitate the discussions and the learning that we are aiming towards. Have you ever thought about the environments that suit your learning the most?  What kind of spaces and people help you learn the best? Know yourself and bring the others with you. A very insightful episode, have a listen and let's keep Talking Youth Work.  

Hello dear listeners, This time our conversation was with Michael Kimming, an intercultural trainer, coach, online instructor and facilitator. Michael and other colleagues published an eBook called “How to Talk About War – Facilitating Learning in the Face of Crisis”, which became the topic of our conversation. Michael was facilitating a workshop when the war in Ukraine began. Some of the participants were from the involved countries, so there was a real need to address the situation. Michael explained how he felt and how there were no tools to deal with this topic initially. His advice for you if you ever face a similar situation is to simply stay there and feel what you feel in this moment of uncertainty. Don't worry about not having any tools. The tools come a little later. First, look inside yourself and start from there. And then help participants express their own emotions in a clear and helpful way. Although some people feel the urge to act, Michael suggests that action can come afterwards, first its important to address the emotions and the needs of participants, which will help create the safe space needed for effective action. This was a fantastic, deep and rich conversation that left us wanting a round two with Michael to explore more of this fascinating topic.  Links: Ebook: How to talk about war. Facilitating learning in the face of crisis by Dagna Gmitrowicz, Marta Brzezińska-Hubert and Michael Kimming. Self-published, Berlin, Poznań, Warsaw, March 2022 SALTO Toolbox: https://www.salto-youth.net/tools/toolbox/tool/how-to-talk-about-war-facilitating-learning-in-the-face-of-crisis.3219/  Blog: http://michaelkimmig.eu/how-to-talk-about-war-facilitating-learning-in-the-face-of-crisis/ Online Course: Talking about war and peace. Facilitating learning in times of crisis. Course authors: Marta Brzezińska-Hubert and Michael Kimmig : https://hop.salto-youth.net/courses/talkingaboutwar  

Hello dear listeners,  In this episode, we talked with Paul Kloosterman, a youth worker and author of several publications for youth workers and facilitators. We heard Paul's story of how he got involved in youth work, but the main topic of our talk was Self-Directed Learning. As the name implies, self-directed learning it's a process where individuals take responsibility for planning, continuing and evaluating their learning experiences. The role of the learner here is to be curious and find the support needed from fellow learners, facilitators of the learning experience or other resources. One can say all learning is self-directed because learning is an individual and personal process. We cannot force learning, it's something that happens within us as a response to external or internal stimuli. The desire to advance in our careers, the need to change something in us or the world around us, the curiosity of exploring connection and wonder, or whatever compels us to start a new learning journey. Learning doesn't start or stop at the place where teaching or facilitating is happening. It's an ongoing process that feeds from the conversations we have, the books we read, the games we play, and the places we go to, so the only constant in the learning process is the person who is learning. The more it can be self-directed, the more impact it will have in one's life and the life of the people we interact with. The role of the teacher, facilitator, mentor or youth worker is to support and stimulate the learning experiences that every learner has or needs to have. This support can come in many forms, but the most important support is to show interest in what's important for the learner, bring new perspectives, ask questions and suggest ways forward, always in service of the learning process of each individual. In a group setting, it can be more of a challenge, but learning with others is also a form of self-directed learning. Paul puts it in a very clear way when he says: “You start a program, and people go their own way. They go their own way, but they go together.” Self and others are all parts of the learning experience.  Paul shares a very nice approach. Curious? Have a listen.

Hello dear listeners, After more than a year, Talking Youth Work is back. We did miss you. A lot!  We hope you are doing well and are curious to learn about Youth Work with our guests. This time we spoke with Niels Floor, a pioneer of the concept of Learning Experience Design. Niels is a designer himself, and he brought the curiosity and problem-solving abilities of designers to the learning space. How do we create a better learning experience? By putting together some exercises and group dynamics? According to Niels, Learning Experience Design starts with the learners in mind. Who are they? What do they know already? And how can we help them learn something new? Learning requires changing how we view the world. Through learning processes, we add, subtract and rearrange information to the map we have of our experience of the world. The learning design process should be fueled by curiosity and empathy. It aims to create the conditions for learning to take place.  It's a holistic approach, where smells, sounds, and textures can all play a role in facilitating the learning experience. Niels shared the “learning experience canvas” as a tool for designing learning experiences. You can download it here. It was a great conversation that left us wanting to have a round two with Niels.  Have a listen and tell us what you think. This episode was developed in the context of EDULABS, a KA2 project funded by the ERASMUS+ programme and brought to by Team MAIS, Humak, ANEV and Youth Watch.

Dear listeners,   We spoke with Paavo Pyykönen who is a senior program advisor for the Finnish National Agency for the Erasmus+ Youth Program, an european funding line that supports youth work related projects.   Paavo talked about the importance of international youth exchanges, where youngsters can meet peers from other cultures, pursue their interests and grow together as individuals and as citizens. The job of the adults involved is to empower the young people and not treat them like little kids that can't solve problems by themselves. Youth workers should trust that young people can figure things out, and that they know things and have skills that the adults might miss.   We all hope the new funding line will create better opportunities for organizations in the field of youth work to create long lasting and meaningful learning experiences. Besides of the novelties in the new programme that we talked about, Paavo had a good advice for all that want to design projects: people should design projects that answer a specific need of their own organisation or communities, not generic projects that try to tackle too much.   The new Erasmus+ Youth programme has new thematic priorities, such as digitalization and green issues, topics we have covered previously in this podcast when we talked with  Laimonas Ragauskas or with Antonio Jovanovski.   It was very inspiring for us to talk with Paavo, he is a passionate person that really believes in the support the Erasmus+ programme gives of the next generations, so they can thrive and create better future for themselves, and for all of us, if we think about it.   We sure enjoyed this conversation; we hope you do too. Let’s Talk Youth Work!   Youth Goals: https://youth-goals.eu Erasmus+ Guide: https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/programme-guide/introduction_en EU Youth Strategy: https://europa.eu/youth/strategy_en  

In this episode, we travel to Madeira's island to explore a new and exciting project: the Digital Nomad Village. We talked to Gonçalo Hall - the founder of the project - who had the project's idea while on an Erasmus+ project in Italy.   Gonçalo discovered digital nomadism six years ago, fell in love with remote work and became a remote work consultant. He also hosts a podcast called Remote Work Movement and started a few businesses around remote work.   Digital nomadism allows global communities to have a positive local impact. When people travel to stay and work in various local communities, they bring their experiences and connections to where they decide to live. This can help rehabilitate abandoned rural areas or revive local economies in regions most affected by the pandemic crisis.   We talked about the future of work and what skills young people need to acquire to adapt to new work forms. Gonçalo believes that writing will be an essential skill to thrive in the future because of the communication implications between people who don’t share the same workplace anymore, but also intercultural skills, emotional skills and self-management become more and more valuable.   We hope that you can take many good insights from this episode. Let’s Talk Youth Work.   How to follow and reach Gonçalo: Linkedin - https://bit.ly/3rEytFR Instagram - https://bit.ly/2OFZdY4 Instagram II - https://bit.ly/3rPA2kJ Facebook - https://bit.ly/2PW2Xp1   Remote Work Movement: Website - www.remoteworkmovement.com Instagram - https://bit.ly/38xzDvA Facebook - https://bit.ly/3eurGuY   Remote Portugal: Website - https://remoteportugal.pt/ Instagram - https://bit.ly/3qxVWHr Facebook - https://bit.ly/3l3IABR

Hello dear listeners, First of all, we wish you a super 2021, as this is our first episode this year. To lighten up things we talked to Carmine Rodi, a trainer and standup comedian. Sometimes humor is the best way to bring awareness to certain topics, and youth work has some particularities that Carmine explored in a very humorous way. In the work kit that youth workers and trainers use, comedy and humor can be very useful tools to engage and connect with others, to create bridges, to allow further engagement and deepen hard subjects. The practice of using humor can develop the competences of reading a room, being attuned to the effects of the humor being used and being conscious of the power that words can have in others. This can enhance the ability of public speaking, of being more at ease and connected to the energy in the group and to step up clear boundaries. We talked about the very thin line between making jokes and offending someone, and as Carmine explained very well context is key in this, all that is heard by others travels through their experiences, their values, their lives, and something that might be funny to some can be offensive to others. But humor is a natural human trait that can be a way to experiment and to better cope with our own mistakes. It’s a sign of confidence and openness when we can laugh at ourselves, so we hope you can all enjoy the funny aspects of international youth work, that in reality (spoiler alert), don’t really suck.   Links to Carmine's work Professional site: https://carminerodi.net/ Blog on storytelling, the impact on popular culture and... stuff: https://carminerodi.blog/ Facebook page for storytelling workshops and related activities: https://www.facebook.com/nothing.of.the.cat/ Carmine comedian page: https://www.facebook.com/carminestandup/ workshops on Storytelling in Education (starting NEXT WEEK!): https://www.salto-youth.net/tools/european-training-calendar/training/online-workshops-the-art-and-science-of-storytelling-feb-mar-2021.9081/ online workshops on comedy and humor (starting in April 2021): https://www.facebook.com/ThisWorkshopisaJoke/   Books mentioned in the episode: "The humor code" by Peter McGraw and Joel Warner "The new comedy bibble" by Judy Carter

Hello dear listeners, In this episode we talked with Pedro Fabião, an international clown, actor, director, trainer, and psychologist. ​He directed the biggest professional clown organisation in Portugal (www.narizvermelho.pt), where he worked for 16 years. The conversation was about the Art of Clowning and how it can help people develop empathy and self-awareness. Clowns have had a function throughout the ages, as those that push the boundaries, that bring a different perspective. Their power is a counter power. As Pedro pointed out during our conversation there is loads of diversity in the type of people that go to clowning workshops. It’s a wonderful tool to explore our creativity, to connect with our bodies, and mostly: to connect with others. The principles of clowning can be useful in creating a “transitional field”, a place without real consequence and yet inscribed in reality. A reversible moment of exploration and endless possibilities. Clowns are experts in making mistakes, looking foolish or messing things up, but with the deeper wisdom of turning shortcomings into a celebration of humanity. So how we relate to failing can be helped by exploring our own clowns and creating physical and emotional safety for others to explore theirs. Youth workers can engage with young people using this space where the boundaries of reality are expanded. Together, they can see further and deeper without getting overwhelmed or depressed by limitations, anything is possible outside the normal, failure is celebrated and that’s where the Art of Clowning can help.   Pedro Fabião website | https://bit.ly/3pdEd85   Resources “Do That Funny Thing You Do” by Tara Brodin | https://bit.ly/38gJB3A Facebook group with clown resources | https://bit.ly/2KoWkco Developing Youth Work Innovation eHandbook | https://bit.ly/3gS1ZDw

Hello dear listeners, In this episode we go green. We talked to Antonio Jovanovski, a trainer, an activist and a social entrepreneur. He is a member of the Pool of trainers of Youth@Work partnership (www.youthatworkpartnership.org) and the founder of a youth environmental NGO (www.gogreen.mk) where he works on training and policy development related to youth eco-activism, education for sustainable development and social inclusion through the green economy.  Antonio wrote a very interesting article about the upside of going green in job creation, and the cost of not doing so. You can find the article here. (https://bit.ly/32RUqan) We are in a time to make decisions and - as Antonio pointed out during our conversation - decisions need reflection, visions of what the future could be like, and the awareness that the decisions we take should ensure a sustainable future. Economic growth has been the measure of progress, and it has become an addiction, but it impairs the decisions that need to be made. It’s a difficult battle specially for young people because they are the ones that will face the biggest challenges if nothing is changed, but lack the power and the engagement needed to have a say in the decision-making processes. Youth workers could setup programs that are related to the green economy, where a green awareness is used as a strategy to make decisions that empowers young people to disconnect with the virtual world and connect to real life and worthy causes in which their future depends on.   Below are the Youth@Work contacts. You can be part of this initiative. Facebook: @YouthatWorkPartnership Instagram: @youthatworkeu Twitter: @euyouthatwork Youtube: YouthatWork Partnership LinkedIn: YouthatWork Partnership The Youth@Work partnership is delivered with the support of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union". The European Commission's support for the production of this podcast does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.”

Hello dear listeners,   We are joined in this episode by Elin McCallum, one of the co-founders of Bantani Education, a non-profit organisation supporting entrepreneurial and creative learning. Elin is also a member of the Youth@Work Pool of trainers. One of the topics of our talk was how to measure impact in youth work, from the example of the Youth@Work Partnership. We also talked about a model of entrepreneurial competencies (Entrecomp), and the immediate connection that most people make that entrepreneurship is about creating your company or being a founder of a startup, but Elin explained quite well  that being entrepreneurial is the ability to act, to create value. Once again, we talked about the need to understand risk, to be adaptable and flexible in fast paced times, and the role youth work and youth workers have in helping young people to develop those skills. We discussed something we find very relevant, and that is the need of the youth work field to understand the real value that it is bringing and communicate it properly, because a lot of the competencies we talk about and around being entrepreneurial are already instilled in the work of youth workers, but due to lack of awareness and clarity is not being owned the way it could and should be.   Bantani Education Website - https://bantani.com/ Below are the Youth@Work contacts. You can be part of this initiative. Facebook: @YouthatWorkPartnership Instagram: @youthatworkeu Twitter: @euyouthatwork Youtube: YouthatWork Partnership LinkedIn: YouthatWork Partnership The Youth@Work partnership is delivered with the support of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union". The European Commission's support for the production of this podcast does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.”

Dear listeners,  Hope summer treated you well. We did miss you, and we hope you are all doing well. In this episode we talked to Nik Paddison from the UK, a trainer of trainers, youth workers and activists in the European youth field. For the last few years he has been working as a full time freelance trainer, writer and consultant. The main topic was Facilitation of Learning and how it is a process that has to engage the learner if we want real learning to take place. We discussed that the idea of learning as the receiving of information is a misleading and incorrect one, learning must be an active experience where everyone is involved, interested and responsible for their own growth. The facilitator needs to observe the group carefully to understand the group dynamic and support each individual on their needs. In this process, the power of reflection is sometimes overlooked, and if we want to have deeply engaging and rich learning experiences we need to have time to reflect on what message was communicated to us, how it relates to our previous knowledge, what parts were less clear and how we can ask for help from others. By doing so not only you learn more about the subject but also about yourself as a learner. Very rich and insightful conversation, that we hope you enjoy, reflect and learn as much as we did. Let’s Talk Youth Work.   Links to the resources mentioned in the episode: Mark Taylor's episode: https://bit.ly/3nmVXxG Developing Youth Work Innovation, E-handbook.https://www.humak.fi/en/julkaisut/youth-work-innovation/ The Handbook for Facilitators (learning to learn in practice):  https://bit.ly/3jAcnk7 One to One (supporting learning face to face): https://www.youthpass.eu/downloads/13-62-276/Publication_121_Final.pdf Time to Show Off (how youth workers accompany young peoples learning processes): https://bit.ly/3nnRPNO

Hello dear listeners, In this episode we talked with Maria-Carmen Pantea and Dunja Potočnik, members of the Pool of European Youth Researchers (PEYR) who did important research in the field of youth employability and entrepreneurship for the Youth@Work Partnership. Our conversation covered some of the tensions that the youth field faces regarding youth employability. Although the younger generation is more educated, they are at a bigger risk of becoming impoverished or socially excluded, due to job market dynamics. Society expects a leading role from the youth field when it comes to developing young peoples' soft skills and professional competences, but sends conflicting messages by not listening to their opinions and experiences  - as well as the opinions of those who work directly with young people - when drafting the employment policies that will affect their future.   "Only less than ⅓ of NGO's working in the areas of youth and employment get consulted when it comes to policy development in these areas."   On one hand, policymakers need to put greater trust in the capabilities of young people and NGO's in the youth field regarding their inputs to employment and entrepreneurship policies. On the other hand, youth workers also need to question their position regarding these topics. As youth workers, where should our focus be? In helping young people navigate the job market? Or advocating for more inclusive and fair employment policies? We sure learned a lot about this topic, and we invite you to listen and learn also. Let's talk about youth work!   The Youth@Work’s book: “Employability revisited. Mapping the role of youth work in the field of youth employability and entrepreneurship” Short link: https://bit.ly/3jM9ooW     The book published by Maria-Carmen Pantea in 2019: Precarity and Vocational Education and Training. Craftsmanship and Employability in Romania Short link: https://bit.ly/3g8oGCr   The  “Young people, entrepreneurship & non-formal learning: a work in progress” book edited by Maria-Carmen Pantea and published by the SALTO-YOUTH Participation Resource Centre (Belgium) in 2014 Short link: https://bit.ly/3jJ5mhc   Below are the Youth@Work contacts. You can be part of this initiative. Facebook: @YouthatWorkPartnershipInstagram: @youthatworkeuTwitter: @euyouthatworkYoutube: YouthatWork Partnership LinkedIn: YouthatWork Partnership     The Youth@Work partnership is delivered with the support of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union". The European Commission's support for the production of this podcast does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.”

Hello dear listeners, In this episode, we talked with two very interesting women entrepreneurs: Angelica Perra and Barbara Földi, who are part of the Pool of Trainers of the Youth@Work Partnership that has placed women's entrepreneurship and economic empowerment among their 9 priorities - https://youthatworkpartnership.org/priorities/. Angelica is one of the co-founders of TDM, an Italian NGO with a simple and ambitious idea: to help young people from all over Europe to meet and collaborate on the common ground of intercultural dialogue and active citizenship. Barbara Földi is the the owner of ReCreativity, a social enterprise, based in Budapest Hungary, that provides programmes to promote creative solutions for sustainable lifestyles. We talked about what it means to be a woman entrepreneur caring out initiatives in the field of youth work. They shared the challenges they faced and the advice they have for other youth workers who want to either start their own projects or help young people in that process. They gave us excellent, honest advice based on their experiences and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.   Angelica Perra links: https://www.tdm2000.org/ https://it-it.facebook.com/associazionetdm2000/ https://tdm2000international.org  https://www.facebook.com/TDMInternational/   Barbara Földi links: http://recreativity.net/en/home/ https://www.instagram.com/tinyecoambassadors/  https://www.facebook.com/recreativityforyou/?ref=bookmarks     Below are the Youth@Work contacts. You can be part of this initiative. Facebook: @YouthatWorkPartnership Instagram: @youthatworkeu Twitter: @euyouthatwork Youtube: YouthatWork Partnership    The Youth@Work partnership is delivered with the support of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union". The European Commission's support for the production of this podcast does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.”  

With this episode we are starting a special season powered by Youth@Work, a Partnership on Youth Employability and Entrepreneurship of Erasmus+ National Agencies . In this episode we talked to Raluca Diroescu, the coordinator of Youth@Work. Raluca likes to call herself a youth work supporter. A person that supports youth work like a fan that wants the team to win. Her love for youth work started during a youth exchange and we talked about the importance these projects have as they create in young people the willingness to participate in the construction of shared European values. We talked about the events that Youth@Work promotes, as platforms that enable entrepreneurial learning through knowledge sharing, capacity building and networking. In these events - that gather representatives from different sectors - the idea is to connect, to find points of contact, but also to challenge all the participants to see their own issues through different lenses. Youth work and entrepreneurship as concepts are thought by some to be at odds with each other. For Raluca, these two ideas can coexist and even thrive when combined to reach a common goal: youth empowerment. If we can equip young people, especially those with fewer opportunities, with real-life opportunities, an entrepreneurial spirit and competences, maybe they can start to look for ways to rise above those inequalities. Below are the Youth@Work contacts. You can be part of this initiative. Facebook: @YouthatWorkPartnershipInstagram: @youthatworkeuTwitter: @euyouthatworkYoutube: YouthatWork Partnership Let’s Talk Youth Work!  The Youth@Work partnership is delivered with the support of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union". The European Commission's support for the production of this podcast does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.”

  Hello dear listeners,  In this episode we talked to Laimonas Ragauskas, a Lithuanian trainer and consultant in the field of Education, who has been involved in innovative online projects like  Cities of Learning, Trainers Appraisal and Badgecraft.  We are living a particular time with the COVID-19 pandemic and all the lockdowns around the world, so it made sense to talk about the digital acceleration that all of us had to undertake, and the tools that Laimonas is involved are very attuned to the current situation we’re in.  We talked about possible solutions using what we know and what we can do, because, let’s face it, we have a lot of tools right now, and things aren’t going back to the previous “normal” anytime soon, so we focused on solutions and future scenarios. On what we can do.  This time is a very good opportunity to try new tools, experiment and trust that progress will be made regarding alternative – probably blended - ways to learn.  Youth work can have an important role in supporting this new reality, youth workers are where young people are, and online is one of those places. A long conversation that we enjoyed very much, pointing to hope and possibilities amongst the challenging times we are facing and that we will face in the near future.  Stay home and talk youth work with us!  Cities of Learning platform www.citiesoflearning.eu  Trainers’ professional development platform www.trainersappraisal.com  Badgecraft - a platform to design recognition systems www.badgecraft.eu

Hello dear listeners, "To create community, we need channels where different stakeholders share their points of view.” Mark Taylor  Here is another episode that was a lot of fun to record. This time with Mark Taylor, editor of the only European online magazine focused on youth work: Coyote Magazine. We wondered if youth workers live too much in their own bubble. This view - of youth work as a closed system - generates a dual thinking regarding youth work: on one hand the sector wants and needs more resources but, on the other hand, it doesn't always want to open up to the world. Coyote Magazine as a channel of communication closes some gaps between actors inside youth work but also aims at opening youth work to the outside, by having writers from the political sphere, researchers and practitioners that work in the field, who share their stories, their experiences, their knowledge and their insights. Coyote Magazine plays an important role at European level, in creating a place for ideas to spread, a place for different actors to discuss, collaborate and create a movement to make things move forward. It's very important to have different points of view to create a broader and more inclusive image of what youth work is, and what it could be  If you want to read Coyote Magazine here are the links: Coyote website https://pjp-eu.coe.int/en/web/coyote-magazine/home Coyote Archive since 1999 https://pjp-eu.coe.int/en/web/coyote-magazine/previous-editions Like and follow Coyote youth work magazine on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CoyoteYouthWorkMagazine/  

First of all is good to be back! In this episode we talked with Jo Claeys, a youth worker and a trainer who together with Denis Morel and Simona Molari, developed the training "The Power of Non Formal Education". We tried to better understand what is non formal education, how it relates to other types of education, the contact points with formal education, schools and what makes this type of learning so powerful. Jo has a lot of experience and a curious point of view, as someone that is eager to explore all the potential of non formal learning. This open approach to learning can help a lot of people that have difficulties with more formal types of trainings and education, it can become an exploratory experience where we take what we need instead of just passively accepting what is presented to us. Where the freedom – and the responsibility – for learning is really in our hands.   Here are some resources that Jo shared with us, so that we could share with all of our listeners. Video tutorials for less experienced in NFE A approach on explaining the differences between formal, informal and non formal education A comprehensive description of NFe with plenty of links to usefull educational resources Any ideas, comments and suggestions, email us at talkingyouthworkpodcast@gmail.com.

We are joined in this episode by Virgílo Varela, a consultant in Social and Community Innovation that talked to us about one of his main skills and passion: Dragon Dreaming. Dragon Dreaming is a systemic design process, a philosophy and a methodological framework, to create collaborative and sustainable projects, something that a lot of youth workers struggle with. For some, it's difficult to have everyone dreaming in the same direction, and for others it's hard to make the projects sustainable. Many times, both. The process is composed of four steps: Dreaming, Planning, Doing and Celebrating. We talked about the importance of celebration: if we don't celebrate, our energy and motivation starts to get depleted, and we lose heart, we fall out of love, we start doing, for the sake of doing, and the output is much less creative, energizing, and innovative that could be otherwise, if we would make celebration as much as a priority as doing, or planning. It was a really a wonderful conversation, hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Give us your feedback to the email talkingyouthworkpodcast@gmail.com http://www.dragondreaming.org/

In this episode we talked to Sandra Gojic, an educator passionate about movement and creating spaces where young people can express themselves. The way Sandra explores this is through Embodied Learning: an educational method that has been around for a while. In our conversation our guest shared her story, how is it was difficult for her to express herself through her body, something many of us can probably relate to. There is a tendency to talk about feelings, thoughts and emotions, from our heads, we rationalize. Yet, we all have had times that our bodies, through our senses, helped us understand more about the world. Maybe ignoring our bodies’ wisdom doesn't serve us very well. Embodied Learning shows us that we can learn more and better about ourselves and how we relate to the world around us if we use ou body as a multi-sensorial platform of perception. While working with young people there are a lot of benefits of this approach, and it doesn't have to be complicated, our bodies can serve as tools to navigate all the information that is being throwned at us, by paying attention to it, by contacting with all the sensations that run through us. Amazing conversation about the advantages of being in our bodies, the most present and grounded place we can be. Links and books, and resources mentioned in the podcast: The Embodiement Conference Embodied Change, KA2 project Embodied Facilitator The Embodiement Podcast The Art of Somatic Coaching: Embodying Skillful Action, Wisdom, and Compassion by Richard Strozzi-Heckler The Embodied Teen by Susan Bauer Moves: a sourcebook of ideas for body awareness and creative movement by Katya Bloom and Rosa Shreeves Dance Improvisation: Warm Ups, Games and Choreographic Tasks by Justine Reeves

Hello dear listeners! For the kickoff of our second season we talked with Judit Balogh, she is the project coordinator for "Europe Goes Local" a strategic partnership to support municipal level youth work. It was a very interesting conversation where we explored this approach to international youth work: thinking long term and on local level, creating a network of municipalities that support each other, and in doing so have a more sustainable impact. This partnership envolves 200 members, 120 municipalities in 23 european countries. That's amazing! Hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did.

For the last episode of season one, it’s just Anita and Rui and...you. We talked about how the first season of Talking Youth Work was for us, all the amazing people we talked to, and the biggest takeaways from each episode. There will be a Second Season of 10 episodes, and we are looking for a way to support it. If you have any ideas to fund the next season, please send us an e-mail, to talkingyouthworkpodcast@gmail.com, our brand new e-mail where you can reach us to suggest guests, share cool stories about youth work, and whatever else you feel like. Hope you enjoyed season one of the podcast, and we also hope we can count with you for the next season. “See” you in September.

In this podcast Thomas Gold talks about his research on measuring the entrepreneurial mindset and how that work can inform the initiatives of youth workers. The findings from his research on entrepreneurial mindset can be found in Measuring Entrepreneurial Mindset in Youth: Learnings from NFTE's Entrepreneurial Mindset Index. Thomas Gold is a researcher and consultant with extensive experience in the United States and Globally. He started his career conducting research on political change in Italy as a Fulbright fellow. For the past 18 years, Dr. Gold has held leadership positions focusing on research, measurement and evaluation in higher education, local government and nonprofit institutions. The policy reforms that were implemented as a result of his work have impacted the lives of millions of youth and young adults in low income neighborhoods and communities of color. His work has ranged from leading major studies in New York City’s public schools to spearheading the thought leadership and research efforts of a leading entrepreneurship education organization in the United States. Dr. Gold has written extensively on urban education, entrepreneurship and European politics. He received his BA from New York University and his Ph.D. in Political Science from the New School for Social Research.

Our guest this time is Jon Ord, Professor at the University of St Mark & St John, Plymouth, UK. During our conversation – besides the unavoidable Brexit theme and its consequences in UK Youth Work - he mentioned that some of the youth work that is still being done today is meant to “keep youngsters off the streets”, “keep them busy”, from a time when the streets were a danger. But times have changed. Now, many see a danger in screens and online activities. Young people have changed and so must the paradigms and the practices in youth work. Jon Ord also has a very interesting and critical point of view about what really means to innovate in youth work, he refers to it as a complex and multidimensional concept, and a very contextual one. Something that might be innovative in France might not be in Spain, and vice versa. For him, the definition of innovation is very much tied to business, to products and services, but youth work has still to find a better definition of innovation to suit its own needs. Another great talk to help us think how to improve our approaches. Let’s Talk Youth Work?

In this episode we talked to Andreas Karsten, a youth work researcher at European level. He has been working as a researcher in this field for quite some time so he has a very deep view about the field and what is the state of play concerning innovation in this sector. Research is very important to assess the real impact of youth work programs and allows decision-makers to decide based on evidence and innovators to act based on real needs. We talked about what does it mean to research youth work. As in all fields there are research challenges: How to interpret data? What do the markers mean? What can we do with what we know by researching?...and that is where Andreas and other researchers can help, by collecting information and giving to the rest of us an easier content to base our decisions and efforts to push the innovations that are truly needed in the field.

In this episode we talked with Claudius Siebel, he is the policy coordinator of the german national agency for the Erasmus+ program, and before that he was part of the team of the Key Action 2 funding line that supports innovation in youth work projects. We talked during the KA2 Now conference in Berlin last February, and it was a very enjoyable conversation about the policy making side, how can the national agencies support innovation in youth work, what is innovation in this field, and how can the european policies foster a collaborative and innovative environment. Another topic was how can we evaluate the quality and the impact of these projects, how can the different european countries work together to have a more integrated aproach to youth work. We really enjoyed it, and we're pretty sure you will too.

The “Talking Youth Work” podcast was present at the KA2NOW conference, that took place in Berlin in February 2019, and where 60 innovative projects in the field of youth work, from all over Europe, presented their ideas and results. From board games designed to teach democracy to educational escape rooms for young people, or using visual facilitation and creative writing to empower others... there were loads of alternative ideas and new approaches to Youthwork. Although we cannot showcase them all to you, we interviewed a few so you can have a taste of the conference and maybe some inspiring ideas for your work. Projects present in the episode. Impact+ at 2m08s Tevip at 5m03s Youth Work HD at 8m7s  Creative Learning Cookbook at 11m40s  Meki – Measuring is Key for Improvement at 15m31s  Celebrating Diversity  at 19m39s   

In this episode we talked with Joakim Arnøy from Norway, he works in the field of Youth Work as a coordinator around the topic of Remembrance. He explained us what this concept means, and in our conversation we explored this idea of looking to History and use it as a basis for reflecting about today's happenings, namely comparing past wars, and the context in which they happened, to today's’ conflicts, how they arise, what signs can we recognize and what patterns emerge. Joakim also shared with us how can youth workers - that don't work in a museum like he does - use Remembrance as a tool in their work, by using movies, others objects, a local museum or something else. It was an interesting conversation, and we're sure you'll find some useful insights for your own work. The War Museum     "Black Hawk Down" Trailer

Imagine, this is the 10th episode, and we are joined by our good friend Sérgio Gonçalves, a trainer that has a passion for board games. Sérgio has developed board games for Education and in this conversation he shares some of the ways board games can be used to learn about challenging topics like conflict transformation for example, and how educators can develop new and innovative board games that are also fun to play. Board games are making a big comeback, the industry is creating more complex and challenging games as well as cooperative fun games that can make young people get together around the table. We also discussed the roles that board games and digital games have and how some games in our days use both platforms to create amazing experiences. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did, gather up your friends or your kids and let's play some board games!

This episode was recorded during a Future Labs partners meeting in the beautiful Tuscany in Italy. While we were recording, during a break, some of the partners were enjoying the good weather, but we don't know who had the most fun, because we sure enjoyed very much this talk. Tomáš Pešek is a youth trainer and also a certified coach, and we discussed some of the ways that he uses coaching with young people, both on a one-to-one and in a group setting. He also trains youth workers on how to use these coaching techniques: when to use them, but also when not, and just listen. Tomáš also talked about rites of passage, in a project he is involved with young men in the transition to adulthood. All inspiring stuff! (Definitely better than just good weather

"In this episode we talked to Dani Korai about the topic of Vulnerability, a sensitive and a strong topic, at the same time. Dani is a Dutch youth worker and trainer that believes in the power of Vulnerability to connect with young people. According to him, it helps them to open up and share their struggles, step by step, in what needs to be a mindful process. A safe space is needed for using vulnerability in a positive and constructive way; it needs preparation and the building of trust between people. Contrary to some beliefs, Vulnerability is an act of courage, and after opening up most people feel more empowered, because they don't feel the need to hide for something that used to make them fell flawed in some way. It was a very nice conversation, where Dani shared as well his own story and how his relationship with this topic started. Here are some of the resources shared: Brené Brown TED talk Core quality quadrant Daniel Ofman.

In this episode we talked to Patrycja Paula Gas, a witch as she confessed to us, but a different kind of witch, the kind that is doing LARP - Live Action Role Playing game - a new aproach  into a learning evironment, an immersive experience that will definetly engage the participants minds, bodies and souls. Patrycja who is a polish anthropologist, uses LARP with young people to tackle a wide array of topics such as discrimination, migrations and leadership skills.  In LARP, the participants live fully this game for days, with costumes, just like a big theatre in nature. Educational LARPs have an immense power for young people experience other ways of dealing with the world, as for example a shy person might play a bold character and see that they can face their real lives in a more confident way. Websites mentioned in the podcast. Drachenfest EduLarp

Episode 6 of the Talking Youth Work podcast is with Gabi Steinprinz about Educational Escape Rooms. Gabi is - in her own words - a game addict, and also a creative person, so in a project also funded by Erasmus+ she decided to experiment joining the gaming part of escape rooms with the learning/educational part. The results were very interesting, with a high engagement of the learners, interesting challenges, the focus on the learning and especially the fun part. Educational escape rooms can be used to help young people deal with all kind of social issues, as for example gender discrimination. It was a nice conversation that showed us a very innovative way on how learning can be an immersive experience. Link for the Educational Tools Portal, here.  

This is truly a handful, it is our fifth episode, and our guest this time is Ellen Anthoni, who's a trendwatcher. Ellen has worked in recent years for Trendwolves, working on their trend reports. We had another interviewer with us, Tomáš Pešek, that was a big help with very insightful questions. During our conversation with Ellen we tried to understand what is trendwatching, and how it is important to all of us, but in this case, youthworkers. Some of the trends that we talked about were: Blurred lives Super sculpted selves Crazy health trends Blurred lives is a very important one, because youngsters don't want to limit themselves to one thing, and without a clear definition of who they are, normal interactions need to be re-thinked. These are big concepts that Ellen helped us understand, and she also gave nice tips so we can become trendwatchers ourselves. Ellen's website. Trendwolves website.  

This episode is with Stephan Schölzel, a youth worker that uses games as a vehicle to talk about other subjects with young people, and by using games we can learn about what are their concerns but also their interests.  A lot of times people criticize video games because of the absent mindedness it may cause in our children, but, if we can see the potential of engagement that video games have, we can tap into something that we better connects us with young people, and by using games we can improve social skills related to empathy, resilience and much more. Stephan brings a lot of good insights about how to use games, and examples of real life situations where games were used to tackle questions like gender, for example. The website with resources that is mentioned in the podcast is in german, but google translation can help the non-german speakers. Digitale Spielewelten 

Here is a fresh episode of “Talking Youth”, a podcast about innovation in youth work. This time we talked with Gergely Kiss about using Improvisation Theatre with young people and the skills they develop while practicing it. Ready? 3,2,1....scene!   The book mentioned by Gery , "Impro for Storytellers" by Keith Johnstone

In this episode we talked  with Nerijus Kriauciunas, an international trainer in the field of youth. Nerijus is really a reference when it comes to connecting the digital world to youth work on the field. We started talking about his personal journey  into youth work and how that shaped what he does today. in the beginning Nerijus connects references like Paulo Freire on Education and critical thinking with Mcluhan on Media literacy, which I find really interesting. Than we discussed a bit how he sees innovation in the field of youth and we identified possible barriers that might be stopping youth workers to become more innovative. Finally Nerijus left some really precious tips on digital tools that you might want to consider if you work directly with young people. It was a real pleasure to have him on the show. So get ready… let's talk youth work. Resources talked in this episode: Badge Craft ActionBound Klikaklu Meistertask  

In the first episode the partners are discussing on the project goal and the importance for developing digital youth work.