Building up a value based framework for youth educators

Name educator: Peter Roosens

Name partner organisation: VZW Lejo

Description of the course: 5 sessions off team intervision

Session 1:

Think off a story of an experince as a youthworker where you felt like you had the essence of what you do as a proffesional. Take your time to think about it en try to tell the story like a movie. Who was in it? where was it? What did you do? What did the other(s) do? What happend?…

Share this story in small groups of 3 (you are free to chose, but think carefully about who you think can help you to distract the essence). Listen to each other carefully and distract the core value of the story. What is it really about? What does it mean to you? Why does it appeal to you? Use the people in your group to get to 1 word/1 value. So, tell the story/listen to the story‘s and take your time to talk/interview until you get the hole story in order to get the right value. When everybody has its value, each individual writes down his value en looks within himself for a good body sculpture. You can help each other in the small group to create a clear body sculpture to present in the big group.

We go back to the full group and do a guessing game. Each individual presents its sculpture and everybody else (except those in your group off 3) can guess witch value it represents until we have all 9 value‘s. Each have the time to explain what it is about and why it is important to him/her.

Break

We place ourselves in front of the mirror and do our sculpture as a group

Each participant have to step out and has the opportunity to change the sculptures in the picture in order to improve. There is no good and bad en it has to happen in silence. We take a picture.

Each of the participants have the change to step out 1 more time, not obligated. If everybody is happy whit the picture we take the final picture.

No we each can step out off the picture and share the emotion you have stepping out.

We go back to the circle for the final question: What happened whit you/how did it feel during the last step of making the picture/ the changes people made,….

What do you really have to say before going home.

Session 2:

We come togheter in the circel.

How dit you work/think about the previous excirces in the past 2 months, did you do anything whit it during your work. What do you really whant to share before we start.

I give a summary off the 9 values and project the picture we took then.

Each of the participants pick a value and takes its time to ( not there own ) create a definition of the value. What does it mean to you/how would it be writen in a dictionary.

We use the fishbowl princepal to share:

Place 2 chairs in front of the group. Whoever is on one off those chairs is alowed to speak.

1chair is for the person who is presenting its definition.

The other chair is open to anyone who has a question ore has anything relevant to say. You can only sit on the chair if it is emty.

Everybody else just listen.

If the second chair remains emty for more then 1minute we go to the next value.

Break

Each particapant takes its origynal value of the first session en formulate a definition taking in concedaration all the input that was given. When everybody is finished whe share the defenition and write them down.

Each particpant gives 2 examples of how he/she puts it in to practice in his work at the moment.

We place the writen values and there defintion on the floor and we each take time to form groups on the value (other than your own ) where you want to experiment whit.

The 3 values whit the most participants are distracted and we go the picture proces of session 1, in order to have the next picture in the proces.

Final question in the cirkel: What do you need in order to work/experiment whit this value in your dayly work.

Aim of testing project:

building up valeus in a teamproces to have a dieper understanding of what we do en how we do it as youth workers and translating these to an organistional vision.

Taking time to listen/explain why we do what we do.

Taking time to let it sink in and experiment whit different values

Date(s) of the testing project:

5/11/2015 from 13:00 – 17:00

22/12/2015  from 13:00 – 17:00

3 more sessions to be planed

Target group: Adult youth workers            

Number of participants: 9

Nationality of the participants: belgian

Sex of the participants: females­­­­­­­­­­ 4 man­­­ 5

Age of the participants: 24 to 37

Amount of meetings with the learners: 5 in total. 3 stil have to be planned.

(< 20 people)

(> 20 people)

  drawings

How did you organize your testing project (or to put it differently: as this is a testing project for experimenting, what will be different comparing to the same course you run the previous time)?

• More aware off the whole process.
• Implementing structural chaos ( i.e. no logical sequence to the goal )
• Set out lines in the process without fixed goals. Plan as we go along based on the impute n results of the individuals and the group.
• Room for silence and deep thought.
• Taking the time to leave the result off the sessions hanging ( long process spread over a long period of time )
• Process off awareness is more important than result

In general, how do you look at the results of your testing project?

The proces is still ongoing, but the commitment of the particepants is high. Thouths are easely schared. There is a surten amout of doubt wich benivits the proces. People are questioning the proces en are thereby more commited to the proces.



–                Start from a personal experience that relates to the topic. Make sure the story is connected to the goal. Its not just a story. It has to be relevant to the working experience.

–                Go to the essence of the story in small groups and share the story’s. Give time to the participants to really deepen their questioning. Don’t look at the clock.

–                Experimenting during a long period of time. After the sessions the take there value to their working envoirment and have the time to experiment, explore, feel and think about their value in their setting. It is an open invitation, not an assignment.

–                Listing to each other is a very important step. Explore the meaning of words. Share and find common langue. Often we think we understand each other, but when we take the time to explore we find out that we each have a different way of interpretation. Its important  to translate and not think you understand but explore the meaning. Is this what you mean? Do I understand correctly?…

–                Its about what you feel, what you think and sharing. There is no good and bad. We all have our truth. Its about who I am. What I stand for. What is important to me.

By creating an open learning process with fixed assignments but without fixed results. You have eye for the process and listen to the needs instead of holding on to the planning. You need a certain creativity to let go and let happen. But never lose the line off process. It’s important to have an open process whit purpose but whiteout fixed content.

Think carefully about the fixed questions as they are important to have a framework and be creative  in your deepening questions. Start from the position of not knowing, not understanding. Ask for clarification, not justification. Be honest and curious.

Don’t provide answers but provide good questions.

Its about sharing, listening and shared compromise. Its up to the group to make it meaningful, not the facilitator.

·       There is no time schedule. So there is no presure to be ready. Each person can take its own time and we only start the next fase when everybody is ready. I asked to be respectfull for everybody, so no loud talking if your finised and stay in the same room.

·       Taking time to leave the unknowing hanging. There is no answer, you can take what you want and experiment in the long period between the different sessions. Questions about the where and when wil be anserwed whit very practical answers. Questions about the why en what will be answerd by orther queqstions like:

o   What do you want to do whit it

o   What doa is mean to you

o   Why is it important to you

o   What do you hope to gane

o   ….

·       Sertenly not providing answers about the goal ore explicitly leaving a silence in stead of giving an answer.

·       Its not the job of the facilitator to answer the questions, but if it come from the participants i think its my job to let it happen en give the time.

·       Providing time. Lots off time in between sessions to let it really sink in. But beeing awere to pick up or set a reminder when needed ore possible so people do not forget. Maybe even keep it visable.