"Let's do it! Democracy needs inclusion" was an inclusive training course to become a trainer in youth work. By offering this training course, we aimed to contribute to more diversity on the level of political educators. Because education can only be inclusive and diverse when different people shape it.
The training course "Let's do it! Democracy needs inclusion" contributeed to the fact that:
- people from different groups in society have a say in educational opportunities,
- different people are involved in the development of educational programmes;
- the team members who lead educational programmes represent different people in society.
We wanted to reach people with disabilities, refugees, and those who have not been able to access such training due to other societal barriers.
We started with developing a training concept for two online meetings and four face-to-face modules. For that, we invited experts from various fields. In the next step, we organised these moduls for 15 people from different social groups.
The training modules were designed in a participatory way because different perspectives were needed to further develop and disseminate inclusive and diversity-sensitive educational work and to anchor it as an important focus in youth work. Accompanying the training modules, the participants were given the opportunity to gain practical experience by shadowing in youth projects and to further develop their skills as trainers.
After the training, the trained trainers became part of our pool of trainer pool. They can now work in our international and national educational programmes.
Module overview and dates
Module 1: Introduction to non-formal education
Date: 22nd and 24th November 2022
Venue: online
Contents:
- Getting to know each other and exchange between participants and the facilitators
- Getting to know the project "Let's do it! Democracy needs inclusion"
- Introduction to the aims and contents of non-formal intercultural/political education
- Getting to know different educational approaches and insight into methodology
Module 2 - Introduction to inclusive and diversity-sensitive education
Date: 5th and 6th December 2022
Venue: online
Contents:
- Introduction to inclusive youth work
- Dimensions of diversity-sensitive youth work
- Examination of personal attitudes
- Framework conditions of inclusive youth work
Module 3: Shaping inclusive learning spaces
Date: 27th – 29th January 2023
Venue: Schloß Trebnitz Bildungs- und Begegnungszentrum e. V.
Contents:
- What are inclusive learning spaces?
- Approaches and methods for designing inclusive learning spaces
- Barriers, needs and requirements for inclusion
- Group dynamic processes in youth work
- Methods for promoting group dynamics
Module 4: Participation and Empowerment
Date: 10th – 12th March 2023
Venue: Schloß Trebnitz Bildungs- und Begegnungszentrum e. V.
Contents:
- How can participation be achieved in inclusive education?
- Models of participation
- Concept of empowerment
- Participatory spaces for exchange, transfer and consolidation of experiences
Module 5: Language and Communication
Date: 4th – 7th May 2023
Venue: Jugendbegegnungsstätte Würzburg
Contents:
- Different cultural dimensions and concepts of interculturality
- Inclusive, sensitive, barrier-free communication
- Dimensions of language and communication in educational projects
Module 6: The role of trainers
Date: 8th – 11th June 2023
Venue: Jugendbildungsstätte Hirschluch
Contents:
- Examination of personal ideas about the role of a team leader
- Collecting needs and inclusion requirements of team members
- Instruction and reflection on methodical units in teams
- Exchange with active team members of the network
- Reflection on the modules and project shadowing
- Outlook for cooperation with the participating organisations
Objectives of the project:
- Development of the pedagogical concept of further training for trainers by representatives of inclusion, political education and self-advocacy organisations.
- Further development of pedagogical methods and political education with a focus on inclusion and diversity.
- Offer training modules for 15 people from different social groups who want to become active as trainers in political / intercultural education.
- Implementation of a module with already active trainers of the network in order to learn with and from each other and to work together on the inclusive implementation of education.
- Offer the team members the opportunity to observe and work on projects.
- Provision of a publication with guidelines, a reflection on methods and reports on experiences for the public (publication in digital form).
