The Most Effective Nonformal and Informal Methods of Teaching and Learning

Newsletter 2/5
THE MOST EFFECTIVE NONFORMAL AND INFORMAL METHODS OF TEACHING AND LEARNING
June 2013
This NewsLetter is devoted to share the partners experiences about formal, non formal and informal learning; according to the definitions of the European Commission (1) we can say that: Formal learning takes place in education and training institutions, leading to recognised diplomas and qualifications. Non-formal learning takes place alongside the mainstream systems of education and training and does not typically lead to formalised certificates. Non-formal learning may be provided in the workplace and through the activities of civil society organisations and groups (such as in youth organisations, trades unions and political parties). It can also be provided through organisations or services that have been set up to complement formal systems (such as arts, music and sports classes or private tutoring to prepare for examinations). Informal learning is a natural accompaniment to everyday life. Unlike formal and nonformal learning, informal learning is not necessarily intentional learning, and so may well not be recognised even by individuals themselves as contributing to their knowledge and skills. (1) A Memorandum on Lifelong Learning. http://www.bologna-berlin2003.de/pdf/MemorandumEng.pdf
The project is funded by the European Commission as a Grundtvig Learning Partnership under the LLP from 2012 to 2014. This newsletter reflects 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.
www. slicproject.wordpress.com
SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES
The most effective nonformal and informal methods for teaching and learning
ENDORSEMENT AND QUALITY STANDARDS BOARD FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT LEARNING (ESB) APPLYING THE REFLECT- ACTION MODEL TO COPING WITH THE RECESSION This article describes an exercise carried out by Yorkshire and Humber Community Development Network with community development practitioners in Hull to help them to explore appropriate community development approaches to the impact that the recession was having on their communities. The technique used was that of the Reflect Action river (www.reflect-action.org/rivers). Reflect is an innovative approach to adult learning and social change which brings together the theories of Paulo Freire and participatory methodologies. It was developed in the 1990s through pilot projects in Bangladesh, Uganda and El Salvador. A range of participatory methodologies is used with a Reflect process to help create an open, democratic environment in which everyone is able to contribute. Visualisation tools developed by practitioners of participatory rural appraisal are important and can provide a structure for the process. These include maps, calendars, matrices, rivers and trees. The river used in this exercise is an image that people can use to map their own life experiences or other ongoing processes. It can produce creative insights. The characteristics of a river, its changing width, current and direction as well as features such as whirlpools, islands, rapids, waterfalls and forks, can represent changes and events in our and our communities histories. In richly illustrated rivers, the surrounding landscape can represent the environment in which we operate. Where a river is used to map the turning points and key events in the history of an organisation or community, participants will work together negotiating the points to be represented and the symbols to be used. The process of constructing the image will be the cause of much discussion and debate as different perceptions of the significance of situations and events become apparent. (www.reflect-action.org/rivers)
The aims of using this technique in this situation were to develop a clear picture of how different communities were being affected by the economic situation. develop a picture of the response being made by voluntary and community groups. share information on funding available. discuss how community development can contribute to supporting communities at this time.
The target group for this exercise were community development workers employed in Hull, a city in the east of England whose economy has depended on docks and fishing. While the docks are still thriving, the fishing industry ended more than twenty years ago. Even before the recession, it was a city experiencing high levels of deprivation. Community development workers in the city needed an opportunity to reflect on the worsening situation and how they could improve their support. This exercise took place over one day and comprised using the Reflect Action rivers exercise to explore the impact of the recession followed by workshops on the role of community centres in supporting communities, the resources available to support groups and ways of supporting community cohesion and well being.
In the morning session, small groups were provided with a very long sheet of paper and coloured pens and asked to draw a river which depicted the current situation for people living in the city, using a range of images to describe what was happening to communities and to illustrate how community development workers could and were providing support, Some of the images included marginalised communities as islands, teams of workers shown on boats visiting all these islands and community projects as lifeboats to stranded people and communities. The afternoon workshops focussed in particular themes and were supported by information sheets to enable workshop participants to share ideas and practice and to identify common issues.
People taking part were motivated by the need to make their project and support sustainable their commitment to maintaining community development values the disillusionment felt by workers and communities with mainstream politics the way in which people experiencing the effects of the recessions were being blamed for it and their recognition of the needs for community development to be more proactive.
The River was very effective in identifying and illustrating what the recession has meant in the past to communities and how the current recession was different. The exercise raised the issues of low expectations of local people and communities, the increased isolation of already marginalised communities, the ways in which white collar workers were being affected by this recession and the massive impact on families in terms if threats to their homes and increased crime rates. The workshops were effective in sharing information between workers and developing a common understanding of the issues they faced and what action and support was possible.
AUGUST HORCH AKADEMIE GMBH

THE MOST EFFECTIVE NONFORMAL AND INFORMAL METHODS OF TEACHING AND LEARNING Unlike middle-sized and large organizations, small and micro enterprises have generally had limited resources for use or an investment in formal training. These include not only financial resources but to an increasing extend the lack of time budgets. This results in far lower than average CVET quotas for small and micro enterprises. Nevertheless, the need for further education is estimated to grow and strongly motivated by the increasing competition as well as the introduction of new services. Regarding to a survey led by TV Rheinland companies justify their selection of continuing education courses rather both with cost and proximity of a training provider. Three quarters of respondents also expressed the need for cooperation between small businesses when it comes to continuing education. Since half of all small and micro enterprises do (can) not participate regularly in formal continuing education and training, they are in need of informal, flexible and demand-driven offers which currently are insufficiently available on the training market. 49% of the surveyed companies explain that they participate in training only when a specific demand is explored, i.e. occurring of new work situations, purchasing of new machines, etc. This so-called "learning on demand" or "just-in-time education", the education market is yet unable to offer at a quality small and micro enterprises would need, namely, individual, subject-specific, uncomplicated and cheap. As a result, until today only few models exist for informal learning in small and micro enterprises. Practical support, virtually from the base, is not warranted. Furthermore, study rooms used for such formal offers are primarily rigid and not very adequate for the demand of delivering informal knowledge. New spaces with open learning environments are not used yet. Consequently, many small and micro enterprises shy away from participating in further education. The need and demand for the creation of new learning structures is therefore obvious, in particular the involvement of informal learning, knowledge and experience. With BizLearn.Net August Horch Akademie develops new forms and models for increasing the participation of small and micro enterprises in continuing education and lifelong learning opportunities. In BizLearn.Net entrepreneurs and their employees improve their professional skills to set up and manage their business successfully through an increased participation in relevant learning opportunities. Finally, this helps to secure innovation and competitiveness of the enterprise as a whole. Through BizLearn.Net a (learning) network of small-and micro-enterprise is created, which as a "living" organization generates new learning content and training courses itself. It thus promotes informal and self-directed learning. The network, both as real and as virtual training and learning platform offers practical solutions for the specific needs of this particular form of enterprise. It is primarily be the expertise, skills and experience of the entrepreneur used by a mutual knowledge and skills transfer, both guided and independently to formulate and introduce new content to the network. To achieve this, the entrepreneurs are strengthened in their roles as managers, salespeople and trainers and set up their own coaching and training system through mutual learning or external facilitation. The contents are thus further processed to self-learning opportunities so that they can be made available for potential users on web-based learning platforms and in new venues such as learning centers.
The web-based learning platform also serves as a place of exchange and communication for the network. Materials and knowledge are made available to users here. Moreover, entrepreneurs and their employees improve their communication and media skills through both, the use of the learning platform and the training of trainers. They use these skills in their professional and private life and for the development of their business. It is precisely the skill of dealing with new media that means a significant saving of time in daily business. This has a positive impact on the economic development of small and micro enterprises in a whole the region through the multiplying effect of the network.
Chart 2: Implementation of the BizLearn.Net The target groups of BizLearn.Net are small and micro enterprises up to 49 employees with both the entrepreneurs themselves, and their employees. Both the development and testing of the individual educational content and the platform itself is done with the involvement and for the benefit of network members. Every company and every employee has a special expertise in various fields and can thus provide a valuable input into the network and at the same time receive support for their own issues from other network members. Through this cost-effective alternative in further education the participation of small and micro enterprises is strongly increased compared to existing standardized formal training. By sharing of expertise among the participants, these are supported in setting-up their businesses. An ever-growing network of participating companies and entrepreneurs promotes the formation of a new learning culture. Through feedback forms, participants receive the opportunity to assess and improve quality and usability of learning contents continuously. Finally, the fun supports the exchange of knowledge and helps to develop a positive attitude towards lifelong learning.
SEINJOKI UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

SOCIAL WORK WITH ROMANY PEOPLE IN KURIKKA Kurikka is a small town in western part of Finland with circa 14 500 inhabitants. In Kurikka lives a lot of Romany people. Most of Romany families have lived in Kurikka very long time and they have been settled in this area and community. Unfortunately many of them have health and mental problems, they may face discrimination and only few of them have jobs. Their economic situation is not very good and many of them dont have any professional education. The SOS-project is a large social work development project in the Middle part of Finland. The SOSproject started in 2012. It is financed by the National Development Plan for Social Welfare and Health Care (Kaste Programme) and participating communes.The SOS-project consists of four regional subprojects. In the South Ostrobothnian sub-project, Tiina Kallionalusta works as a Project Coordinator and Merja Paulasaari as a Project Worker. In the South Ostrobothnian sub-project, there are five communities from Western part of Finland participating the project: Seinjoki, Alavus, Kuortane, htri and Kurikka. About 25 social workers are participating to this development work part of their work. They have also common Development Workshops every month. Workshops include lectures and possibilities to have discussions with other social workers. Every commune has set their own goal or target to the development work. In Kurikka social workers have decided to develop social work with Romany people. Social workers wanted that Romany people should participate development work to improve their situation and living conditions in the area. There is also a need to improve their health care. In Kurikka, social workers have also a goal to do more social work outside the office. Meeting point Living room of Kurikka commune is an open space in the city center, where different groups can meet each other. They can have some activities like playing games, watching TV and discussing. The Living Room has two workers, one of them being Romano. So social workers hope that also Romany people find this place and create contacts with other people aswell, not only with other Romany people living in the area.
What then happened during the project? Developing work is still going on but already a lot has happened: A group of Romany people have a meeting once in a month with the Project Coordinator. They discuss about problems education and childrens situations, free time activities and so on. They also meet politicians and leading officials. There have been a lot of contacts with local enterprises to employ Romany people. There is a plan to have Romany peoples own enterprise where they make national costumes for other Romany people. One goal is to employment 510 Romany people. In May 2013 tree of them have found a job. One is working in the open space Living room of Kurikka commune and two of them have been working as assistants in public sector. There is a plan to hire in some persons to work as an assistants in daycare, family work and at school.
Although these are only small steps improving Romany peoples living conditions, attitudes in Kurikka are optimistic and social workers believe that this is a new beginning. Leaders of enterprises find out that Romany people are as good workers as anyone else and attitudes towards them can chance. Also children in Romany families will discover, that their parents are going to work and are more equal than before. They learn the model of taking part to the working life and to be active citizens. Perhaps they also notice the value of studying and will have a professional education later.
Figure 1: Romani flag
EPIMORFOTIKI KILKIS SM LLC

Integrated Interventions for Special Disadvantaged Groups (Repatriates, migrants)
The article describes a well implemented best practice from Greece, and specifically an educational program under the title: Integrated Interventions for Disadvantaged Groups (e.g. Repatriates, migrants, etc.), during the period 2004-2006. The project has been implemented by the Vocational Training Center Epimorfotiki Kilkis Sm Llc and it was financed in the frame of the Community Support Framework 2000-2006, Framework Programme Employment and Vocational Training.
The project emphasized on the Environmental sector. Since the sector of the environment represent an open ground to undertake and implement initiatives and, therefore, a ground for the creation of employment, the society, the state and the EU were aware to provide solutions to existing problems. The territory of implementation of the project has been the Province of Kilkis, which is characterized as both rural and industrial area. In the wider area of Kilkis many families of disadvantaged groups like repatriates and migrants were settled. So, participants of the project were 20 people (men and women) from special social groups who were high school graduates (gymnasium and Lyceum). The characteristics of the target group were: unexploited educational level (degree not recognised by the Greek authorities), incomplete knowledge of the Greek language, low economic activity, problems of integration in the society, lack of information and advisory in relation to the labor market, exclusion from the labor market, stereotypes and prejudices.
Projects philosophy/objectives were for the participants to: Be interviewed in order to identify and evaluate their needs; Be trained about issues such as: Greek language, professional orientation (interview process, writing a CV, professional dressing code and behavior), health and safety at work, entrepreneurship, rural development and environmental activities; Take part in counseling process with expert psychologists; Undertake an internships; Integrated into society and the labor market.
The training was implemented in two phases: Phase 1: 120 hours, preparing participants for employment and social inclusion Phase 2: 380 hours: made of a) informing participants about health and safety at work, about labor legislation and job seeking techniques, and b) acquisition of specific knowledge on shaping and management of green spaces and outdoors.
Apart from the training, also study visits have been carried out to institutions and enterprises, as a complementary and reinforcing part of the educational process. The organization and development of the project aimed to boost and encourage participants to invest in the environment, as part of the wider effort to preserve and protect the environment, fight against unemployment and social exclusion. The project had several innovative features and it provided the participants with combined knowledge and skills from different economic sectors and which served the needs in areas such as the environment, tourism and local government. The projects results were: personal, social and economic development of people from disadvantaged groups.
Program for ecological alternative crops. Epimorfotiki Kilkis Sm Llc & Center for Counseling and Support Anatoliki S.A.
CYPRUS YOUTH CLUBS ORGANIZATION

The philosophy of Cyprus Youth Clubs Organization is the growth of creativity, imagination and talents of young people. We consider the existence of youth centers particularly important and necessary because through participation and action in youth centers, our members develop responsibility, assume administrative responsibilities, coordinate activities through collaborative climate and manage human relations. They come into direct contact with human problems and social issues and are asked to give solutions. The young men and women are engaged in healthy and beneficial activities, thus creating defense mechanisms against the various challenges and dangers of our times. Cycos aim is to support the work of volunteers youth centers, ensuring the smooth operation of the Centers and upgrading the quality of activities and services for young people. At European level the organization organizes various activities that bring our youth closer to their European peers. The Organizations mission, especially in times of the financial crisis where phenomena of racism are increased, is to oppose any kind of racist behavior through growing values of responsibility, respect, solidarity to all members and the development of democratic principles and attitudes of opposition to any act of violence, oppression and violation of human rights, encouraging contact and developing friendships with young people from all over the world regardless of race, color, religion, language, sex, political or other opinion, national or social origin. Cyprus Youth Clubs Organization in accordance with its goals for addressing social problems implemented a program program titled Colouring against racism. The program was funded by the Youth in Action Programme and had the form of a national initiative. The theme of this initiative was racism, xenophobia, social exclusion and social inclusion. The initiative-project started in February 2012 and was completed in February 2013. The target group were young men and women that could be reached through youth centers and could affect their environment against acts of racism. The main goals were the awakening and awareness of youth, and the whole society on the subject of racism and discrimination, active youth participation, empowerment of creative expression and the consolidation of our European identity. Starting point of this initiative was the creation of a blog (http://www.coloursofracism.com/). Through the blog young people had the opportunity to exchange views on these phenomena and they were informed about new concepts and terminology around these issues. Also public was encouraged to participate in a questionnaire linked on the blog which explored the views of Cypriots on the reasons that drive these phenomena. The blog is also a forum of expression and projection for events and initiatives that have to do with these specific topics. Then, in the context of the current project a series of experiential workshops were organized which gave the opportunity for young people to come together, learn and empower themselves to address racism, xenophobia and social exclusion. Specifically, CYCO offered Workshops in the Youth Club of Achna in free Ammochostos, the Youth Club of Kornos in Larnaca, the Youth Club of Kivides in Limassol, the Youth Club of Galata and the Youth Club of Kalo Chorio Orinis in Nicosia and the Youth Club of Konia in Paphos. The primary goals of the workshops was the raising of awareness among the youth about the social phenomena of Racism, Xenophobia, Social Exclusion and Social Inclusion in Cyprus and globally, gain knowledge about the relevant terminologies and concepts, develop critical thinking, exchange opinions about those issues, find the reasons of their existence and maintenance in societies and empower the youth against racist behaviors. Secondary goals were the gathering of members of different youth clubs and the exchange of ideas about the issue of racism.
For example in a workshop that was held in the Youth Club of Axna there were 15 participants from different Youth Clubs of Ammoxostos. In the beginning they discussed in smaller groups and recorded who are victimized in Cyprus and in the world, the types of racist behaviors and their consequences to the society as a whole and to the people, both the victim and the victimizer. Later, they watched a clip with extreme verbal and non-verbal racism and asked to react to it. The participants identified the groups of people usually involved in such behaviors, the reaction of all parties, the frequency of similar incidents in Cyprus and how those behaviors are racist. In another task, also in smaller groups they had to detect their attitudes and hierarchy certain statements about discrimination, beliefs about racism and attitudes about racists. Finally, through role play participants walked in the shoes of a victimized character and as they mentioned, it reminded them how easily misconceptions about victimized groups of people (because of racism) can lead to more discrimination and the real danger of making them the scapegoat of our society for all evil. A second example is the workshop that was held in Youth Club Kivides. The participants were 32 youngsters aged 15-35 years old. The specific goal of this workshop was the growth of awareness about the mental representations people develop for other people from different cultures, social or racial background and how these representations form peoples expectations. Through activities and conversation the participants gained the concepts of stereotype, prejudice and discrimination and found out how they are connected with Xenophobia. Role playing was used as a tool for the participants to experience different attitudes in the context of racism and xenophobia and how stereotyped they might be. In another task the group discussed the way modern racism is disguised and how people tend to give excuses for racist behaviors in our days. Also they referred to the importance of speech and reasoning and how it is transformed to meet the goals of the speaker. Finally, the group came to a conclusion that stereotypes are developed in Cypriot Community through education, family, media and socialization. During the implementation of the project printed leaflet was distributed by our volunteers, which informed society on this issue. The culmination of this initiative was the creation of a form of art-painting (graffiti) about the unity of people giving a central message against racism. The graffiti decorates a centrally located wall in the Capital of Cyprus Nicosia and is in public view, as an art form, spreading in this way a clear social message. This activity was implemented by young people, members of the Cyprus Youth Center
10
EUR.ADI.P.NET
A PHOTOGRAPHY COURSE ON-LINE BLENDED The aim of the course.- Since social media is a consistent part of everyday life, we think it is useful to consider its pedagogical implications, especially with target groups in danger of social exclusion, such as senior citizens and unemployed people. The main purpose of the following workshop is to explore the advantages in the use of social media in adult education teaching-learning process. Target: learners over 16; Number of the classes: 8 lessons F2F (2 hours each) plus 10 hours On-line; Period: from Jannuary to April 2011; Where: High school Computer lab in ADRIA (RO). Main goals of the course.- At the end of the course, each learner was able to: 1) employ his camera accurately; 2) have access on Moodle Platform to follow the classes on line; 3) employ Flickr, a good online photo management to store and organize photos. It promotes the collaboration (hints, critiques, suggestions, ). in one of the largest worldwide photo communities. Main topics: 1) Correct use of a digital cameras. 2) Knowledge of main photographic techniques. 3) Practical work in photography. 4)How to take artistic photos. 5) Use of Moodle platform. 6)Use of Flickr (upload and share photos on-line). Management of the course The course started with a few lessons F2F to teach learners how to use Moodle. The basic topics had been up-loaded on the Moodle platform with relevant practical exercises. The most complicated topics had been explained F2F in the classroom and uploaded as document on Moodle with the relevant practical exercises Each learners activity had been evaluated and followed by the teachers most suitable suggestions to help learners to improve their performances/abilities/skills. After that we made a F2F lesson to introduce Flickr and its usage. During the course, a professional photographer was invited to describe the most suitable techniques to take artistic photographs. At the end of the course, an excursion was organized in the city of Adria to catch the meaningful perspectives and atmosphere of the city by photos. The afternoon walk was a great occasion for the trainers and learners to exchange their opinions about photography, art, urban landscape in informal way. All photos had been uploaded on Flickr, so learners and teachers had some more opportunities to discuss the photos. At the conclusion of the "Photography Course" a photographic competition was organized for all the learners who had taken part in the performed activities in class and online. The contest theme was divided into three categories: "men and women around me"; imaginative products"; animals and their natural environments", which, for the composition quality, the particular conditions of light and other details, stimulates our reflections or might transmit special emotions. ...lo scorrere del tempo....1 ; ingegno e anatre2 ; nonna 3 The photos have been evaluated by a jury composed of Finnish, Portuguese, Spanish, Polish and Italian involved in European project. On 9th May 2011, during the European day festival, the proclamation of the winning photos of the contest took place.
11
Conclusions We carried out non-formal classes rather organized with learning objectives (according to the majority of authors about the non-formal learning); informal learning activities taking photos together and employing Flickr. Flickr employment was important for learners who had the opportunity to find out an important photosharing service on the web, to discuss and analyze their photos. So, sharing their competences, they could help each other to improve their way to take photos. At the end of the course the learners understood how to take good photos and achieved the awareness that in the future they will always have the possibility to share, give and receive hints with the wide Flickr community. Future perspectives Using a blended course as pointed out by many people 4 may permit to combine the advantages of F2F courses with the online resource courses. The obvious advantage of a F2F course is the possibility for the teacher to integrate the whole group and follow the progress of each student; but it needs that all students share the same place at the same time, and for adult learners could represent a problem. Otherways the online course needs a big motivation and self discipline among the students, it permits a great flexibility to the student himself but it doesnt facilitate good levels of communication between teachers and students. As explained above our organization permits a good compromise among different needs of students. The mix of nonformal and informal education involved in the course could be a first step in the realization of a true learning community; using socialnetwork as flickr, F2F activities, an excursion, and the Moodle course the group could become a true and realgroup of people who shares common emotions, values or beliefs, actively engaging in learning together from each other.
Photos: During the lesson and the proclamation of the winning photo.. http://www.flickr.com/photos/59061857@N02/5628005209/in/pool-1585316@N25/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/59043702@N07/5628206247/in/pool-1585316@N25 3 http://www.flickr.com/photos/59046847@N05/5627605368/in/pool-1585316@N25/ 4 Innovative Information and Communication Technologies in adult Education 2010 -Tech-Connected Teacher / LLP Grundtvig Multilateral Project. http://www.tcteacher.eu
2 1
12
With a large amount of time and a longer interaction the second step could become an online learning community where the activities might continue using the social network they have already used during the previous activity course. This hasnt happen but in the next courses we will try to achieve this task.
CIVIL COLLEGE FOUNDATION
Two successful methods we presenting in the SLIC project about informal learning
Among the methods for activating people, the first and oldest one CCF used at the first community development experiment in the Bakony region from 1983 is the Teach and Learn Catalogue.
With the first newly organized community in Bakony we decided to publish a local yearbook with the writings of local people: memoires, poems, family histories, village history, recepies, local events like births, marriages, etc. Everybody was contacted by the members of the organizing community and were asked the following questions: what would you like to read about in the book? What do you know most about that you would teach other people? What are you most interested in that you would like to learn most? And the first yearbook of Bakony begins with the Teach and Learn Catalogue. In the yearbook we listed parallelly those who wanted to learn and teach something. In this way we wanted to help people to find one another and thus encourage self-organization. Teach I am ready to teach everybody how to make a creamy cake Learn Confectionery I would like to learn some special recepies for
Mrs. Rezs Hegyi 26 Jkai Lane Bakonyszentkirly
Mrs. Antal Bognr 5 Gyzelem Street Bakonyszentkirly
In this Catalogue 153 local people offered their services to their neighbours in 65 areas, like aerobics, husbandry, puppets, repairing shoes, instrumental music, astronomy, old handcrafts, electronics, forestry, local history, photography, film, cooking, identifying mushrooms, herbs, shorthand and typing, repairing household machines, fishing, gardening, interior decoration, bee-keeping, singing, dancing, dress-making, kite making, tennis, etc. Since than the Teach and Learn Catalogue became a popular method in Hungary.
13
wedding ceremonies
The second method we use regurarly is community appraisals. It is rooted in previous methods, such as the 1972 study circles movement in the Technical University of Budapest, or the same movement in Szeged in 1982. Another such method was mobilising citizens through the so-called calendar project, which was conducted by the community itself on the basis of a short questionnaire, which nevertheless raised the three questions that are still valid today: What do you like in living here? What do you dislike in it? What should be reformed and how?
Community appraisal is a door to door survey among local residents, organised by the local community activists who are prepared by community developers. The appraisal looking for opinions, ideas, local capacity for actions, learning, building partnership and contact in and around the local community and it collects contributions and offers from the local residents. The questionnaire and evaluation is made by the active core of local community activists. The results are usually presented on public discussions involving interviewed people, local residents and local leadership. The main goal of the appraisal is to initiate planning process for local actions. The community appraisal became the core method of community development processes in Hungary in several ways and forms in the last 30 years As the result of the methods new civil pride emerges, new civil organisations set up, the framework of local cooperation is starting to formulated, local development plans are completed as well as local programmes and projects.
14
LOCAL ACTIVITY SUPPORT CENTRE CAL Non - formal learning in neighborhoods of Warsaw. Nowadays in Poland, people very rarely take part in public life. We can observe this trend by low indicators of trust, weak engagement in grass root initiatives, associations and low voting frequency. Poles still dont see themselves as active citizens, who have a right to decide about public life. 1 Thus, there is a need for increasing social capital in Poland. Local committees, informal and self-help neighborhood groups are the very first step towards it. Recognition of different actors within communities and realizing that they are playing important role in this process of change is crucial. Adult citizen education is freedom based learning process which helps people to help themselves. We believe that, because it is based on flux actions and changing circumstances of everyday life, our backyard is generally the first playground for community actions. We realize that there are many non-formal groups or individuals who are seeking for change in places and settlements of where they live, but has no basic skills to either establish good neighborhood communication or maintain the existing one. When people deals with neighborhood issues or organize neighborhood event, usually they have to face many obstacles like little interest of people, problems with understanding peoples needs, with leading the process, communication issues, engaging different age groups and finally spending good quality time together. Some of active neighbors are trying to participate in more public life and have a possibility to give their voice in the community issues, some of them are those good spirits who help others how to work collectively starting from making small garden or painting the wall next to nearby garbage. The running by CAL is a part of ongoing program called Q Ruch Ssiedzki, (Q Neighborhood Movement) in which Q is understood as Quality. Program got its funding from city council of Warsaw. In 2009 group of educators from CAL decided to launch new grass roots project within this program called - Akademia Inicjatyw Ssiedzkich (Academy of Neighbours Initiativesand empower citizens in their neighborhood actions through : nonformal education and social animation. In particular by:
Every year we organize 7 workshops for 20 local leaders. Workshops are meant for active members of all districts and based on CAL methodology of social animation: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The role of local leader what does that mean to me, why am I engage in neighborhood actions; Map of local resources what key actors, institutions, organisations, local bussiness are within my neighbourhood and in what way I can cooperate with them; recognizing peoples needs and trying to fulfilled them collectively is one of the milestones of our philosophy. Mobilisation of people how to encourage people to act,motivate them, share tasks, shares responsibilities; Local pertnerships how to establish network and cooperate within more institutional environment with different stakeholders; Local promotion and evaluation of local projects Reviewing progress of the local actions, how to use different communication tools and organize local event using local resources;
15
1. workshops and debates/seminars 2. initiating neighborhood events like Neighborhood Day and Christmas Backyard Party 1; 3. creating network of active neighbors- within 19 districts of Warsaw ; 4. strengthening their potential as a local leaders; 5. encouraging people to help themselves and share their experience; Movement itself was established not for solving global problems, rather to maintain local trust, respect and bounds between people. Educators from CAL have been trying to show local citizens that they are important part of community and every change in it starts from people's actions. There is no citizenship society without good relations in neighborhoods, without care for public space and mutual trust. Also, aspect of nonformal learning is a crucial process that we try to encourage.
Another important aspects of workshops: 1. 2. 3. Recruitment of mixed group people of different district, background, experience, jobs etc. were able to share and compare their experiences, some of them were members of NGO or public institutions ; Creating a schedule according to people needs at the end of each workshop they fill in the questionnaire about what they have tought and what need to be change, also they receive a lot of counselling from CAL's experts Building the strong non-formal network of practitioners of different districts and inviting them to take part in other seminars and debates as neighborhood work experts
So far we are in the middle of 5th year of program and trained around 100 hundred people during workshops. Since the beginning already 200 people took part in open seminars/ debates on subject of neighborhood issues like: good communication with city council, how to organize neighborhood event, how use different media to promote local activities. Many of them are planning and coorganizing neighborhood celebrations. Local leaders are equipped in certain skills and till now many of them are involved in local issues. We build our work on positive assumption that conflict is not the only way for people to gather together. And its more possible to act against dishonest developer while we already have good relations and know each- others potential. Community learning happened when people can understand peoples needs and work together on common goals. Its happening also when there is sheer openness for dialogue between people of different background, status and education. Q - Ruch Ssiedzki is a program which enables people to do that.
fig. 1 The Academy of neighborhood initatives: Local leader taking part in workshop. Fig. 2 Neighbor's gathering during WARSAW NEIGHBORHOOD DAY 2011 at one of the districts ________________________________________________________________________________ Krystyna Ewa Siellawa-Kolbowska, Edukacja obywatelska w Polsce - prba adaptacji wybranych dowiadcze niemieckich, ISP 2008, http://www.isp.org.pl/files/1061822190896523001227603871.pdf Those two, low budet, informal actions when neighbors organize series of activities together. One is happening in May and second in December. Local leaders look for allys and try to engage people according to the situation in their neighborhood (majority of seniors, youth, mothers with children etc.) They all plan and share responsibilities, try to collect sponsors. Sometimes those actions may lead to creating a neighborhood clubs or local associations.
16
INTERGENERATIONAL CENTRE CELJE

NON-FORMAL AND INFORMAL LIFELONG LEARNING During the Sharing Learning in Communities project Intergenerational centre Celje launched its much needed programme in Celje, namely Vitality for Life. Purpose of this programme is to provide knowledge and practical activities to prolong or maintain active way of living. The programme actively involves all three generations: youth, active population and seniors. Our focus is especially on those members of active population that are unemployed and those who are just retiring (transition from middle to third generation). Unemployment and social exclusion as a result of retirement are two important problems nowadays and must be addressed in a contemporary way. In our view this means that active participation of members in local community to provide quality life is a good addition to known, mainly governmental assistance for those who are unemployed or socially excluded. On the other hand, participation of youth is much needed, since it has been recognized that intergeneration cooperation offers much better outcomes. Youth has in this programme a vital role, since they are the ones who are carrying out some activities of which beneficiaries are other two generations. Vitality for life can be achieved in more ways than one; however we decided to try implementing intergenerational volunteering in different activities that are carried out in local community and organized by Intergenerational centre Celje and its partners. Intergenerational volunteering is a term that accommodates a plethora of possibilities and the best way to maintain or prolong lifelong vitality is to present those possibilities to the people and try including them in day to day activities. They can be active participants or only beneficiaries. The programme consists of different activities: a) Preparation of leaflets that include information about different possibilities on how to actively contribute to your own vitality Leaflets were prepared for our focus groups: the unemployed and those in the transition towards retirement. Those leaflets include different citations that show to the individual what are the pros of being actively involved in community volunteering. This individual must realize that as an unemployed person, she has other possibilities in which she can participate she can for instance help a young student to acquire some knowledge about a career she is after. All these activities help those individuals to maintain their vitality although they are temporarily unemployed and can help them get a new job. For those in the transition it is important that they know they are not alone and that their life does not end at the moment they are retired. They can start a new hobby or help others to improve their hobbies. It is up to us to transfer that information to them and to help them maintaining their connections with youth and their peers. b) Organization of workshops that promote lifelong vitality We organize different workshops that are carried out by young volunteers. At these workshops we offer participant variety of games that on one hand stimulate their brain activity and on the other hand provide them information about healthy lifestyle, tricks to cope with everyday situations, contacts on who they can call for further information, etc. We also carry out different physical measures in order to inform them about their health, strength, etc. Those activities are carried out with the help from students who are studying proper branch (medicine, pedagogy, sport, etc.).
17
d)
Organization of fun gatherings one day events In order to provide proper interpersonal communication and to cope with loneliness of individuals we organize these fun gatherings where people can talk, play different games, do sport and similar. It is important to individuals to know they are not alone and that there is reason to be active. These gatherings are also sites for different NGOs to promote themselves and to show which activities they carry out. Every gathering has a theme so everyone who comes learns quite a lot of new things which she can find useful.
As you may see, this programme includes both types of learning informal and non-formal. Both active participants and beneficiaries learn useful practical information on how to improve their life quality through maintaining different aspects of vitality. If they choose to participate they can also benefit from the knowledge other people and activities have to offer. In Intergenerational centre Celje we try to constantly evaluate different activities that are carried out and to record its benefits. Those benefits are present for all generations: youth since it offers them venue to participate in activities that are common good and to gather experience; unemployed since they maintain their vitality and activeness in the society thus improving their possibility to get a new job; those in the transition towards retirement since they have the opportunity to prolong their active life doing volunteering and learning new practical approaches on how to live a good, healthy and active life and maintaining interpersonal communication. There are also a few important benefits for the local community, of those especially achieving tolerant and intergenerational knit community that is aware of its deficits and knows how to repair them.
18

The Most Effective Nonformal and Informal Methods of Teaching and Learning

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Most Effective Nonformal and Informal Methods of Teaching and Learning

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Newsletter 2/5

SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES

SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES

SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES

AUGUST HORCH AKADEMIE GMBH

SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES

SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES

SEINJOKI UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES

Figure 1: Romani flag

SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES

EPIMORFOTIKI KILKIS SM LLC

SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES

SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES

CYPRUS YOUTH CLUBS ORGANIZATION

SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES

SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES

SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES

SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES

CIVIL COLLEGE FOUNDATION

Mrs. Rezs Hegyi 26 Jkai Lane Bakonyszentkirly

Mrs. Antal Bognr 5 Gyzelem Street Bakonyszentkirly

SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES

SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES

SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES

SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES

INTERGENERATIONAL CENTRE CELJE

SHARING LEARNING IN COMMUNITIES

You might also like