TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Aldo Perez
This training course was created specifically for refugees in Vienna who have already experience working with children and/or youth in their respective countries of origin. The aims were to introduce them to the political and social system of Austria and of the city of Vienna. To get to know the specific tasks of the Viennese youth work. Further on, it should introduce them to the values and methods used which are important in the open youth work, especially in comparison to a formal system (such as school).
The target group were refugees living in the city of Vienna. They came from Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq & Palestine.
All Methods used were non-formal methods. The group had regularly energizers which were fun and work very well with youth. Some example of Methods used includes a Bingo with personal information for getting to know each other followed by a cooperation game. For gender, we used their own biography to understand how gender is shaped, participants would write specific memories related to being a man/woman (anonymously) . All cards were then put together chronologically across the room, so participants could see all the different experiences, this fallowed again by a reflection round. For sexual orientation, we used some “inverted” storytelling, a world in which homosexuality is the norm, so heterosexual participants could better relate to the internal struggles of LGBT- People, the reading was followed by discussion and reflection as well as from real life experiences of youth workers with the topic. Another exercise for understanding the difference between gender, sex and sexual identity, for this, participants got fictional biographies of people well either a behavior or a self-identification was described, in small groups, they would have to “correctly” identify the categories, this was of course often not possible, leading to discussions on fluidity of identities, etc.
Further methods were silent discussions, knowledge-cafes, etc.
Though the course was in German, there were great variations in their proficiency of the language; I therefore often included the possibility for them to lead the small group discussion and similar activites in their mother thong and to support each other to present their results in German.
https://www.wienxtra.at/ifp/lehrgaenge/vorbereitungslehrgang/
My task was to work with the group creating first an atmosphere of cooperation and respect for further work, later I was responsible for the reflection of the content which they had learned the previous day(s). Such as political system, gender and youth, sexuality and sexual orientation, possible conflicts and difficult situations in the daily work, etc. My last session was a training for a job application process and for job interviews, specific to the Austrian context.