METHODOLOGICAL GUIDE
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Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
Ei YoU! - Educational Innovation facing Youth Unemployment is a two year project that empowers students and teachers to cope with the negative impacts of youth unemployment in learning and schooling. The aim is to bring together a cross-sectoral partnership to develop a catalog of innovative solutions to address these needs. The project focus in a bottom-up approach, including co-creation workshops, short term exchanges of students, research and pilot interventions in schools. Some specific methods include prototyping, design thinking, creative learning, hackathon techniques, Edu on Tour and Montessori motivational strategies. The main outputs of the project are: Methodological Guide - a set of guidelines and resources to support the local project teams to implement innovation and co-creation workshops. Online Crowdsourcing Forum - collective forum where existing members of an online network are challenged to solve posted problems. Transnational Report “Educational Innovation to tackle youth unemployment” - describes problematic situations in schools and propose solutions obtained from all the sources of the project. Impact Report on the piloting in schools - evaluates the difference in terms of self-esteem, learning achievements, future expectations and school motivations caused by participation in Ei YoU! Portfolio/Catalogue of educational Innovations - open portfolio of solutions that have been tested and found that actually produce results; an open and dynamic resource that teachers can try freely. “Info-kit” impact of the project - policy recommendations and multimedia products for dissemination and exploitation. Ei YoU! hopes to reduce drop-out, discouragement and lower achievement in schools. In long term, the reuse and multiplication of these methods will contribute to reach early school leaving rates of 10% or less, supporting the goals of Europe 2020. More information at www.eiyou.eu and https://www.facebook.com/EiYoUproject/
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Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
This Methodological Guide was produced within the consortium of organizations stablished for the project Ei YoU! Educational Innovation Facing Youth Unemployment:
Page | 2 Centro Studi e Formazione Villa Montesca Italy
Agrupamento de Escolas Figueira Mar Portugal
Future Balloons, unipessoal, Lda. Portugal
Hrvatska Udruga Mladih Croatia
Kindersite United Kingdom
Nigde il Milli Egitim Mudurlugu Turkey
presente! Austria
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 5 1. Methodologies to facilitate Teacher’s Workshops.................................................................6 Page | 3 1.1 Co-creation .....................................................................................................................6 1.1.1 Crowdsourcing.......................................................................................................... 7 1.1.2 World Café Approach ............................................................................................... 7 1.2 Prototyping .....................................................................................................................8 1.2.1 Paper and pencil .......................................................................................................9 1.2.2 Body storming ........................................................................................................ 10 1.2.3 LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® ........................................................................................ 11 1.3 Creative Learning .......................................................................................................... 12 1.3.1 Creative reframing .................................................................................................. 13 1.3.2 Writing ................................................................................................................... 14 1.4 Design Thinking ............................................................................................................ 15 1.4.1 Phase 1 – Discovery or Inspiration........................................................................... 15 1.4.2 Phase 2 – Interpretation ......................................................................................... 16 1.4.3 Phase 3 – Ideation ................................................................................................... 17 1.4.4 Phase 4 – Experimentation ..................................................................................... 18 1.4.5 Phase 5 – Evolution................................................................................................. 19 2. Methodologies for creating supporting communities and involving all stakeholders ..........20 2.1 Edu on Tour YOUTH......................................................................................................20 2.1.1 Framework of EoT YOUTH ..................................................................................... 21 2.1.2 Process of EoT YOUTH ...........................................................................................22 2.3 Montessori motivational strategies ...............................................................................28 2.3.1 Experimentation & exploration...............................................................................28 2.3.2 Creation of a more connected space ......................................................................29
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
2.3.3 Designing of education in terms of creativity and stimulation ................................29 2.3.4 Development of senses and physical approach, involving also technologies .......... 30 2.3.5 Stimulation of a visual approach and the ability to use one’s emotional side .......... 30 2.3.6 Observational learning ........................................................................................... 31 Page | 4 3. Workshops Programs for Teachers ..................................................................................... 31 3.1 Local workshops ("How are the effects of youth unemployment made visible in my school/classroom/students?") ............................................................................................. 31 3.1.1 First workshop – Problems ...................................................................................... 32 3.1.2 Second workshop – Solutions ............................................................................... 35 3.2 Transnational workshops .............................................................................................. 37 3.2.1 Workshop in Austria ............................................................................................... 37 3.2.2 Workshop in Croatia ............................................................................................... 37 3.2.3 Workshop in Portugal ............................................................................................. 37
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
Introduction This methodological guide is a set of guidelines and resources to support the local project teams to implement innovation and co-creation workshops. This an internal product of the project, Page | 5 that serves to set a common ground for partners to apply the same principles and methods in the following stages of the project. In particular, this document focuses on the methods that will be used to facilitate the teachers workshops (both happening locally and transnationally) and it collects methods experienced by some partners (Future Balloons, presente! and Kindersite) which have shown capacity to deliver innovative, relevant results. These methods include Co-creation, Prototyping, Design Thinking, Creative Learning, Hackathon Techniques, Montessori Motivational Strategies ‌ The methods are divided in two parts: methods to be applied with teachers and methods to be applied with students. This division is based on the different aims of the activities for each group. While the work with teachers is about context analysis, problem solving and also some training in new educational approaches; the work with students are actions/experiences that support new mind sets for them, deliver motivation and increase their expectations in education. For each of the methods, concrete techniques are explained. Those are techniques that will appear after (chapter 3) in the programme of the workshops. The programmes inform all partner what to do and how to during each workshop, including the application of the techniques described, expected outcomes, timetables, materials and handouts. Each workshop will include different methods, chosen according to the aims of each part. For example, while the automatic writing help teachers to deliver a raw individual perspective of their experience, the world-cafÊ will support the group to find common factors of a problem (e.g. student’s drop out). The information in this guide is complemented with a training session for partners, included in the first meeting.
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
1. Methodologies to facilitate Teacher’s Workshops
1.1 Co-creation Co-creation is the process of creating something in a collaborative way with the belief that the outcome will be richer and better than from a solo endeavour. Co-creation aims to unleash the creative energy of many people, such that it transforms both their individual experience and the interactions; co-creation involves setting up new modes of engagement between teachers, and between teachers and students, that allow them to insert themselves in the value chain of the school. Co-creation implies the reunion of a group of people working for the same target. This can target can be the definition of an organization mission, the planning of an event or the decision about evaluation procedures. In co-creation, all people shall contribute with a similar type of information, all contributes are considered good and the results shall demonstrate the common will. The group becomes a community. This makes a difference between the simple team work, where there usually leaders and some contributes are rejected during the process. Industry uses co-creation to deliver new products: companies ask their consumers for answers on their products and using the information, they are able to deliver products that are relevant to the people. Other concept connected to co-creation are collective intelligence. Collective intelligence is kind of knowledge that is nurtured by a big group. It might be true or false, real or invented, but all believe in it and use it for taking decisions. Researchers in different fields (military, economics, ICT,‌) was proven that, under the right circumstances, groups demonstrate an admirable intelligence and, the group is smarter than the smartest people in it (Surowiecki, 2005).1 Co-creation methods can be applied in different ways. Below you find the ones which will be applied during the project.
1
Surowiecki, J. (2005). The Wisdom of the Crowds. Lisboa: Lua de Papel.
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Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
1.1.1 Crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing is the process of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community. During the project Ei YoU! we will use crowdsourcing as a complement to the local workshops (for more information on this output please check Output 3 on the application form, page 39). By publishing the challenge of the project in a crowdsourcing platform, we will be able to collect contributions and new ideas from a lot more people, and from people with different perspectives.
1.1.2 World Café Approach The World Café methodology is a simple, effective, and flexible format for hosting large group dialogue.2 World Café can be modified to meet a wide variety of needs. Specifics of context, numbers, purpose, location, and other circumstances are factored into each event's unique invitation, design, and question choice, but the following five components comprise the basic model: 1) Setting: Create a "special" environment, most often modelled after a café, i.e. small round tables covered with a tablecloth, butcher block paper, coloured pens, and optional "talking stick" item. There should be four chairs at each table. 2) Welcome and Introduction: The host begins with a warm welcome and an introduction to the World Café process, setting the context and putting participants at ease. 3) Small Group Rounds: The process begins with the first of three or more twenty minute rounds of conversation for the small group seated around a table. At the end of the twenty minutes, each member of the group moves to a different new table. They may or may not choose to leave one person as the "table host" for the next round, who welcomes the next group and briefly fills them in on what happened in the previous round.
2
See more about the method at www.theworldcafe.com
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4) Questions: each round is prefaced with a question designed for the specific context and desired purpose of the session. The same questions can be used for more than one round, or they can be built upon each other to focus the conversation or guide its direction. 5) Harvest: After the small groups (and/or in between rounds, as desired) individuals are invited Page | 8 to share insights or other results from their conversations with the rest of the large group. These results are reflected visually in a variety of ways, most often using graphic recorders in the front of the room.
1.2 Prototyping3 Process of quickly mocking up the future state of a system, and validating it with a broader team of users. Doing this rapidly and iteratively generates feedback early and often in the process, improving the final design and reducing the need for changes during development. Therefore, prototyping is something to be done when there is a new solution (product, process...) to be tested. During the second local workshop, teachers will be asked to find ways to solve the impacts of youth unemployment in the schools, so prototyping will enable to check the feasibility and relevance of those innovations. A prototype is a concrete representation of part or all of a system. A prototype is a tangible artefact, not an abstract description that requires interpretation. The intended prototyping doesn’t need to deliver beautiful, ready to use solutions, but it should make visual and physical structures that contain the main characteristics of the model. It is the so-called rapid prototyping, it deliver a prototype which is inexpensive, easy to build, to throwaway but that allows to quickly explore the different interaction possibilities. A rapid prototype can give origin to iterative prototype, which evolves in different stages and might be a final model. Some prototyping are: bring everything to the table, make it as representative as possible, create a pinch to demonstrate and “sell� it.
3 Learn from https://www.lri.fr/~mackay/pdffiles/Prototype.chapter.pdf, which describes the prototyping methods applied to software.
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
While prototyping seems to be natural and easy to think in technological and industrial fields, it might more complicated to see it in the social, educational contexts, but there are some techniques that make it easier, such as paper-and-pencil, body storming or Lego serious play. More complex ideas might need more than one prototyping technique in order to test all the Page | 9 features. The choice of the technique has to do with the type of solution that we have reached, either it is an object, a service or an event, the prototype should represent the nature of the solution.
1.2.1 Paper and pencil The fastest way to prototype involves paper and post-its. Teachers shall draw their ideas and show to others how they work. As drawings cannot show interaction, “special effects� can be created with post-its, as those are movable objects: it can represent a student going through different spaces of the school and meeting other characters (other post-its), or it can be a factor that intervenient in different contexts in different stages.
Example Here is a graphic prototype made by teachers, working on the issue of pedagogic relationship:
Figure 1. Paper and pencil prototype in education. Source: Future Balloons.
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
1.2.2 Body storming Body storming is a technique that promotes the visualization of the future, if the solution/product has been implemented. It focus the behaviours of the people who are targeted like if were already using/experiencing the new thing. In our case, teachers shall pretend their solution is in place and they should assume the roles of the different users, to predict behaviour, acceptation, pleasure or regret. They shall do this, not simply mentally but creating the interaction with their bodies. People need to you get up and move, try things out with their own body, rather than just sitting around a table and discussing it while having to imagine it in the abstract. Body storming is useful when you are making changes in the spaces (e.g. change the way students are seated in the classroom), it helps to represent scenarios of social relationships (e.g. meetings with families, gang dynamics) and it demonstrates the functioning of a new service (family coaching in school). Here is a basic approach4: 1. Get a small group together for the body storming. 2. Define the locations were a product or service will be used. 3. Settle your prototype on the location and observe how people interact. 4. Identify the personas or roles that are important for understanding your product, service, or environment. Keep in mind that people may play the role of object, a person and even a skill or personality characteristic. 5. Role play different scenarios. Feel free to improvise and role play new situations and scenarios that emerge from your initial round of body storming. 6. Reflect on the body storming experience. What did you learn? What new questions emerged? You are likely to find new possibilities as well as related problems.
4
Adapted from http://dux.typepad.com/dux/2011/04/uxd-method-11-of-100-bodystorming.html.
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Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
1.2.3 LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® The LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® 5 methodology is a radical, innovative, experiential process designed to enhance business performance. It is based on the belief that everyone can contribute to the discussion, the decisions and the outcome. It is built upon a process which stems from the heart of LEGO bricks and the LEGO® building system. Looking for a tool to unlock imagination and innovation within the company, the LEGO Group realized that a solution might be found in the LEGO® system itself: just as the LEGO Group had been telling children to 'build their dreams' for decades, so perhaps adults could be asked to build their visions for future strategy. The use of LEGO® bricks simply enables you to take a speedy shortcut to the core. The bricks work as a catalyst – and when used for building metaphors, they trigger processes that you were previously unaware of. 70-80% of out brain’s nerve endings are connected to our hands. When we model with our hands and tell stories there is more neuronal activity and better suffusion of blood to critical areas of the brain. “Just start building, trust your hands. Let them pick the brick they way. Fiddle about…”. The process includes the following steps6: 1. The first step of the ideal learning spiral is to help people connect to what they are going to explore, and to understand the context and meaning of what they are about to learn more about. 2. The second step is to involve people in a process where they create a product connected to the targets of exploration, involving their own knowledge and reflections as well as their own creative skills – and their own hands. Build! Destroy! Build more! 3. The third step is to help people reflect on what they have created and look deeper into their own reflections about their own product, in order to become aware of what their explorations have brought them, and in order to gain more insights.
5
6
http://www.lego.com/en-gb/seriousplay/
Adapted from Open Source/Introduction to Lego Serious Play, available at https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5032997/LEGO%20Serious%20Play%20OS/LEGO%C2%AE_SERIOUS_PLAY _OpenSource.pdf.
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4. The fourth step is that people get a chance to connect their newly gained knowledge to new explorations they would want to pursue. While some people present their models, then look at the model that has been shared - use your visual sense to grasp and understand even more of what the other participants are describing. Page | 12
Figure 2. Lego representation of an idea. Source: Future Balloons.
1.3 Creative Learning Use playful situations to acquire knowledge and develop competences; creative learning includes serious games, art based activities and critical thinking. To be creative is not something that you have or not, creativity is something that everybody has but it might be masked under standard routines and professional rituals. During the workshops for teachers we will want them to explore new ways of working, in order to motivate students and have meaningful learning relations. Therefore, we need to find the creative ones inside them. In order to unveil the creativity of people, we need to use some strategies, such as: creative reframing and automatic writing.
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
1.3.1 Creative reframing It is a cognitive process to look at the problem in another way, it changes the perspective about a certain phenomenon. Reframing will take you out of your mental comfort zone, enabling you to discover new perspectives and creative solutions. Creative reframing is very much about being able to focus your attention on things you hadn't looked at before. It can be done in 4 easy steps, without prior training:
Step 1: Define your core belief
Step 2: Look for the supporting beliefs that support this
Step 3: Find the opposites of your supporting beliefs
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Step 4: Summarize the opposites in a new core belief.
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Exercise: Experiment the exercise at: http://reframe.thnk.org/tool/new.
EXAMPLE: Blind people to detect breast cancer; mousses to find minas in war territories. Check the videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UcA8V_EEx0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq2s6T9LHC0
1.3.2 Writing Automatic writing is a writing method, in which images, feelings or expressions are written down in an uncensored way, without the conscious intervention of a critical I. When you experiment this method, you will discover what happens when you switch off the censor inside of you. In fact, innovative ideas often happen when we move beyond conventional ways of thinking. So this is a nice exercise to recognise the hidden ideas in your mind.
Exercise Take a pen and an empty paper (possibly without lines) and practice automatic writing for 5-10 minutes. Start by writing "students dropout� on your paper, and see what happens. ;-) Just write down whatever comes to your mind. Don't stop thinking! There is no right or wrong. Do you feel like sharing some of the phrases and insights that came to you? We'd be more than happy to read them!
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
1.4 Design Thinking7 A process to find solutions/solve problems which includes ideation, selection and executions of solutions, the goal is "matching people’s needs with what is technologically feasible and viable as a business strategy" (Tim Brown in Change by Design, 2009). Design Thinking is a structured approach to generating and evolving ideas. It has five phases that help navigate the development from identifying a design challenge to finding and building a solution. It’s a deeply human approach that relies on your ability to be intuitive, to interpret what you observe and to develop ideas that are emotionally meaningful to those you are designing for— all skills you are well versed in as an educator.
Figure 3. Phases of Design Thinking. Source: Design Thinking for Educators.
1.4.1 Phase 1 – Discovery or Inspiration Understand the challenge In this phase, you’ll learn directly from the people you’re designing for as you immerse yourself in their lives and come to deeply understand their needs and aspirations. This phase is about learning on the fly, opening yourself up to creative possibilities, and trusting that as long as you remain grounded in desires of the people you’re designing for, your ideas will evolve into the right solution.
7
See more information in http://www.designthinkingforeducators.com/design-thinking/?scid=social23467384
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During this phase you’ll want to plan research activities to learn from the people you’re designing for and explore unfamiliar contexts. There are four good starting points: 1. Learn from people (choose your target people, use interviews, take photographs). There are many different ways to learn from users, including individual interviews, learning from people's Page | 16 self-documentation, group interviews, and learning from peers observing peers. 2. Learn from experts (expert interview using a question guide) - get a few different perspectives to balance out your information, you might also look to experts for specific technical advice, reading books, or by crunching numbers, can help you ask the right questions. A firm foundation of knowledge is the best place from which to tackle a design challenge. Try to find recent innovations in your particular area. 3. Immerse yourself in context - plan your observations, capture what you see, reflect on what you’ve observed. 4. Seek analogous inspiration (an analogy it’s an associative thought-process that allows you to transfer meaning from one subject to another). Analogous research takes inspiration from a different context to give you a fresh perspective. Example: when helping surgical teams deal with complex procedures, designers looked at how car racing pit-crews optimized their workflow for safety and efficiency.
1.4.2 Phase 2 – Interpretation Interpretation transforms your stories into meaningful insights. Observations, field visits, or just a simple conversation can be great inspiration — but finding meaning in that and turning it into actionable opportunities for design is not an easy task. It involves storytelling, as well as sorting and condensing thoughts until you’ve found a compelling point of view and clear direction for ideation. Throughout the Interpretation phase, your perspective will evolve and change. As you gain a clearer understanding of what your observations mean, you can relate them to your challenge and use them as inspiration. This part of the process can be confusing. Use the examples below to navigate the development of your notes from early thoughts to ideas.
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
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Figure 4. Interpretation example. Source: Design Thinking for Educators.
1.4.3 Phase 3 – Ideation Ideation means generating lots of ideas. Brainstorming encourages you to think expansively and without constraints. It’s often the wild ideas that spark visionary thoughts. With careful preparation and a clear set of rules, a brainstorm session can yield hundreds of fresh ideas. These next seven rules will make your brainstorming session focused, effective and fun. Introduce them at the start of every brainstorm, even if they merely serve as a reminder for experience participants. 1. Defer judgment. There are no bad ideas at this point. There will be plenty of time to narrow them down later. 2. Encourage wild ideas. Even if an idea doesn’t seem realistic, it may spark a great idea for someone else. 3. Build on the ideas of others. Think “and” rather than “but.” 4. Stay focused on topic. To get more out of your session, keep your brainstorm question in sight. 5. One conversation at a time. All ideas need to be heard, so that they may be built upon. 6. Be visual. Draw your ideas, as opposed to just writing them down. Stick figures and simple sketches can say more than many words. 7. Go for quantity. Set an outrageous goal - then surpass it. The best way to find one good idea is to come up with lots of ideas.
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
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Figure 5. Brainstorming moment. Source: Future Balloons.
1.4.4 Phase 4 – Experimentation Experimentation brings your ideas to life. This enables you to share your idea with other people and discuss how to further refine it. You can experiment just about anything. Choose the form that suits your idea best from the list below. Create a storyboard - Visualize the complete experience of your idea over time through a series of images, sketches, cartoons or even just text blocks. Stick figures are great—you don’t need to be an artist. Use Post-it notes or individual sheets of paper to create the storyboard so you can rearrange their order. Create a diagram - Map out the structure, network, journey or process of your idea. Try different versions. Create a story - Tell the story of your idea from the future. Describe what the experience would be like. Write a newspaper article reporting about your idea. Write a job description. Create a letter to be sent to parents. Describe your idea as if it were published on the school website. Create an ad - Create a fake advertisement that promotes the best parts of your idea. Have fun with it, and feel free to exaggerate shamelessly. Create a mock-up - Build mock-ups of digital tools and websites with simple sketches of screens on paper. Paste the paper mock-up to an actual computer screen or mobile phone when demonstrating it. Create a model - Put together simple three-dimensional representations of your idea. Use paper, cardboard, pipe cleaners, fabric and whatever else you can find. Keep it rough and at a low fidelity to start, and evolve the resolution over time.
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
Create a role-play - Act out the experience of your idea. Try on the roles of the people that are part of the situation and uncover questions they might ask.
1.4.5 Phase 5 – Evolution Evolution is the development of your concept over time. It involves planning next steps, communicating the idea to people who can help you realize it, and documenting the process. Change often happens over time, and reminders of even subtle signs of progress are important. As your concept evolves, you can begin to measure its impact. Define a set of criteria for success to help guide and evaluate the development as you scale and build on your idea. Consider the people involved Identify indicators for success Track what happens
Once an idea has been implemented and become a part of everyday life, it is easy to lose sight of its impact. Change often happens slowly, and subtle reminders of success are important. The implementation of an idea requires a different approach from its generation. When your idea has evolved into a solid concept, it’s time to plan the next steps. With your partners and team, create a timeline for bringing the concept to life. List tasks Assign champions Identify gaps Create a timeline Plan regular check-ins
In order to reach the full potential of new designs, the solutions must be shared with audiences outside your core design team. Depending on the outcomes that you hope to achieve with your solutions, you may need to pitch your concept, engage partners, or share your story. Choose a method for engaging that will support your end goals.
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2. Methodologies for creating supporting communities and involving all stakeholders Unemployment is a phenomenon that cannot be triggered just in the school environment and Page | 20 requires out-of-the-box solutions that are involving the whole community. Teachers and students need to identify experts in the area of entrepreneurship and social innovation and include parents in order to build up local support networks. The Education Hackathon and Edu on Tour YOUTH are meant to be used for students and teachers in order to build up support communities around the students and their needs.
2.1 Edu on Tour YOUTH The main purpose of the Edu on Tour YOUTH (EoT YOUTH) is to change the realities students perceive and to explore how to break out of their limitations and feel the power of communities in adventurous ways. The key aspects of the EoT YOUTH experience are that the students (1) experience freedom in making their choices and (2) learn that there is an abundance of existing solutions for all kinds of problems – they just need to be aware enough to look for them. Edu on Tour is a conscious personal development program with a social impact while exploring progressive and innovative education initiatives and learning environments in unknown cities or regions. It uses Game Systemic Design, Appreciative Inquiry, Creativity Methods and Social Innovation Tools (Non-violent Communication, Open Space, World CafÊ, Pro Action Cafe, Radical Honesty) in order to create a self-organized learning environment. Edu on Tour YOUTH focuses on building up entrepreneurial capacity of students and creating a framework in which they are able to explore their potential among peers. Students travel to other regions and help to build up a support network for other students and job agencies. Various partner organizations, like entrepreneurs, progressive learning initiatives, and social businesses, are part of the program and host the EoT YOUTH program during the mornings. During afternoons students complete missions and challenges that are related to entrepreneurship and self-development. The missions are designed by the facilitator or partner organizations, while the challenges are created by the students themselves.
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
During the whole process they learn to act, decide and travel around independently in groups of three without adult supervision.
2.1.1 Framework of EoT YOUTH Page | 21
Duration: 3 – 7 days. A minimum length of 3 days is required in order to break-down old patterns, experience self-organization and build up self-management capacities among students.
Target groups: Students who are willing to experience new forms of learning and self-development. Voluntary commitment to the program is a prerequisite. Age group: 14 - 17 Educators, teachers with a progressive mind-set and interest to step out of the system for a certain period
Number of participants and roles 1 Organizer / Facilitator. General organization and coordination of the project. S/He supports the group learning process and sets up a peer to peer learning process among the students. His/her challenge will be to smoothly observe and guide the harvest of the program. 1 student observer or game master (everyday another student). Observing the group process and helping to adjust in-time adaption of the program. Helps with setting up challenges and harvesting during the daily reflection process. 9 -33 students. Students travel in crews of 3 members and solve challenges. Their role is to participate actively in the learning process at the partner organizations and produce social media content throughout the EoT YOUTH tour.
Secured Outcome Empowered students with a higher self-esteem and broadened mind set and an increased media literacy. Community of practice among the students (Suggestion for teachers: After the tour students should be supported to keep the community alive).
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
Building up a support network for students and teachers of the region by identifying and building up relationships with local partners during the EoT YOUTH process. Developing material for social media campaign during the tour (videos, pictures). Travel guide consisting of information about partners and change makers in the region produced by students and facilitator together.
Needed resources HQs with Free Wi-Fi for daily meetings and work space for producing material. Paper, pens and colours. Food and drinks for the working sessions and a team budget for lunch. Smartphones with network coverage and instruction how to use the social media environment of the tour. Social Media channel that is used during the process (Facebook, blog, homepage). 1 partner organization that will be visited per day. Agreement with parents that students are allowed to travel alone in groups and are allowed to take pictures and that these pictures are published on social media. Tickets for students for public transportation. Personal EoT YOUTH Tour log book, city map and telephone numbers in case of emergencies.
2.1.2 Process of EoT YOUTH This process description is a flexible guideline based on experiences of former Edu on Tours and is meant to be adjusted by the hosting organization’s or facilitator’s preferences.
Preparation and setting up the EoT YOUTH Tour structure and plan
Action: Getting allies and change makers involved: The hosting organization sets up overall goals of the tour. The EoT YOUTH facilitator identifies key organizations, innovative start-ups, entrepreneurs, change maker organizations and progressive learning environments in the area of social innovation and entrepreneurial education and coordinates visits of them. The local partners serve as ambassadors and enablers for the student communities.
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Result: Network of supporting organizations and relationships that support the development of a community of practice for students.
Tip: It is important that organizations that are visited are following new paradigms of education Page | 23
and learning, and are not corrupted by the established system or establishment.
Action: Setting up a social media environment for the tour: The facilitator sets up the IT infrastructure for sharing social media content and prepares instructions on how to use the social media environment.
Result: Whatsapp group, Instagram and Twitter Hashtag (#EoTYouth, #EiYoU!), Facebook group, a Blog or Homepage and clear instructions how to use it.
Tips: If the EoT YOUTH is more than 3 days long, setting up the social media environment should be part of the program and the students should create it by themselves as one challenge the
first
day.
You
can
also
use
the
official
EoT
Youth
Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/EoTYouth/
Note: The infrastructure should be usable for the hosting organization and local students and teachers after the tour.
Action: Setting up an EoT YOUTH HQs. The EoT YOUTH HQs is a cosy office, a protected space just for the youth, a central living room – depending on the available resources. The facilitator secures a space that serves as meeting point for the participants, working space and calm environment during harvesting (processing and synthesising learnings) and reflection. Students need to feel inspired and safe in this environment.
Result: A working and meeting space for the students.
Tip: Possible meeting place with local students
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
Execution of EoT Youth and running a playful experience Action: Starting up the EoT YOUTH adventure: On the first day the facilitator gets all students together and uses playful interactions to create a feeling of community and raise awareness about their intention for the learning experience and their involvement in the tour. Why are you here? Why are you doing this program?
Then the students are asked to build crews of 3 members, create crew names and a secret sign. The student observer or game master is assigned and helps to develop a weekly mission that they have to reach collectively. Result: Participants develop a sense of their roles and responsibilities and how the EoT YOUTH experience is going to work. And the tour structure is set up.
Action: Exploring new realities and breaking out of the norm. From the 2nd day on the whole group meets in the HQs during the morning and the students. Each morning there is for a “check-in” where the students plan the day. This is led by the student game master. The facilitator gives a short introduction and identifies the partner organization they will visit that day. Students gather in their crews and prepare the visits. The crews need to get information what the organization is doing and how they are set up. They also need to find the fastest way how to get there. However, crews are not allowed to meet other crews. If they do meet they need to fulfil additional challenges that the facilitator agrees with them on the first day. (Examples of additional challenges could be: making a crazy selfie for the first time the meet, organize a spontaneous flash mob for the second time the meet…).
Result: Students learn to navigate and travel on their own with the support of other crew members. They gain self-esteem by solving real life challenges in unknown environments. And they gain consciousness of what their purpose will be.
Tip: The facilitator needs to make sure that there is enough time for the students to get information and also find their way to the locations.
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Action: Visiting partner organizations: The program at the partner organizations is totally up to the partners and should just involve creative and interactive ways of letting the students experiencing what they are doing and what they do for overcoming the threat of unemployment. After the sessions either the partner organization or the facilitator presents the mission for the afternoon.
Results: Students experience new forms of learning and progressive ways of working. They develop a greater courage in order to think and dream outside of the box.
Examples for questions that students explore during the visits: What is your current situation? What is your dream? What keeps you close to it? Changing perspectives and dreaming big. Considering unusual ways of approaching your dreams. What is your superpower? Opening up of non-traditional professions and life designs. Understanding our power and using our possibilities. How to start realizing your dream. How to create your support circle in order to run your initiative/project/causes.
Action: Solving missions. After the partner visits, students will solve missions in their crews. The challenges are based on what they have learned during the mornings. This enables them to break out of their limitations and gain self-confidence in participating in the public life in an unknown region. They are asked to make videos and share them via social media each day. There is also one weekly mission that the whole group needs to decide upon in the beginning. That can be a presentation they do together, a small book, raising funds for a cause they are working on‌
Results: Videos of missions. Out-of-the-box experiences. And collective output of the weekly mission.
Tips: Explain to the students what the videos are for. Many are shy using cameras and videos.
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Examples: Possible missions could be: Get real! Show your entrepreneurial spirit and collect stories for â‚Ź1. How is the refugee situation in Austria? Why does it happen? Who are you? Tell me what you wanna do! Learning about dignity and dreams in extreme situation. Understanding our power and using our possibilities. Using materials that we have around us in order to document our experiences. Make somebody smile on the streets or get them a pleasant surprise! Exchange goods within 1,5hs and get something more valuable for it. Start with a pen. Conducting personal and group reflection and creating a personal log book
Action: Reflecting on and harvesting of the learning experience are essential parts of the EoT YOUTH. It is important to have a check-in each morning to clarify the goals for each day and see how students make progress on the group mission. In the evening there is a check-out during which the students are able to reflect upon their personal learning of the day. Besides that, the facilitator offers a small booklet, the EoT YOUTH log book, in which students can collect their learning and write down the reflections of each day.
The log book consists of following parts.
Personal Learning Process What did you learn throughout the day? Why did you do what you were doing? What was your personal intention? What helped you? What hindered you? What talents and strengths did you develop? Description of daily missions and fun challenges Goal for the next day Addresses and description of the partner organizations.
Results: Their learning process is documented and visible. They created videos, pictures, concepts and wrote about their experiences.
Tips: A template of the EoT YOUTH logbook can be requested from presente!.
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What worked very well with the kids was to play the superhero game both in the beginning and the end of the process. It was especially interesting to see the progress that all made and how they are experiencing each other after going through this intense processes. The SuperHero Game is explained below. Page | 27
Figure 6. The SUPERHERO GAME
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
Event in which a variety of educational activists gather creativity and a stronger participation of diverse and intergenerational groups in decision making processes in order to solve future challenges of our society. Page | 28
2.3 Montessori motivational strategies The Montessori Method of education is a holistic approach designed to take full advantage of the students desire to develop their own capabilities. Some of the Montessori principles can be used to increase the students’ motivation, which is the main aim of the Ei YoU! Project.
2.3.1 Experimentation & exploration The Montessori Method underlines the power of learning when it takes place within the contexts of authentic tasks, issues, and problems that are aligned with real-world concerns and real practical activities. The basic idea is that students are more likely to be interested in what they are learning, they are more motivated to learn new concepts and skills and are better prepared to succeed if what they are learning mirrors real-life contexts, equips them with practical and useful skills and addresses topics relevant and applicable to their lives outside the school environment. This approach is particularly interesting for students: they favour practical learning activities which enable them to draw on their prior skills and knowledge. Nowadays students are realistic and have insights about what is likely to learn/do and what is not. They are readily able to relate new facts to past experiences and enjoy having their talents and knowledge explored in teaching practical situations. The most used combinations include "seeing", "doing" and "discussing". Findings demonstrate that a well-planned program delivery system that includes opportunities to see, experience, and discuss should greatly enhance the learning process and the students’ motivation. "Knowing" is different from "doing": when there is the opportunity to apply the knowledge, the lesson typically becomes much more real.
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
2.3.2 Creation of a more connected space Montessori stated that the process of “absorbing” occurs also through the senses. A wellprepared, learner-centred environment is a sensorial one, which reflects beauty, simplicity, and order. It provides well-chosen materials and activities, which are required for learning. The learning space must be built around two main principles which are physical, and sociocultural. The physical environment includes objects such as: chairs arranged in a circle or around a square table, better if comfortable ones; free access to the library and to other information resources and laboratories. This space does NOT force people to keep “still” but encourages movement and exchange of ideas. The socio-cultural environment is the basis of good teaching practices, and its role in shaping an appropriate learning environment is summed up using just a handful of keywords. These are used to relate to actions taken by the teacher: modelling; coaching; scaffolding (and fading); and actions requested of the learners: articulating, reflecting and exploring.
2.3.3 Designing of education in terms of creativity and stimulation The solution proposed by Maria Montessori is to foster a high level of creative approaches not only reserved to artistic activities but related to all daily didactic actions of both teachers and students. Maria Montessori proposed to consider the role of visual stimulation not only reserved to artistic activities but in general as a part of didactic connections. As regards the stimulation Maria Montessori stated that “the creativity is a powerful means of strengthening the perceptual component without which productive thinking is impossible in any field of endeavour”. Creativity demands applying, analysing, and evaluating and for this reason creativity can thus be thought of as the highest form of thinking, and is necessary for innovation, particularly in teaching.
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2.3.4 Development of senses and physical approach, involving also technologies Some learners need to be involved in not static activities to acquire a proper dimension of learning. Nowadays we define this approach as kinaesthetic learning. Kinaesthetic learning is one of four learning styles defined by different authors as visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinaesthetic. Research has shown that kinaesthetic learning results in increased learning outcomes for all students (see: Coffield, F., Moseley, D., Hall, E., Ecclestone, K. (2004). Learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning. A systematic and critical review. London: Learning and Skills Research Centre).
Aspects of the psychomotor domain include:
Perception – using sensory cues to guide motor activities; Readiness to act – includes mental, physical and emotional readiness, e.g. prepared to act upon a sequence of instructions; Guided Response – learning a complex skill through imitation and trial and error; following instructions; Mechanism – learned responses become habitual, movements performed with confidence and proficiency; Complex overt response – performance of complex movement patterns; Adaptation – movements can be modified or adapted to fit special situations; Origination – creating new movement patterns to fit a situation.
2.3.5 Stimulation of a visual approach and the ability to use one’s emotional side Maria Montessori pointed out in several of her works that a surface with marks on it is attractive and students tend to interpret the symbols they see. A sign is therefore a “picture” and pictures tend to carry meanings and are consequently a grammar in pictures. Although picture perception is essentially an inborn trait, skills must be learned. Nowadays this theory can be defined as “Visual Learning”.
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Visual learners generally think in pictures and are good at visualizing concepts and information in their mind. Visual learners like information served up in the form of hand-outs, graphs, charts, diagrams, and text.
2.3.6 Observational learning A great deal of learning happens indirectly, mainly through the process of watching and imitating others. In psychology, this is known as observational learning which is a type of learning that occurs as a function of observing, retaining and replicating the behaviour of others. Observational learning is not the same as pure imitation of another’s behaviour. Observational learning occurs as a result of witnessing another person, but is performed later and cannot be explained as having been taught in any other way. This type of learning also encompasses the concept of behaviour avoidance as a result of seeing another person behave in a certain way with negative consequences. Often, also in their social relations, the response of a student to something is influenced by what he/she has observed or seen from others (who are often referred to as models). These outcomes of the modeled behaviour are also called vicarious because they arouse emotional reactions in the observer. The two components of vicarious reinforcement are: the behaviour of a model produces reinforcement for a particular behaviour, and second, positive emotional reactions are aroused in the observer.
3. Workshops Programs for Teachers 3.1 Local workshops ("How are the effects of youth unemployment made visible in my school/classroom/students?") Local workshops aims to describe in real situations each school challenges, from the teacher and classroom perspective. The workshops will gather teachers to contribute to the characterization of visible impacts of youth unemployment in students’ motivation and the role of school to face those facts. Each workshop should take two hours.
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Portugal, Italy, Austria and Turkey will deliver a local report achieved after the two workshops with teachers, where the completion of a two-way table will be performed: first, identifying all problematic situations at each school, and second, the proposed solutions corresponding to each problem. A compiled report with the contributions from all will demonstrate the results from local discussions. The final report will reveal what are the main consequences of unemployment in each of the educational context, giving a clear definition to the problem, in terms of attitudes, behaviours and emotions of the students.
Facilitators For each workshop, project partners shall prepare workshop facilitators. The ideal would be that every partner has 2 facilitators per workshop, to share the responsibilities of: Organizing the place and the materials needed; Engage the participants and create a warm climate; Keep track of the aims of the workshop; Support the participants and revise the plan according the needs; Register every possible result: taking pictures, saving the notes of the exercises, create a portfolio of evidences; Monitor and Evaluate the workshop; Write a report of the day, describing the results.
3.1.1 First workshop – Problems The 1st local workshop will promote the dialogue between teachers, aiming to: 1.
Analyse the problem of the impact of youth unemployment on students’ motivation and achievements;
2. Identify the factors behind that problem; 3. Understanding how the problem is made visible in their classrooms and schools.
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Here is a proposed programme: Time (0 – 2 hours)
Activities
0-5 min.
Welcome and presentation of the workshop aims.
5-15 min.
Icebreaking and creative mind set Singing in Finnish. This is a children’s folk song from Finland that uses onomatopoeic words that children can identify with. It works as well with teachers. The music for this song is attached in the file and available for download from: https://app.box.com/s/y5grfsoald23vrw5k230
Resources Page | 33 Computer Speakers Projector Audio player on the laptop.
Lempon Koira / Lempo´s Dog Finnish/ Suomalainen Lempon koira mettään mennee Kipi kapi kipi kapi kotia tullee Lempon kissa mettään mennee Sipu sapu sipu sapu kotia tullee Lempo itte mettään mennee Rupi rapi rupi rapi ruajana tullee English Lempo´s dog goes to the forest Kipi kapi kipi kapi 8 and runs homeward Lempo´s cat goes to the forest Sipu sapu sipu sapu 9 and runs homeward Lempo goes to the forest Rupi rapi rupi rapi 10 and limps homeward
15- 35 min.
Step by step: Workshop leader plays the song on a computer equipped with speakers. The text of the song (both languages are translated into the native language of the group attending the workshop) is displayed through a projector. The leader speaks about the song. The song is played again and attendees are asked to join in. The song can be played a final time, but without the words displayed, everyone joins in. Inspiration (Design Thinking/ Visual Learning) A set of pictures or cartoons are exposed (printed or in data show) to all participants. The pictures don’t need to be direct illustrations of youth unemployment, school leaving or other. People will find their way to make connections and these will bring new insights of the problem. Everyone shall choose a picture that they find more representative of the problem. Everyone will tell the reasons of their choice.
8 In Finnish ’Kipi kapi, kipi kapi’ means to come quickly 9 In Finnish ’Sipi sapu’ sounds like a cat tiptoeing 10 In Finnish Rupi means a scab so ,’Rupi rapi’ sounds like someone has been a little bit hurt, poor thing
One picture/cartoon per participant.
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
35 – 50 min.
Reflections on paper (Automatic writing) Each participant shall work individually in a piece of paper. In the top of the page is written the question “How are the effects of youth unemployment made visible in my school/classroom/students?” Below the question each person shall start to write automatically everything (reinforce everything) that comes to their mind as answer, during 7 minutes. After this time people stop writing and will then answer the question with more awareness to what they experience in their daily work and thinking over about their own experience with students. In the end allow some time for people to share their writings.
50 – 60 min.
Relax.
60 – 100 min.
Let people get up and walk in the room. Look outside. Eat a snack or have coffee. Finding common ground – World Café World Café - a talk process structured in groups of people to discuss the issue - in this case - "How are the effects of youth unemployment made visible in my school/classroom/students?" - Several tables, with individuals switching tables periodically. At each table there are a host who presents the discussion to arriving. The host also changes periodically. The main table discussion topics will be recorded in the "towel" of this table. Thus, people are able to participate in different discussion groups, which evolve with the arrival of new during the methodology. In order to better organize the movement, each person receives a card with a different code. In each group all have different cards, except for the host who has none.
100 – 120 min.
Context flower (synthesis, interpretation) Let the people in the same groups as they ended in the World Café. For each group deliver a sheet of paper with the following diagram. In the centre of flower are the effects of youth unemployment and surrounding it there should be identified the main factors from the context contributing to it.
Pencil and paper for all participants.
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Box of sweets. Coffee. Coloured cards to all participants. The number of colours depends on the number of people in a table, when all people are distributed equally per tables. Everyone in a table gets a different colour. Big sheets of paper (like flipchart sheets) – one for each table. Markers. Pencil and printed paper with the template diagram.
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
3.1.2 Second workshop – Solutions The second workshop follow the work from the first one, but it now focuses on finding solutions for the problem. The question of reference changes to “How might we tackle the effects that Page | 35
youth unemployment has in students/schools?” As the problem was described and understood in the first workshop, the second workshop aims to: 1. Promote creativity and innovation within participants. 2. Achieve ideas to tackle the problem on focus. 3. Promote the discussion and the evaluation of ideas, towards consensus.
Time
Activities
(0 – 2 hours) 0-5 min.
Welcome and presentation of the workshop aims.
5-15 min.
Icebreaking and warm up
Resources
Whiteboard and markers
The group is asked to give answers to the question “How would you find a needle in haystack”, orally. The facilitator tries to write in the whiteboard all the different answers given and should reinforce the group to search for more answers, motivating for non-sense and surreal options. The quicker the answers are heard the better. Do not permit judgment, be playful. 15- 45 min.
Brainstorming in big group (ideation) Deliver a block of post-it to each participant. Ask people to write down, individually, their ideas to answer the question: “How might we tackle the effects that youth unemployment has in students/schools?” Allow time for the people to find at least 7 ideas, and then ask everyone to post their ideas in the white board. Read loud all the post-its. You will find that there will be similar ideas or ideas that can be associated with others. Try to find “clusters” and organize the post-it’s into groups in the board. Ask people their opinion. You should find no more than 5 clusters, if you don’t achieve at first, make two rounds of associations. Name the final clusters and write down their names in the board. Divide the participants into groups, in order to match each group to one cluster of ideas. Ask people which cluster would they like to work in. Remember that the groups should be more or less equivalent in the number of people.
White board Post-its (a block per person) Markers
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45 – 75 min.
Team work to prototype Let the members of the group seat together and arrange the furniture of the room to work in groups. Once the people are seated, deliver them big sheets of paper (A3 size or flipchart paper) and the written post-it’s that correspond to their clusters, from the stage before. Ask the group to find a name for their team. Now instruct the groups to go through the post-its again, analyse them and select one idea to work on. This idea should be the one that combines feasibility with higher impact. Upon the selected idea, the group shall think and demonstrate an implementation plan. The plan should be represented in the white paper using diagrams, comics, roadmaps or other visual/graphic illustration. The prototype should be as detailed as possible. During the work, facilitators shall support the groups in finding their way. Give some tips but allow new discoveries. Motivate the team spirit and the better performance (you can tell that their work will be presented to all after, e.g.).
75 – 85 min.
Relax. Let people get up and walk in the room. Look outside. Eat a snack or have coffee.
85 – 110 min.
Markers Post-its Big sheets of paper per group.
Box of sweets. Coffee.
Revision and evolution of the solutions Each group will select a speaker to present their implementation plan (prototype) to the whole room of participants. The participants will discuss and give tips of improvement. They can ask questions to understand better. The discussion shall be open and rich but focused, do not let people derive to other subjects. Manage the time to deliver the same opportunity of discussion to all groups. After the presentations, each group shall write down the needs of improvement and make some revision of the prototypes. Collect the sheets of all groups.
110 – 120 min.
Release and celebration Congratulate the participants for the good job during the workshop. Offer them an empty balloon. Ask the people to blow their balloons (letting all the inner pressure free) and then put all the balloons together in the centre of room. Put some dance music on. Gather the people around the balloons and tell them to explode the balloons.
Balloons (at least one per participant) Speakers Music Player in the Laptop
Ei YoU! Methodological Guide
3.2 Transnational workshops Transnational workshops aim to reunite teachers from different backgrounds and contexts to exchange knowledge about problems and solutions. These correspond with the teaching and Page | 37 learning mobility’s (C1). Each participating partner will bring 4 teachers from local schools to gather as a transnational working group with common objectives, 3 times during the project, aside the project meetings.
3.2.1 Workshop in Austria Aims: Comprehend and assimilate their role as co-creators and innovators in the classroom; Experiment methods and tools for innovation; Brainstorm about the impact of youth unemployment in schools and students: production of intervention ideas; Establish close relationships.
3.2.2 Workshop in Croatia Aims: Generate prototypes for intervention with students; Peer review of achievements.
3.2.3 Workshop in Portugal Aims: Preparation of the piloting phase; Revision of the prototype solutions; Contributions for the transnational report.