GRUNDTVIG FORWARD Workshop methodologies

TARGET GROUP Choosing correctly the target group is the first step for the success of a practical workshop on citizenship.In our social context it is important to involve whole family groups.Working within a school gives us a serious advantage to involve families( children attending schools,their parents and grandparents). All this work is possible only involving the teachers who are a reference for the families in the surrounding territory. Of course the audience is mostly female as mothers and grandmothers are more sensible and more involved in themes such as education and improvement of their childen and the place they live in.

THE TRAINERS Another step is the choice of the trainers. Usually referent teachers and the collaborating psychologists are the main trainers of our workshops. In particular workshops some of the trainers were our students who, opportunely trained, leaded the workshops in an upside down of the roles among different generations.

Our learners

THE SET Main set is a large comfortable room equipped with pc, projectors and speakers. The audience is sit all around a small group of leaders ( trainers ) coordinated by the psychologists and the referent teachers. The main topic is set by the trainers and the following debates involve the audience.

METHODOLOGIES The workshop methodologies can be : Introduction of a topic through a ppt, a video and small examples by the trainers group, administration of a questionnaire to the audience ( 4-5 questions), open debate leaded by a moderator,with different age groups making questions and answers, conclusions by the trainers proposing activities to do in the audience groups, monitoring of the results of the proposed activities.

GUIDELINES What makes a workshop successful? The aims- clear and easy to verify and monitored, adapted to the social tissues they relie on. The choice of the target group- correct range, presence of motivated persons within it,presence of leaders able to involve the others, empathy among the participants. The theme proposed- it has to appeal to their life experience, to answer their needs in the closest way to their daily life. The activities to be carried on – simple and at their ease, involving both trainers and trainees, easy to be monitored. The evaluation- clear and detailed, through grids and direct observation, giving hints to next step of the educational process.

OPEN DEBATES WORKSHOPS Workshop on intergenerational conflict: Target group – Laura Lanza’s school students with their parents and grandparents Trainers _ psychologists (one moderator), a group of experienced parents, teachers of the school Methodologies _ introduction of the theme by the moderator – how we acted like children when we were the same age of our actual children. Differences and similarities – Open discussion within the trainers group Involvement of the audience with small practical examples – open discussion- differences and similarities – comparing different attitudes Conclusions by the moderator – suggestions for further discussions Evaluation by referent teachers

INTERACTIVE CREATIVE WORKSHOPS Group realizing a poster on Europe day Another kind of methodology is the practical group work on a theme- trainers and learners divided into small groups work together to create a final craftwork on a theme which is introduced by the group of trainers- what is evaluated is the cooperation, involvement, ability to work together among different generations and the quality of the exchange taking place.

GRUNDTVIG FORWARD NETWORK