Last August I had the chance to take part in an amazing training course about leadership that was hosted by MUYA (Malta UNESCO Youth Association). The main objectives were to give participants a better understanding of a leader’s role (in youth exchanges) and to equip them with different tools to use in the future in youth exchanges while being a group leader. All this in the hopes of encouraging young people to take up a group leader’s position in Erasmus+ youth exchanges. 

We started the course with different team-building and name-learning games and used different non-formal methods to understand a leader’s position and role in general and in youth exchanges more deeply. We also got to hear about participants’ experiences with being a group leader and offer different suggestions on what we would have done differently, had we been in the same situation. The week continued with looking deeper into the leader’s role in resolving different possible conflicts and reflecting on different leader-types through role-play and scketches. 

After that we learned more about how a non-formal education session should be built and got some useful tips, and then we got to design our own sessions: we could choose a topic that interested us the most and the outcome was surprisingly versatile- workshops about paradoxes, cyber safety, active lifestyle, stereotypes and body language (a workshop that I helped design). We also got to attend most of the workshops and received (and gave) feedback from the participants and trainers. 

I feel that the training course gave me more than what was written in the objectives- I met a lot of really interesting, devoted people from different countries who I would want to work or collaborate with in the future and feel that I gained a lot of confidence and social skills.

Although our daily schedule was pretty full of learning and different activities, the time in between sessions and in the evenings were filled equally actively. We had a lot of chances to get to know each other. Our trainers even made up some question jars in case we run out of (or don’t have the courage to) things to say to one another. Evenings were filled with dancing that some of the participants taught, singing, philosophising,conducting some social experiments, learning about each others cultures, walks to the beautiul Dingli cliffs and munching on a lot of Maltese food. In the middle of the week MUYA also took us to Mdina- the old capital of Malta. We got to discover the city for a little bit and after that we were taken to a beach barbeque were we got to swim in the Mediterranean sea, enjoy the best viewing point for sunset in Malta and again- enjoy a lot of Maltese food. 

The project was a perfect example of that you can learn a lot and have a lot of fun at the same time. I did learn a lot about leadership, got some good new ideas for team-building excercises, on how to give feedback and different possible ways to resolve conflicts. I also benefitted a lot on the body-language workshop because I had to do a lot research for it and I’ve been implementing that knowledge in my everyday life. Not only am I not afraid to take up a group leader role in youth exchanges but the training course helped me in my everyday work too. Learning more about good leadership skills is especially important and practical for everyone working with young people- skills that usually are not taught so much in universities.

I feel that the training course gave me more than what was written in the objectives- I met a lot of really interesting, devoted people from different countries who I would want to work or collaborate with in the future and feel that I gained a lot of confidence and social skills (also really important qualities in youth work…). 

Anna-Liisu
Shokkin Group member and participant of LEAD

 

I started with Shokkin Group Estonia a short time ago, and LEAD was my second project with them, this time a training course in Malta and about leadership, a topic I was really interested in. I am so excited to have had this training course, as it was exactly what I was looking for.

I got to know more about leadership styles, attitude and approach of a leader, as well as learning on how to manage crucial moments while working with youth, when your decision power requires the most critical calculations and what would be the elements make a decision.
During the week there were a lot of activities, but my favorite part was the game-based learning and the joint exercises and presentations on a different topics that was really helpful during the training.
The most surprising moment for me was my birthday celebration and wishes from the group, but when we see as an interpersonal communication skills I was so surprised to see the common on different topics and issues we discussed. Between sessions we discussed many different topics and participants were very open and contributed a lot towards those critical topics which made discussions more interesting.

The impact of it’s training was amazing. I changed my leadership style according to the situations and as per public needs which was very beneficial for me in my career and education.

Khawar
Shokkin Group member and participant of LEAD

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