Not all classrooms have four walls. Real excitement is when you are learning in a non-formal way and you don’t even realise how much it is polishing your skills. Simulation & roleplay games are appealing and fun for everybody, making it ideal as a tool for educational work with youngsters.
Recently, I got an amazing opportunity to experience the inspiring and extremely motivating Erasmus+ training course “Game Zone” organized by Shokkin Group Estonia, Association La Villa France and Be International, which took place from 07.08-14.08.2021 in Vieux-Boucau, France. The aim of this training course was to equip youth workers & youth leaders with tools, frameworks and space to create and implement educational games that address social issues and can be applied in their environments.
Before the project, I was a little nervous and confused about how I would manage everything and how the training would go. But it turned out that this was the best training I ever had in my life up till now. Everything was super easy because I was with the best people who guided me, supported me, taught me and made my training joyful in the best possible way.
I got to know from them that what we learn with pleasure, we never forget. They showed me that cross-cultural learning can be transformative. This training really transformed me in so many great ways.
In the middle of this training we started to make our own educational game in groups, and by the end of the training we had our own fully analyzed and tested game. Through this training course, we discovered how to use educational games as a method of youth work.
The biggest gift which we all got from this training was the company of awesome people from different countries, who were together like a family. We shared many beautiful moments, made awesome memories and had an amazing time. I never knew that strangers can get so close in so little time. These people left the biggest footprint on my heart. We used every bit of time we could to enjoy each other’s company.
All those beautiful moments with awesome people still makes me smile when I think of it. Looking forward to the time when we all meet again after passing the knowledge which we learned in this training course to others so that next time we all meet we have more awesome stories and experiences to share. 🙂
Zishan Khan Aziz
Shokkin Group member and participant of “Game Zone”
