What challenge inspired this recipe?
We think that proper preparation of the volunteers for the activities they are carrying is very important for both parties. If the hosting organization is providing the tasks for the volunteers on the field activity it is very crucial for teaching the volunteers new methods and tools to incorporate in their work.
At our organization long term volunteers work with kids with fewer opportunities in school and youth center setting and others with communication. After years of practice we realized only the on-boarding is not enough but we need a monthly refresher by bringing in new learning opportunities for them. It both helps to keep the motivation and learning path of the volunteer.
Ingredients :
Training material depending on the games , flipchart, post its etc.
Step by step guide
Usually at the first week of the month we dedicate a full day training for the volunteers on a set topic. Based on previous discussion with the volunteers about their work ( what difficulties do they have, what new methods would they like to learn) and our input we plan the day.
In our case we use non formal education and experiential pedagogy while working with kids. In this case mostly on our training we focus on the following topics – teaching the volunteers new games, how can we choose the best game for our purpose, what type of games do we have , how to plan a session, what to do in case the game is not working. Based on the topic we choose the best methods to deliver the training.
At the end of the session we do a reflection round where the volunteers can share their learning points.
During the technical day we also cover other important topics – how to give feedback, exploring communication styles, Youthpass competences, talking about finances for the project. In these cases we also invite other staff members to hold this session – about finances usually our financial administrator, about communication our communication officer. It can happen also that one technical day is focusing only one topic and we invite someone from outside of the organization as well.
Important to highlight!We think this practice is a success because:
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Before you start cooking, keep in mind…
In the methodology I described a one day training for the ones who are working with kids and the hosting organization is giving the tasks. At some jobs the monthly training can be a lot so the frequency can be adjusted or for some jobs one shorter on-boarding is enough.
