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The Egyesek Method
Project Result 1
Introduction
Training courses might have several aims based on your creativity, vision, goals, and content knowledge. There are several smart frameworks that describe group dynamics, learning models or pedagogical approaches. They are great and useful. We will also be referring to some of them in this book as they can be lighthouses in the middle of the chaos.
However, our goal with this curriculum has never been just another handbook among the numerous already existing training materials. What we offer here is more a set of principles, and a particular approach which brings results in our journey of non formal education (NFE). A journey that might have sometimes seemed unorthodox or far away from the regular rules and principles of NFE, yet creating extraordinary results.
Throughout the book we are going to share a story and a way of thinking, an approach beyond the usual NFE materials.
Background
We keep on facing the challenge to prove that non formal educational programs in the field of youth are highly professional. To prove that trainers and youth workers have an enormous amount of skills and knowledge that enables them to create professional and tailormade learning activities for several different target groups including those who face with challenges in life. To prove that those methods we use are more complex than sitting in circles and drawing together – as many stakeholders used to imagine our sector.
In order to show them that all our work is beyond those stereotypes we decided to work out a process that validates our training curriculum. This process is based on a research of the hereby presented methodology done by group of professionals. The process is called ProfessionalED.
Egyesek Youth Association has been working on the field of youth work and training for more than 20 years. During this time there have been about 9000 people going through our projects, they were all part of this extraordinary process in order to polish the method that has created long term results. Organizations were established, communities created, beautiful personal stories happened – people finding their path, their meaning, their vision. Participants for sure created a value-based community.
We saw, experienced and witnessed beautiful results of our processes, yet we were not able to show “the magic” in numbers. ProfessionalED eventually brought this.
The principles
The group in a training course are a learning community. There are trainers whose job is to deliver the training, and the learners whose job is to receive the training and learnings in a way that makes sense and that they can implement them in their lives. Everybody has the opportunity to learn and develop. The community is also based on the fact that people are handled as equal participants with the most potential for their own development.
People are treated as they are: adult learners with the ability to respond on events that happen in a learning environment and to have the accountability for their own personal and professional development. To us, it is an important basic principle to have the belief that people have all the resources to create anything for themselves in their lives. They might just need new inputs to trigger those resources to be used, and/or to find their purposes and competences they need in order to fulfil them.
This also shows our other principle: for us, training is almost always based on adopting an empowering coaching and mentoring attitude. That often means the use of appreciative inquiry and coaching questions instead of filling participants with ready-made answers. That does not exclude the sharing of models or tools that work for us especially in youth work. It means, however, that people might need to find their own answer for certain questions raised up. With this we also create the atmosphere of trust in the people that come together in any of the learning communities.
Saying all this, we trust the groups to create an accepting and safe learning environment by being open, vulnerable, accountable and willing to learn from each other. Trainers are there to hold the space for this creation process.
Our programs are long. Our experience shows that in order to have a training experience, that people do not forget about two weeks later, and that has the potential to create a long-term impact with a possible attitude change, needs to have minimum an 8-days-long intense program. In this way, when the training is over, the digestion of the newly acquired skills and knowledge can still continue. This causes the challenge to show the impact of our programs but more importantly assures that individuals have a once-in-a-lifetime experience to build in to their lives. Furthermore this helps us to do the proper follow-up. When people decide to commit themselves to a long-term learning experience, the effort they put into their own self-development is higher. This also leads to a type of connection with other learners, and the supports following up their practices and learning. This is also how we might guarantee their return within this project for at least two, and in some cases three, training programs within 1,5 years.
Simulations and roleplays are great training tools, yet, according to all the feedback we have received regarding our method, these are the two elements that were the most impactful:
Real-life experience by submerging
We create spaces for putting everything that participants already know and newly acquired skills and tools into practice still in a safe, mentored environment. It is crucial that they have the opportunity to practice while still being trained.
Element of surprise
It is important to us that in our programs we work with context. We create an atmosphere based upon the goal of the activity and we hold the space for the participants to fill the context with their own content. This is how we make sure that the programs answer individuals’ learning needs. Building context means that we use specific language, tools, materials and methods to provide a particular setup in which the learners have the unique opportunity to experience situations that bring new insight, knowledge or development.
You will see in the chapter of the description of the method how these come together.
If you ask anyone about Egyesek’s trainings, you will most likely hear about ‘outdoor’, ‘surprise’, ‘learning community’, ‘laboratory’, ‘experience for a lifetime’, ‘weird’, ‘unique’ or the combination of those words. And, on top of that, words like ‘horrible’, ‘very strange’, ‘tiring’, ‘(too) intense’, ‘simply bad’, will be used as, based on the learner’s points of view, these too can be true.
Still, one thing is for sure, we work with our method with the belief that it brings value to the world and with the vision that we wish to live together in this world peacefully in a way that everybody can contribute freely with whatever they are capable of by using their best potential.
The methodology
Egyesek’s method combines a traditional non formal approach with the approach of coaching and open youth work. By traditional, we mean basic element of non formal education: understanding group dynamics and working with them, using Kolb’s theory as the basis of experiential learning, changing the setup, and creating a space where learning can take place with highly participatory practices.
What makes our approach unique? Our bravery to turn all the above-mentioned approaches upside down with unconventional elements.
Specific elements of our method:
Theatre play setup and submerging
We think about the training design as a theatre play’s script that has an introduction, a climax and an ending. And the most crucial part, for which we build up the whole design is the climax. This is what we refer to as submerging. All of our educational projects have a phase where participants are not part of a simulation or a role play but they are put into an actual real-life situation in which they get mentored/coached based on what happens. This requires flexibility from the trainers since they have to be ready to answer to different learning needs and unexpected events. So will the participants!
This serves the following purposes:
This results in such a strong experience that it can set energy and creativity free, as well as empower learners to work further on.
In this particular program, the climax was the laboratory on the first training, the learning community on the second training and the real field work on the third program. In other programs we facilitate it is an outdoor experience with limited resources, or in other events we create the context for participants to plan and deliver a full training program for unknown groups.
The idea is to give minimum input and train on real-life experience within a training program. This is what we refer to as “learning by submerging”. Participants never know beforehand what that part will be like exactly or how it will be organized. And this is where the next important element becomes crucial.
Element of surprise
Not knowing the exact upcoming program elements creates curiosity and trains flexibility. Participants might have fears and stress about the unknown and this is something the trainers work with on the spot individually if needed. By learning in a safe environment within a group context, participants can overcome several obstacles and previous misjudgments which will empower them enormously. They realize their own potential might be higher and they might decide to develop certain competence forward. And this is the point of the “surprise”: people do not need to be spoon-fed or told what they are supposed to learn. They need a context where they can find their path and grow professionally and personally. If they knew the solutions to a riddle the chance of personal learning would be taken away.
International team
On our programs we work with a team of volunteers which is established from people who participated in one of our learning programs before. They went through the experience and took their learning and decided that they would like to support others’ learning journey. Their presence is based on the mindset that they would like to gain more experience and in the meantime make it possible for other to have a great experience. This brings an extra layer in terms of community and serving for non formal learning. The team has a particular role and all members have their unique roles and responsibilities. It is important to set a smooth training environment in terms of practicalities, simultaneously providing a learning opportunity to the team members.
Trainers
We believe that the trainer’s role is to create a context where participants can maximize their learning. They are professionals who handle learners as who they are: adults with their own capabilities, willingness and accountability. Trainers are not there to demonstrate authority or power. They are there to create, hold space and support learning with the method they are representing. They posses specific knowledge of the topic of the training they deliver and have experience in the field. Thus they can bring their own examples and personal reflections when it helps the process. Their approach is coaching based: while they have knowledge and experience to share they empower people to find their own answers first to ensure that the learning becomes embodied and owned by the participants.
They support the participants to take real ownership for their own development, which will lead to a much more efficient and longer-lasting improvement.
Follow up and mentoring
To monitor the competence development of participants, we use the Skills Builder framework alongside Youthpass competencies for youth workers. This approach enabled us to track progress and ensure that participants were actively developing key skills throughout the project.
Skills Builder Framework and Youthpass Competences
Before and after each of our training courses, participants were required to self-assess their skills using the Skills Builder framework. This allowed them to reflect on their own development and identify areas for improvement. In addition to self-assessment, participants received feedback based on the same framework. This feedback was facilitated by mentors who guided participants through the assessment process, offering constructive advice and direction on how to further develop their competencies. Participants applied the skills and knowledge they gained in real-life settings, through field work. Their development was continuously supported and mentored throughout the entire cycle. The Skills Builder framework can be used both individually and with groups. For further information about the framework, visit the page with translation option available:
Conclusions
We created this description of “The Egyesek Method” because there was a need to have a shareable format to see our “secret”. However, the truth is that there is no real secret. Our method works because of the above mentioned elements and because it serves a purpose: to share what we know, what works for us, and what we have kept on improving constantly for 25 years now.
People strive to develop themselves in a group context and with our programs we provide a supportive, inspiring community where they have the chance to improve and learn individually; where they can practice having an accountable attitude towards their own learning and get empowered by their own successes and reflections.
In the program table you might find program elements that are familiar, expressions you came across before on other programs. What makes it unique is the setup and the approach described above. In case you wish to use it more professionally, feel free to reach out on .
We wish you a wonderful learning journey!
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