"VAN" (Europe Bureau - Aleksey Vesyoliy - 14.06.2022) :: Today almost half of the world’s population is under the age of 24. This is the largest youth population the world has ever known. Throughout the world, millions of young people live in fragile and conflict affected contexts and face violence and armed conflicts. The socio economic and political environment in which young people live can also have a serious impact on their abilities and wellbeing. Denied resources, skills and opportunities, many young people fall into unemployment or take low-paying jobs that leave them struggling to survive. Young people need empowerment to succeed in life.
The younger generation is currently faced with a situation where there is no only a lack of jobs, but many jobs are simply inaccessible to many, especially those who live in deprived areas and who may not have access to adequate education and training. Every human deserves to dream big and achieve his or her potential.
How to empower young people?
Often young people can feel like they are stuck. The expectations they have for themselves, as well as the pressures of planning a future, can make it hard for them to cope. Coaching can help young people develop life skills and learn how to manage some of the stresses that come along the way. Coaching is designed to encourage personal development in young people while providing guidance for their future.
Coaching can help:
• Building confidence;
• setting and achieving goals;
• managing stress;
• discussing difficult issues.
In order to explore main principles of coaching two youth field representatives Sintija and Nellija from Latvia traveled to Austria to participate in the international training course "Pillars of Empowerment" taking place from 30 May- 7 June 2022. Training course gathered together youth field activists from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey, Macedonia, Latvia, Hungary, Italy, and Portugal and was held in an old farm in Strengberg around 150 km from Vienna situated in a beautiful region next to Danube.
The training course was organized by the Slovak NGO EduEra in cooperation with coaches Lorenzo Nava from Italy and Dita Palaščáková from the Czech Republic. International training course "Pillars of Empowerment" focused on how to use coaching and graphic facilitation with a focus on youth empowerment towards competence implementation and goal accomplishment in hence to becoming a change agent in own the local community focusing on youth leadership and leadership empowerment.
What is coaching?
A lot of people associate coaching with therapy but the truth is, coaching is not targeted to help people with their psychological problems. Therapy focuses primarily on the past and can be rooted in managing and coping where coaching is focused to improve the development path of the person taking the current situation as an initial point. It’s forward-based and rooted in empowerment, exploration and possible specific solutions.
Therapy raises the question "why?", while coaching focuses on the present and builds the future, asking more "what?" and "how?" questions. It focuses on solutions and actions by which a client seeks to achieve results, rather than looking for causes of his failures.
Coaching is a useful way of developing people’s skills and abilities, and of boosting performance. It can also help deal with issues and challenges before they become major problems. A coaching session will typically take place as a conversation between the coach and the coachee (person being coached), and it focuses on helping that individual discover answers for themselves regarding a current or future challenge or goal. Nowadays coaching is becoming an increasingly popular method defining and achieving goals. This method is already actively used by entrepreneurs and different leaders, but it can help also to young people interested in developing both a professional career and personal growth. Coaching helps young people by helping them to see themselves more clearly.
Participants learned about coaching main principles, important coaching tools and methods, coaching techniques, and competencies that a coach must-have.
What is the role of the coach? A coach provides space and structure for the reflection that is necessary for learning and growth. Couch helps to understand what your values are and where your actions diverge from your values or stated goals. Coaching is focused and grounded in a future state of what’s possible – however this is only achievable with a clear timeline. Using the S.M.A.R.T. Goal framework is a great starting point for both the conversation as well as to ensure it’s achievable.
A coach can:
• Help individuals continue to improve their craft
• Provide unbiased feedback on the individual’s performance
• Provide tools and techniques to overcome obstacles when the coach is not around
• Provide motivation when it is needed most
No matter the situation, coaching conversations should flow both ways with ample opportunity for mutual feedback and discussion. Probably the most important aspect of both what coaching provides as well as what is needed to ensure a successful coaching experience for everyone involved.
The training both coaches Lorenzo and Dita were professionals in their field and work with all elements of coaching on a daily basis. The trainers shared their practical experience and set very interesting and creative tasks, which allowed the participants to understand the basic principles of coaching in more detail.
Also, during learning specific techniques and methods, participants had the opportunity to hold group sessions, where each participant could apply the acquired knowledge in practice.
During the training, the participants also faced various challenges and tasks that allowed them to stimulate their imagination, get out of their comfort zone and test their limits. One of these tasks was the “journey” of each participant, where it was necessary to travel alone, find the right place in nature where settle down, and spend time alone with themselves to answer internal questions, connect with nature and gain useful insights. This adventure lasted for several hours, with professional trainers giving precise instructions on how the process should take place as well as sharing resources that could help everyone. This experience is very inspiring and gave each participant a fantastic experience.
Participants from Latvia Nellija and Sintija share their experience taking part in training course "Pillars of Empowerment".
"At the beginning of this training course, it was not clear what coaching means, but I got more and more answers to my questions every day. Both coaches Lorenzo and Dita are truly professionals in their field, giving us a very broad insight into coaching, the main issues it covers, and the various tools used in coaching to achieve the desired result. Many different activities allowed each of us to analyze our internal issues, share experiences, as well as have the opportunity to apply the acquired knowledge in practice, we were able to feel like both a coach and a client and lead sessions. I am especially grateful for the outdoor activities, which were planned to the smallest detail and allowed me to get to know myself from the new side. Such training is very useful for personal development, and when each participant returns to their country, it certainly motivates them to address these issues and start working actively with young people. In general, the training was very intensive and very valuable in terms of content," says Sintija.
"I started my training with zero knowledge about coaching, but when analyzing different situations during the training course, I realized that I also face these issues in my daily life. I applied for the training to learn something new and supplement my knowledge and I gained knowledge that I will be able to apply in my life and work with others in the future. I liked the way the coaches worked, each participant had an individual approach, and the coaches listened to our views and also shared their experiences, which allowed us to learn more about coaching tools, methods, and techniques," says Nellija.
International Training course "Pillars of Empowerment" was implemented within the European Union program Erasmus+ KA1. Training course hosting organization was Non Governmental Organization EduEra from Slovakia and training course partner organization from Latvia was Non - Governmental Organization "Donum Animus". Erasmus+ KA1 program provides opportunities for individuals to improve their skills, enhance their employability and gain cultural awareness. Beneficiaries are able to spend a period of time in another participating country gaining valuable experience of life, study and work with the aim of increasing the opportunities available to them in the future. KA 1 is the largest action in Erasmus+ with focus on increasing mobility and skills.
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