5 Things We Learnt from the Career Helper Training

Members from Career Disha Nepal had travelled all the way to Portugal in March this year (2018). There we learnt a lot amongst other, about how to hold workshops and to plan an effective scheduling focused on youth workers. We tried out all that we learnt in the 5 days ‘Career Helper Training’. We have consequently listed out the major 5 aspects we learnt from the ‘successful’+ training. (+we found that out through the reflective sessions)

1. Stay close to the context and stay focused
2. The training members should get to know each other
3. Make it FUN
4. Move on to practical real-life examples after the theoretical knowledge if possible
5. Reflect upon the training at the end of the day

Most training follows this, and it need not be reiterated that staying close to the target and not getting distracted by other topics is a must. What needs to be emphasized however is that the attendants do need to know the concrete targets and the expectations from the training. Understanding the final output of the training should be a priority.

Make sure that the training is well planned, written & documented and the plan is shared among the trainees.

The training is not only between the trainees and trainer but also to a great extent between the trainees themselves. Especially for the youth workers, knowing the experiences of different organization and how different challenges were tackled is sometime greater than the content of the training itself. Getting to know the trainees closely, making them comfortable, helps the team to be open to each other which undoubtedly will bring the best in each of us. Partnership and networking is therefore created without much friction.

Create a lot of team building games. Be certain that the trainees know each other’s names and understand their organizations closely.

Youth workers need to extrapolate all that they have learnt and need to use their experience to their youths. Youths amongst other things, cannot (or will not) retain a lot of information if they are bored. One can make the training interesting by using more than 1 method for disseminating information. Examples can include PowerPoint, Drawing, Story-telling, training related games etc.

Recognize if the audience is getting bored and when they are, use related games and energizers to spice up the learning technique.

How exactly does learning about the youth psychology help the youth workers to better understand the youths? How does understanding the labour market help youths better orient their education? Understanding is just one step, making the learning outcomes become visible is what needs to happen.

Make sure that the youth-centred-trainings explain the direct practical benefits and use the training time, through various methods, to actually show how to use the learning in real life.

What use of the training if it does not include personal voices? Reflecting on the training session can better orient the trainers as well as trainees. It too can enhance the relationship between the two.

Make sure that the trainees get ample time to reflect on what they have learnt. It can be done in a group at the end of each of the training session.