In this episode, we had a conversation with Mark Postema, an EduScrum trainer who also teaches English and Physics. Edu what? You might say. EduScrum is a framework that comprises tools and ceremonies aimed at creating a user-centered learning experience. It involves learners and a facilitator working together to achieve this goal, with the framework built on four pillars: transparency, adaptation, review, and trust. During our discussion, Mark emphasized the significance of trust, which we believe is a fundamental aspect of both formal and non-formal learning experiences. Without trust, we ca ..read more

Hello dear listeners,  In this episode, we talked with Paul Kloosterman, a youth worker and author of several publications for youth workers and facilitators. We heard Paul’s story of how he got involved in youth work, but the main topic of our talk was Self-Directed Learning. As the name implies, self-directed learning it’s a process where individuals take responsibility for planning, continuing and evaluating their learning experiences. The role of the learner here is to be curious and find the support needed from fellow learners, facilitators of the learning experience or other resourc ..read more

Hello dear listeners, After more than a year, Talking Youth Work is back. We did miss you. A lot!  We hope you are doing well and are curious to learn about Youth Work with our guests. This time we spoke with Niels Floor, a pioneer of the concept of Learning Experience Design. Niels is a designer himself, and he brought the curiosity and problem-solving abilities of designers to the learning space. How do we create a better learning experience? By putting together some exercises and group dynamics? According to Niels, Learning Experience Design starts with the learners in mind. Who are th ..read more

Dear listeners,   We spoke with Paavo Pyykönen who is a senior program advisor for the Finnish National Agency for the Erasmus+ Youth Program, an european funding line that supports youth work related projects.   Paavo talked about the importance of international youth exchanges, where youngsters can meet peers from other cultures, pursue their interests and grow together as individuals and as citizens. The job of the adults involved is to empower the young people and not treat them like little kids that can't solve problems by themselves. Youth workers should trust that young people ..read more

In this episode, we travel to Madeira's island to explore a new and exciting project: the Digital Nomad Village. We talked to Gonçalo Hall - the founder of the project - who had the project's idea while on an Erasmus+ project in Italy.   Gonçalo discovered digital nomadism six years ago, fell in love with remote work and became a remote work consultant. He also hosts a podcast called Remote Work Movement and started a few businesses around remote work.   Digital nomadism allows global communities to have a positive local impact. When people travel to stay and work in various loc ..read more

Hello dear listeners, First of all, we wish you a super 2021, as this is our first episode this year. To lighten up things we talked to Carmine Rodi, a trainer and standup comedian. Sometimes humor is the best way to bring awareness to certain topics, and youth work has some particularities that Carmine explored in a very humorous way. In the work kit that youth workers and trainers use, comedy and humor can be very useful tools to engage and connect with others, to create bridges, to allow further engagement and deepen hard subjects. The practice of using humor can develop the competences of ..read more

Hello dear listeners, In this episode we talked with Pedro Fabião, an international clown, actor, director, trainer, and psychologist. ​He directed the biggest professional clown organisation in Portugal (www.narizvermelho.pt), where he worked for 16 years. The conversation was about the Art of Clowning and how it can help people develop empathy and self-awareness. Clowns have had a function throughout the ages, as those that push the boundaries, that bring a different perspective. Their power is a counter power. As Pedro pointed out during our conversation there is loads of diversity in ..read more

Hello dear listeners, In this episode we go green. We talked to Antonio Jovanovski, a trainer, an activist and a social entrepreneur. He is a member of the Pool of trainers of Youth@Work partnership (www.youthatworkpartnership.org) and the founder of a youth environmental NGO (www.gogreen.mk) where he works on training and policy development related to youth eco-activism, education for sustainable development and social inclusion through the green economy.  Antonio wrote a very interesting article about the upside of going green in job creation, and the cost of not doing so. You can find ..read more

Hello dear listeners,   We are joined in this episode by Elin McCallum, one of the co-founders of Bantani Education, a non-profit organisation supporting entrepreneurial and creative learning. Elin is also a member of the Youth@Work Pool of trainers. One of the topics of our talk was how to measure impact in youth work, from the example of the Youth@Work Partnership. We also talked about a model of entrepreneurial competencies (Entrecomp), and the immediate connection that most people make that entrepreneurship is about creating your company or being a founder of a startup, but Elin expla ..read more

Dear listeners,  Hope summer treated you well. We did miss you, and we hope you are all doing well. In this episode we talked to Nik Paddison from the UK, a trainer of trainers, youth workers and activists in the European youth field. For the last few years he has been working as a full time freelance trainer, writer and consultant. The main topic was Facilitation of Learning and how it is a process that has to engage the learner if we want real learning to take place. We discussed that the idea of learning as the receiving of information is a misleading and incorrect one, learning must b ..read more