Trainstorm - Ann Daniels

For the last 4 days I have been in Warsaw in a seminar on working with trainers. The context is that a lot of National Agencies within the Youth in Action programme now work with pools of trainers for their EVS and TCP (training and cooperation plan) trainings and the seminar was aimed at NA officers and trainers to see how these pools can work and develop and how the trainers in it can also work and develop.

I really enjoyed meeting so many colleagues who are active in trainers pools and it is always nice to meet some former colleagues NA people. The best of 2 cooperating worlds meeting must be something special and it was. From the start there was an amazing energy and will to grow and develop in the room.

Just 2 things that were strange to me and really made me think:

- there is a trainers competence profile in development and immediately when it was presented some kind of ‘freaking out’ took place: trainers do not want to be regulated in their competences and are scared that the NA’s and Salto’s are going to look for ‘supertrainers’ who have all competences in the profile. On the one hand I understand this reaction on a form of regulation from above but on the other hand it kind of freakes me out that people who support learners of all ages, origins and sizes in developing their (learning) competences can not deal with competence profiles and development themselves. Is it not the core of life long and life wide learning to be able to work on competences for the rest of our lifes???? Should we not be glad that something is being developed that will make our existing competences visible and recognized? Somehow it seems so normal to me that I will have learning plans for the rest of my life. Of course the things I will be learning when I am 50, 70 and now at 35 are different but still I will be learning (or at leats I sincerely hope so!) and it seems like a good idea to me to keep track of which competences I have developed throughout my life. I now regret I never wrote anything down of the competences I developed in my former lifes in the peace movement and the NA because I am sure they influence me now both positively and negatively but I now really need to dig deep to find out how and what and when. If I had had a learning protfolio somewhere where I had kept everything I would now know! So I am saying ‘yes please’ to a profile, a learning trajectory to develop them and a porfolio to keep them! So basically I am going to start today or better I am going to try and build something up of what I have done so far so I know what I have and don’t have, can develop a learning plan for the future and collect it systematically. I am going to have to block at least 2 to 3 days somewhere to really think about it and develop it but I need to do it! I don’t want to be some kind of hypocrit talking about things I do not do myself so time to really go for it and keep up with my participants!

- It seems that you don’t exist as a yia trainer if you are not visible. What do I mean with that? Well, as a trainer in YiA you need to be part of a trainers pool, have a TOY-profile, write reports and booklets that go to some NA or Salto and go to these kind of meetings. On the one hand it is the same for most professions that who is visible to the right people exists, but on the other hand it seems so contradictory to the inclusion and participation principles of the YiA programme. An interesting example popped up during the meeting: there is an expert group of trainers on the development of this competence profile and this is a good thing! But who is in this group and how did they get there? Is there for instance a new trainer in there who has only started 6 months or even weeks ago and is still finding his or her way and has no clue about competences of trainers within YiA? Someone who really comes from an inclusion background? Someone who has no connection to an NA because the NA is not interested in the trainers in their country? Or is it a group of strong, established, have been there for a long time and are very visible people? I am sure I know at least half of the people there and I like and respect them highly so that is not my issue at all! The issue is that these things are not only a matter of the strong and established but also of the new, no clue yet, looking for a way to do something I really love and am passionate about and for the established but not visible. How to you reach and consult them? Get them involved? Good question! No idea about the answer! But I think that the people who are at the meetings should at least be aware that they are respresenting not just themselves but also their young, developing, not visible but still very much there colleagues and have some form of responsbility to connect with them, get them involved and heared if part of the job. We are all supporters of learning also the learning of our colleagues! let’s keep that in mind and work with it. Then new development like competence profiles don’t have to be so scary anymore because we are represented by the right people who have our best intrest at heart! I am just going to trust in the people there and their abilities but I can imagine it is part of the ‘freaking out’ of some colleagues.

I am going to write more about the exciting plans for the Dutch trainers pool later but now I need to make myself a TOY-profile again so I can be updated about the competence profile development and be visible! :-) If you can’t fight it, join it is the philosophy! If I ever end up in some kind of expert group (will be an accident probably) I will let you know so you can ask me 7 million questions! :-)                    

I got a bit distracted from my 365 gratitude project but I got some really amazing gifts from the participants of my last midterm training (18 till 20 January 2012)that I want to keep somewhere so seems like a good idea to write about it here. So I am not showing off or bragging or anything like that just expressing my gratitude (and surprise) for the fact that the participants not only used the feedback cards for themselve but also gave me: intelligent, helpful, appreciative, observant, enterprising and inspiring (x2). I would never in a million years give myself this combo! But it is a true and genuine gift and I am really happy with it!      

I also had really great talks with some of the participants about being yourself as a trainer and moving from being passionate about tools to being passionate about learning processes and how to envision and realise your image for the future. Very inspiring! I might write some more about it later.

Taking into consideration that I was panicing 3 hours before I had to get up to go to the midterm because of having flu and high fever, the energy I got from the participants was truely amazing and made my fly through! Sometimes you just get more than you bargained for and I did! Wauw!   

I am now reading ‘Freedom to learn, 3rd edition’ from Carl Rogers and H. Jerome Freiberg and it is truely amazing! I cannot stop reading and I have marked almost half of the book as inpirational and important, so needless to say this is something that really speaks to me as a facilitator of learning.

I want to share some of the to me most amazing passages with you:

‘Being a facilitator of learning requires a special perspective on life. Facilitators of learning are not performers or stars; they are people who place learners needs and interests first. ‘

‘The best facilitator was described by the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu more than 2500 years ago:

A leader is best

when people barely know that she exists,

not so good when people obey and acclaim her,

Worst when they despise her,

“Fail to honor people,

they fail to honor you;” 

But of a good leader, who talks little,

When her work is done, her aim fulfilled,

they will all say ” we did it ourselves” 

I turned the he into she so it applies to me.

And it does! I feel very strongly about giving space (and trust) to the participants in trainings I facilitate. I have been thinking a lot this year about my own role and how visible and strong/assertive I should be. I now think the only right answer for me can be ’ as much as the participants need me to be’. So instead of worrying about my visbility or assertiveness next to a colleague or in a team of facilitators I want to focus on what participants need and want. In trainings where it worked really well to put focus on the participants and their needs the feedback on the facilitators was ‘you are a dancing couple with a beautiful co-creation’ or ‘you are a smooth running tandem’. Both are exactely what I want to hear and more importantly offer to participants! In my humble opinion the key for this is to take the space you need to to facilitate the learning process of the participants and not a cm more. It is a very organic and moving role so observation of the needs is very important.

Thank you Carl Rogers for clearing this up for me and thank you dancing and biking colleagues for giving me the experiences I needed to be able to draw conclusions on this!

I will share some other insights from this book with you soon!         

In 2012 I am going to establish a social business! I got inspired by the speech of prof and Nobel price winner Muhammad Yunus in Vienna and I am now reading his book and collecting/developing my ideas while reading. I am ready to change the world a little or a lot! ;-) Perfect thing to do over the Christmas weekend! :-)