Our project continues, and as the second project result (the toolkit) gets ready, it was time to test it through the second mobility of youth workers.
From 2nd to 7th July 2023, 16 educators from Portugal, Spain, Estonia and Latvia met in Estonia to enhance their toolboxes and exchange good practices. This was the second mobility activity of our project, which had the following objectives:
· Explore, analyze and practice the IncED toolkit;
· Create a supportive networking amongst participants
· Study the terminology that must be used when working with mixed-ability groups;
· Give participants an understanding of the general principles for adapting methods, exercises and programs for a mixed ability group;
· Identify and mapping of weaknesses and gaps in the methods of both formal and non-formal education for mixed ability groups.
Day-by-day report
03.07.2023 – Day 1
The day started with orientation around the hosting venue (school in Rio Maior) and a welcome speech by the vice dean of the school and the session continued with the introduction of the day, few name games and a get to know each other “passport” activity.
After the break participants got introduced to the aim and objectives of this training activity, the schedule and had an experiential learning exercise with balloon modeling, following by sharing expectations for the training activity and a short recap if the project, its progress, specific activities happening immediately after the TA and a recap of stories and impressions after the training activity that happened in Estonia in 2022.
After lunch the session concentrated around group building and started with a set of improvisation exercises followed by a multilingual theater exercise where participants had to prepare and reenact famous stories using only their mother tongue. After the activity a debriefing was facilitated with a set of important aspects for the week.
The last session of the day started with a hybrid board game that led to a discussion about the role of an inclusive educator. Reflection moment was done using guiding questions and blobs.
04.07.2023 – Day 2
The day started with morning energizers followed by the introduction of the day and taking a look at the manual of the project. Then the next two sessions were dedicated to experiencing practically 2 exercises from the toolkit done by the training team.
After lunch the participants were divided into small groups and took a look at each chapter of the toolkit and chose 1-2 exercises that they would practically run the following days. After consultations with the training team participants chose their exercises and started preparing materials.
The last session was left for preparation and some unstructured leisure time with one another discovering Rio Maior and the surroundings with the hosting team.
05.07.2023 – Day 3
The day was dedicated to participants running the toolkit exercises and debriefing on them. After each exercise facilitation session there was a short reflection and evaluation held with the trainer. First session of the day was dedicated to exercises about mental health, followed by social inclusion, learning and then team building and group dynamics.
After the facilitation by participants was done. Reflection moment was done using guiding questions and blobs.
06.07.2023 – Day 4
The final day of the training started with the stock market activity where participants worked in teams creating ideas for strengthening the toolkit and dissemination of the project as a whole and its results. On the side participants could also check their knowledge connected to the content and the topic of inclusive education and beyond. After the activity a debriefing was held and some ideas were shared in the plenary which was used as a basis for the following activities.
After lunch the session started with an in-depth visit to the school and its all facilities with the director and some teachers of the school, where everyone had a possibility to ask questions and learn about the practical side.
Then the day continued with personal and organization action plans on dissemination of the project and after event activities.
The final activity was dedicated to final evaluation which was done with a short activity in small groups followed by the written evaluation form and a circle of verbal farewell messages.
“IncEd: Inclusive Education” is a Strategic Partnership project is implemented by Vivere Kool (Estonia) in collaboration with Shokkin Group (Estonia), Produções Fixe (Portugal), Ticket2Europe (Spain) and Cesis Berzaine Primary School (Latvia), with the support of the Erasmus+ programme through the Estonian National Agency.
