The Talking Youth Work Podcast

Innovation research in youthwork with Andreas Karsten, episode 14

In this episode we talked to Andreas Karsten, a youth work researcher at European level. He has been working as a researcher in this field for quite some time so he has a very deep view about the field and what is the state of play concerning innovation in this sector.

Research is very important to assess the real impact of youth work programs and allows decision-makers to decide based on evidence and innovators to act based on real needs.

We talked about what does it mean to research youth work. As in all fields there are research challenges: How to interpret data? What do the markers mean? What can we do with what we know by researching?...and that is where Andreas and other researchers can help, by collecting information and giving to the rest of us an easier content to base our decisions and efforts to push the innovations that are truly needed in the field.

First published on Tuesday Apr 09, 2019

 

Innovation in KA2 with Claudius Siebel, episode 13

In this episode we talked with Claudius Siebel, he is the policy coordinator of the german national agency for the Erasmus+ program, and before that he was part of the team of the Key Action 2 funding line that supports innovation in youth work projects.

We talked during the KA2 Now conference in Berlin last February, and it was a very enjoyable conversation about the policy making side, how can the national agencies support innovation in youth work, what is innovation in this field, and how can the european policies foster a collaborative and innovative environment.

Another topic was how can we evaluate the quality and the impact of these projects, how can the different european countries work together to have a more integrated aproach to youth work.

We really enjoyed it, and we're pretty sure you will too.

First published on Tuesday Mar 19, 2019

KA2 Now Conference, episode 12

The “Talking Youth Work” podcast was present at the KA2NOW conference, that took place in Berlin in February 2019, and where 60 innovative projects in the field of youth work, from all over Europe, presented their ideas and results.

From board games designed to teach democracy to educational escape rooms for young people, or using visual facilitation and creative writing to empower others... there were loads of alternative ideas and new approaches to Youthwork.

Although we cannot showcase them all to you, we interviewed a few so you can have a taste of the conference and maybe some inspiring ideas for your work.

Projects present in the episode.

Impact+ at 2m08s

Tevip at 5m03s

Youth Work HD at 8m7s 

Creative Learning Cookbook at 11m40s 

Meki – Measuring is Key for Improvement at 15m31s 

Celebrating Diversity  at 19m39s 

First published on Tuesday Feb 26, 2019

 

Remembrance with Joakim Arnøy, episode 11

In this episode we talked with Joakim Arnøy from Norway, he works in the field of Youth Work as a coordinator around the topic of Remembrance.

He explained us what this concept means, and in our conversation we explored this idea of looking to History and use it as a basis for reflecting about today's happenings, namely comparing past wars, and the context in which they happened, to today's’ conflicts, how they arise, what signs can we recognize and what patterns emerge.

Joakim also shared with us how can youth workers - that don't work in a museum like he does - use Remembrance as a tool in their work, by using movies, others objects, a local museum or something else. It was an interesting conversation, and we're sure you'll find some useful insights for your own work.

The War Museum

"Black Hawk Down" Trailer

First published on Tuesday Jan 08, 2019

Board Games with Sérgio Gonçalves, episode 10

Imagine, this is the 10th episode, and we are joined by our good friend Sérgio Gonçalves, a trainer that has a passion for board games.

Sérgio has developed board games for Education and in this conversation he shares some of the ways board games can be used to learn about challenging topics like conflict transformation for example, and how educators can develop new and innovative board games that are also fun to play.

Board games are making a big comeback, the industry is creating more complex and challenging games as well as cooperative fun games that can make young people get together around the table. We also discussed the roles that board games and digital games have and how some games in our days use both platforms to create amazing experiences.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did, gather up your friends or your kids and let's play some board games!

First published on Monday Dec 17, 2018

Coaching in Youth Work with Tomáš Pešek, episode 9

This episode was recorded during a Future Labs partners meeting in the beautiful Tuscany in Italy.

While we were recording, during a break, some of the partners were enjoying the good weather, but we don't know who had the most fun, because we sure enjoyed very much this talk.

Tomáš Pešek is a youth trainer and also a certified coach, and we discussed some of the ways that he uses coaching with young people, both on a one-to-one and in a group setting.

He also trains youth workers on how to use these coaching techniques: when to use them, but also when not, and just listen.

Tomáš also talked about rites of passage, in a project he is involved with young men in the transition to adulthood. All inspiring stuff! (Definitely better than just good weather 😉)

Tomáš website: www.improve-se.sk

About coaching: www.coachfederation.org

About youthwork and NFE that Tomáš does: www.youthwatch.sk

First published on Monday Nov 26, 2018

Vulnerability with Dani Korai, episode 8

"In this episode we talked to Dani Korai about the topic of Vulnerability, a sensitive and a strong topic, at the same time. Dani is a Dutch youth worker and trainer that believes in the power of Vulnerability to connect with young people. According to him, it helps them to open up and share their struggles, step by step, in what needs to be a mindful process. A safe space is needed for using vulnerability in a positive and constructive way; it needs preparation and the building of trust between people.

Contrary to some beliefs, Vulnerability is an act of courage, and after opening up most people feel more empowered, because they don't feel the need to hide for something that used to make them fell flawed in some way. It was a very nice conversation, where Dani shared as well his own story and how his relationship with this topic started.

Here are some of the resources shared:

Brené Brown TED talk

Core quality quadrant Daniel Ofman.

First published on Tuesday Nov 06, 2018

 

LARP, Live Action Role Playing Games with Patrycja Paula Gas, episode 7

In this episode we talked to Patrycja Paula Gas, a witch as she confessed to us, but a different kind of witch, the kind that is doing LARP - Live Action Role Playing game - a new aproach  into a learning evironment, an immersive experience that will definetly engage the participants minds, bodies and souls.

Patrycja who is a polish anthropologist, uses LARP with young people to tackle a wide array of topics such as discrimination, migrations and leadership skills. 

In LARP, the participants live fully this game for days, with costumes, just like a big theatre in nature.

Educational LARPs have an immense power for young people experience other ways of dealing with the world, as for example a shy person might play a bold character and see that they can face their real lives in a more confident way.

Websites mentioned in the podcast.

Drachenfest

EduLarp

First published on Monday Oct 15, 2018