Humour is Serious Business

This  6-day training programme is organised by Ógras, an Irish language youth work organisation based in Dublin, Ireland.   The TC aims to  enhance the quality of individual youth work practice through the power of humour as the means by which to engage and empower young people more meaningfully and more effectively.

Each practitioner will undergo their own ‘Humour Journey’ and in doing so sharpen what we call the ‘humour lens’ with a view to broadening their approach to humour more generally speaking. This in turn enhances their ‘humour mindset’ where they learn to see humour as more than merely making jokes or telling funny stories.

They will learn how humour can be an asset, and in doing so discover how it can be the most effective mechanism for building rapport, enhancing relationships, addressing, and resolving issues, managing conflict, problem-solve challenges, create alternate approaches, and present and reflect upon learning.

Objectives

The ‘Humour Journey’ leads to:

• upskilling youth work practitioners in the use of humour as an effective tool for engaging young people and youth work communities
• enhancing knowledge of the various types of humour so as to increase understanding of how, where, when and why it can be applied
• increasing awareness of how humour can be used as a pro-active and deliberate methodology in youth work and not just as a natural consequence of and response to specific situations
• consideration of cultural differences in humour and understanding better how these can be used to support and inform youth work practice
• iv provision of space and time for practitioners to reflect upon the use of their own sense of humour and consider where it can be altered to support their practice
• challenge participants to step out of their ‘comfort zone’ in order to appreciate their own commitment to learning
• the development of ‘in-house’ humour-based activities to test methodologies and techniques with a view to informing humour-based practice among youth work colleagues
• the development post-programme actions that address and respond to identified issues affecting young people within their communities, e.g., lack of opportunities and/or mobility, career choices, unemployment, lack of resources, dealing with climate change, populism, racism, etc.

Participants will have a better understanding of humour, the power for transformation it possesses and become more competent in its use and thus can more successfully negotiate relationships with young people in their work setting using their ‘updated’ or newly acquired skills.  By supporting workers in bettering their understanding of humour they are in a much more privileged position to navigate and negotiate their place with young people and create space for change where it might not have been possible beforehand.

Leaving much better informed, they will possess many more tools and techniques than when they arrived, will perceive themselves differently with a much greater sense of self-awareness, will have grown in confidence and capacity to deliver ‘on the ground’ (due to the testing and challenging nature of activities), have much clearer ideas about follow-up activities they can use in their setting and will have developed new thinking and approaches to their work feeling ultimately better equipped to apply their practice.

Participants will leave more knowledgeable, compassionate, empathetic, and positive in their outlook with enhanced levels of motivation and participation. They will develop a stronger sense of their own identity and belonging as well as gaining more self-awareness and renewed perspective.

They will enhance interpersonal skills, be more confident in their approach, feel greater levels of self-esteem and possess a renewed vigour for the work they will do post-programme.

In addition to the 6 day TC there will also be some online meetings in the pre and post training phase to help prepare and support participants on their Humour Journe, as well as delivery of post-training humour activities to colleagues and service users in participants respective youth work settings

Recruiting has already begun in some of the partner countries but we are putting out an open call for Ireland, Spain, Hungary, Malta, Italy,  and Portugal.   Maximum of 4 participants from each country.