QUEST-ON

INTRODUCTION

We created the Quest-ON project, to share and exchange coaching and mentoring tools which were successfully used by partner organizations in their direct work with young people. To ensure a holistic and complex approach, we based our training on the Dilts pyramid, which claims that every situation can be viewed, analyzed and solved on different levels and, depending on it, with different outcomes. 

During the described project we will learn specific tools to work on each of the levels identified by Dilts: 

• Environment 
• Behavior 
• Skills/Capabilities 
• Beliefs 
• Values 
• Identity 
• Mission/Purpose 

Each day of the training will be dedicated to one of the levels described above. We will learn specific, tangible, but also diverse coaching/mentoring tools to work on each level, exploring not only methods based on conversation, but also those which include art, connection with nature or physical movement. 

The name Quest-ON is related to asking questions as well as questioning our assumptions and beliefs - both crucial in successful coaching/mentoring work. It is also an invitation to join the quest - search and journey into personal and professional development on a deeper level. 

OBJECTIVES

• Equip youth workers with diverse coaching and mentoring tools which can support their work with young people on various levels of the Dilts pyramid.
• Develop youth workers’ skills crucial in leading successful coaching/mentoring sessions with young people,e.g. deep listening, identifying and adequately reacting to emotions, communication including giving feedback or mirroring.
• Create opportunities for youth workers to work on themselves, reviewing their own behaviors, beliefs, values, mission and life purpose, which may have significantly changed in the recent years after events such as the pandemic or the war in Ukraine.

Thanks to the project youth workers and partner organizations in relation to their work with young people will: 

• Get to know specific coaching/mentoring methods and tools to be used directly with youth people. The tools will work on various levels of the Dilts pyramid and include not only those based on conversation, but also methods which require art, connection with nature, movement, etc, which will ensure that youth workers have a rich toolbox to use and adjust to the needs of each young person. 
• Start to feel confident in deep work and usage of various tools, thanks to the feedback they will receive from trainers and other participants. The feedback will allow them to identify their strong points as coach/mentor and youth worker in general as well as those they still need to work on. All the training is based on practical experience, participants will get to know specific methods and try them in practice right away, receiving feedback from the person they lead the coaching/mentoring session for and in many cases also from an observer which could be a trainer or another participant. 
• Develop their soft skills, crucial in leading coaching/mentoring sessions for youth as well as working with people in general, for example empathy, asking meaningful questions, mirroring and giving valuable feedback, identifying and adequately reacting to emotions, etc. 
• Have time and space to work on their own limiting beliefs, review their values and life mission, understand better their identity, which will translate to a more conscious work with others, stronger motivation, deeper understanding of one’s own behavior and how it influences other people. Being a successful coach/mentor requires to deeply understand one’s own patterns, beliefs and values, to be able to not project them on others and distinguish what comes from my visions and assumptions about the world and what is true in general or for the person I’m working with at the moment. 
• Lead coaching/mentoring sessions with young people and/or their organization members as part of the dissemination process, supporting them in their challenges, visions and plans. 
• Observe, discuss and experience the practices of other organizations in their work with young people, reflecting on which of the elements they want to bring back to their own organization. 
• Develop their network, getting to know youth workers and representatives of organizations from different cultures, opening up for diversity and future collaboration in the field of youth work. 
• Develop their English skills and intercultural competences, crucial for implementing effective international projects, as well as working with young migrants and refugees, coming from different countries and cultural backgrounds.

PARTICIPANTS PROFILE

Participants should fulfill the following criteria: 

• experience and good understanding of needs in the field of youth work as well as good understanding of the situation of young people in their local community and/or national context,
• at least a basic understanding of non-formal education purposes, framework and educational approaches, 
• motivation to take part in a mutual exchange and learning process held in an intercultural setting within a transnational team,
• good level of English,
• ready to devote their time and work to the project in all phases, including preparation before and dissemination after

There is no age limit in the training course (beside 18+), we always try to bring different perspectives - from young adults till experienced middle or even senior age practitioners. As much as in the case of gender or origin, we believe in the power of diversity and putting together various perspectives. 

ACCOMMODATION:

The training takes place at Żywa Ziemia (Living Earth), located in Zakrzewo, close to Gdańsk, Poland. Żywa Ziemia is a natural farm promoting healthy living, permaculture and sustainability (www.facebook.com/ZywaZiemia/). They provide shared rooms, multiple training spaces (including beautiful outdoor spaces, presence of animals and other living beings as well as solitude and natural surroundings reducing “city” distractions) and vegetarian/vegan food, partly produced at their farm.