Topsy Turvy Learning Experience

Aims & objectives

’The Topsy-Turvy Learning Experience’ aims to explore new concepts of (self directed) learning in a challenging and inspiring environment and to develop participants’ facilitating, coaching and mentoring capacities in order to find new ways to support young people in their learning.
Objectives:
• To support participants to identify their own ‘natural’ way of learning
• to support participants to further develop and broaden their facilitation, mentoring and coaching- capacities.
• To explore how creativity, ‘chaos’ and unconventional environments can provoke new perceptions about (self-directed) learning.
• To create a challenging non-linear learning environment to provoke divergent and creative thinking.
• To share theories and concepts on learning and facilitation of learning.
• To explore the possibilities to apply ‘new learning’ in the different actions of the Youth in Action programme

Target group & international/intercultural composition of the group & team

Target group: Youth workers/leaders, trainers, mentors and coaches from
Austria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Luxemburg, Poland, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, UK

Team: Paul Kloosterman (It), Anna Wohlesser (Au) & Gabi Steinprinz (Nl). Na officer involved Ingrid Müller (Ge)

Training methods used & main activities

Main construction of the course was creating a learning community and learning goals, than 2,5 days of SDL - exploring the topic of learning in a creative way and than 1,5 day reflection and conclusions .
E-Learning platform -before, during and after the course itself.
Collective painting - what is learning? (before and after the SDL exploration
Inspiration on education - discussion
Guided imagination on Canto Ostinato - exploring
Social Dreaming - collective, tuning in together
Storytelling / Council - tuning in together
Silent floor - conceptualizing outcomes

Outcomes of the activity

Topsy Turvy was one of the most wanted course in 2013. About 600 people applied, as a result of the first edition.
Evaluations of pax were very positive, so was the German NA. German NA is so interested that third edition is planned for winter 2015 in Germany again in TCA.
As a trainer team we have really found the (almost) best way to have SDL in a training course.

Your tasks and responsibilities within the team

I have been involved in the whole development of this training course: from creating the idea, conceptualize the topic and from there, developing the programme, making a creative learning environment, facilitating sessions, guide participants in their learning process, making report.
Specifically, I have been responsible for the guided imagination, painting Learning, Social Dreaming, Let the learning continue (disocver the concept of learning)

I worked on this training for 7 days as a full time trainer.