About the Trainers Library Project

Dear reader,

 

The idea for an online resource center came during the training course “Train the Trainers – It’s up to me 4” that was held in 2017 in Germany. During the past four years of conducting this training course, we have been collecting learning materials for the participants from a variety of sources – books that we have read, videos that we have seen, guides that we have developed. However, the resources we had did not meet the needs of the participants and their need for specific learning materials. Google Drive materials which were collected for several years in form of scattered materials here and there were obviously indicating the need for a more structured and well-organized resource center from which trainers could develop their skills and competencies.

2017

During the project Bridges for Trainers in Vienna in 2017, the  European Trainers’ Strategy – Competence Model for Trainers was presented. This model provided a structure – a strategic key framework that would allow tools and resources to be built according to it, addressing the trainers’ competencies. Many inspiring debates have pointed out that all trainers are facing the same challenge. This gave us the final push to follow up an idea that was already in the back of our minds – to create a library that would be based on the competence model and that would be easy to use, structured, up to date, relevant, labeled and well organized. We assembled the team which developed and applied for an Erasmus+ KA2 – Innovation in youth work project – the “Trainers’ Library” (2017-3-DE04-KA205-015977).

The Team

The library needed a team of motivated experts and partner organizations in different fields. We decided to have an inclusive team that is diverse regarding the gender of the trainers and the geographical regions they originally come from. We wanted the profile of an experienced trainer in order to enrich the library with his/her knowledge, but also who have still potential to grow. Trainers with a range of professions from psychologists, visual artists, environmental activists, organizational and business developers, designers of educational materials to experts on emotional intelligence. This blend of backgrounds made the team well balanced and diverse, not only regarding the background but also diverse in terms of resources, books, ways of working, personalities, life philosophies, opinions and ideas. Each of the 7 trainers was supported by their own team of researchers, contributors and other trainers, who wrote or co-created some of the articles.

arround

350

articles

We set an ambitious goal. Each one of us was committed to create 50 articles that would provide short and concise content, supported by exercises and reflection questions, all placed within the context of youth work.  Around 350 articles needed to be written on more than 1500 pages which could easily be used by trainers, but by youth workers as well. Hundreds of books and articles, researches and presentations, workshops and seminars, educational experts, sources, audiobooks were used and consulted in creating this library. And we have barely scratched the surface. The Trainers’ Library has much bigger potential.

30

months

later

After 30 months of work and dedication, we are ready to start this project. We see the Trainers’ Library as a community of learners who not only benefit from the materials but also contribute to its development and continuous growth like a living organism.

The Vision

We expect the library to continue to grow with further contributions from the international community of trainers. We are well aware that we just started this project and there is a need for additional contributions. We envision, that every six months, additional articles are going to be added to the library, filling all the gaps that exist, adding to the variety of tools and approaches, extending the reach of our variety of self-directed learning resources. We want to encourage the innovation and diverse resources from the whole community to continue to grow.

 

We also want to translate the library into many languages. This library would make a big impact on the youth workers and trainers who live in rural areas, who don’t speak English so well or at all, who are not so aware of the international trends and developments in youth work in other parts of the world.

We know that it is not easy to read 1500 pages of information that require careful contemplation, reflections, try-outs, debates and discussions. Therefore, we have envisioned different forms of media that will further disseminate the learning. We plan to create hundreds of podcast materials that can be downloaded on each smartphone and taken along literally everywhere, as well as educational videos that will be available online on the Trainers’ Library YouTube channel. So far, we have created 6 videos and 6 podcasts in order to have a sample to test and further research. These samples should tell us if there is a need for creating multimedia for all articles and in which direction the library should develop.

We expect the development of a community of trainers. The Library provides the opportunity for the creation of forums of debates, editorial policies, questions and answers, and different kinds of support groups. The library has the potential to develop a community of learners who will continue to innovate, develop and spread the knowledge even further and within.

 

Finally, we will be continuously testing the Trainers’ library for its usefulness, impact and learning outcomes. This will allow us to steer its development, learn from the mistakes and continuously improve while keeping the information relevant and up to date.

Partnership

I would like to personally thank and show the highest respect to the team of trainers for their creativity, expertise and professional attitude and dedication.

Dagna Gmitrowicz and the Fundacija Arte Ego from Poland.

Antonio Jovanovski and Go Green from N. Macedonia.

Leilani van Rheenen and Dinamik Gelesum Dernegi from Turkey.

Donatas Petkauskas and the Development Crew from Lithuania.

Federica Demicheli and the Replay Network from Italy.

James Kleiber from NaturKultur from Germany.

I would like to express gratitude to the team of technicians who supported and coordinated the creation of the visual representation of the Trainers library:

 

Aleksandar Dimovski for the web development from N. Macedonia.

 

Andrei Matalyha for the video and photo content creation

 

Nicolas Gemio for the social media support and the rest of the team from NaturKultur e.V. Germany for the continuous creativity, passion and support throughout the whole project.

The project was funded by the German National Agency – Jugend für Europa. We would like to thank the National Agency and their employees that were providing us support and guidance throughout the last 3 years. We would also like to thank Salto-Youth Training and Cooperation team for the continuous support and guidance, sharing of different books and resources, advices and feedback.

 

On behalf of the entire Trainers’ Library team, we hope that the Trainers’ Library will enrich your learning and development, enabling you to make a positive impact on the youth and our societies.

Darko Mitevski

project leader

Get In Touch With Us!

Email

info @ trainerslibrary.org

Impressum

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