Non-formal learning supports individuals within a group to learn based on their own needs and in line with expectations from different stakeholders. Many approaches are used within non-formal learning in youth work that match these different aims. The selection below focuses on those that strongly empower young people.

Providing experience: learning by doing

Providing an experience from which participants can learn is one of the key elements of the learning process in non-formal learning. In the real-life situations or simulations participants experience the situation authentically, with their whole being — bodies, minds, emotions — and therefore learn holistically. Experimental learning is meaningful.

Giving a choice: using different methods and techniques

Non-formal learning in the youth work context benefits from a variety of activities that organisers choose to pursue the educational aims and objectives: simulation exercises, discussions, group work, buzz groups, self-reflection spaces, brainstorming, presentations and case studies are obvious examples. Creative techniques such as different arts or tools (theatre, painting, music, cards, games) enrich individual methods adapted to specific projects.

Focusing on the present: responding to the current needs of participants

While formal education explores general concepts within a curriculum covering what students might need to know, non-formal learning activities focus on the here and now. This is possible by creating space for young people to actively participate and back up their learning goals with the needs and motivation they communicate before and during the educational project so that the project fits into the expectations throughout.

Making learning interesting: enjoying time together

Activities which people enjoy make learning more interesting and accessible for them. Sharing joyful moments in a group reinforces this. Educational projects should combine hard work and gaining deep experience with time for relaxation and enjoyment. This brings balance to learning and helps participants to learn in line with their goals. Energisers, group-building exercises and games are important in non-formal learning activities. So too is trust — trust in the organisers and in the group, so that participants are able to open up and share — whether moments of success or of uncertainty or ambiguity.

Creating a space for observation: reflection

Non-formal learning benefits from reflection, as a way of creating awareness of personal learning and the ability to build it up. It permits clearer understanding of the learning process and its outcomes. Group reflection is also helpful — sharing of perceptions within a group, so that participants can compare experiences and learn from others too, recognising that each person perceives things individually.

Supporting competence building: self-assessment

Empowering young people to describe and evaluate their own competences is important in non-formal learning, but is not often taught. Tools and methods range from self-assessment through questionnaires to more creative methods. Young people may need support in self-assessment: mentoring, counselling or coaching have their place in that.

Youthpass (you will learn about this detailed later through the InYouS course) is one of the tools to support reflection, structuring personal learning and assessing competences. They help young people understand their own learning outcomes, develop the ability to describe acquired competences and communicate the learning outcomes to the outside world.

Coaching: maximising personal potential

According to the Youth in Action programme guide, ‘coaching is partnering with young people in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximise their personal potential. Coaching honours young people as the experts in the project and believes that every young person is creative, resourceful and whole. Therefore a coach should listen, observe and customise their approach to young people’s needs. A coach should: discover, clarify and align with what young people want to achieve; encourage young people’s self-discovery; elicit young people-generated solutions and strategies; and hold young people responsible and accountable’.

Coaching has been used to support young people in the EU youth programmes mainly within youth initiatives or even EVS, demonstrating that coaching and non-formal learning can support each other in the following ways.

• (i) Building a team and team spirit create an atmosphere of trust where its members can express themselves and show their potential in front of the others.
• (ii) Only when the team is established and all its members feel that they have a place in the group should attention turn to the goal of the project.
• (iii) The team as such should agree on goals (or aims and objectives) based on common understanding of what they want to achieve. Imposition by a youth worker or youth leader compromises motivation.
• (iv) Roles should be allocated according to each person’s capacities, but everybody should also be supported in creating challenges for themselves, exploiting the potential of each individual and the group as a whole.
• (v) Appreciating and celebrating group successes (or small steps towards the goal) strengthens learning and motivates young people to take on further responsibility.
• (vi) Setting an agenda in such a way that the team knows it has support if needed but can deal with many issues independently empowers the team to take on responsibility for the whole process.
• (vii) Creating space to dream, imagine ideals and speak about personal values provides the team with a deeper basis for connecting beliefs with actions.
• (viii) Tools such as wheel of balance or different scales help the team understand how to structure their own thinking.

Added value of coaching in the context of non-formal learning and youth work is linked to building up young people’s self-confidence, their ability to work effectively in a team and their sense of responsibility. Coaching helps them realise what they have achieved and how they have done it; it helps them understand their abilities and what they have learned. They learn how to support each other and learn from each other, while retaining final responsibility for a project. It also creates a sense of responsibility at a personal level and for one’s surroundings, and nurtures a belief that, if they want, they can exert influence to change things.