Facilitating Youth Learning Processes

Learning takes place throughout life – in different ways, in different contexts. It’s almost impossible to stop people learning, in some form or other, all the time. This is very useful for youth development workers. Learning is a powerful tool that we can use deliberately to improve knowledge and enhance skills. If you can direct learning along appropriate channels, then you will accelerate the process and help young people to develop very rapidly.

The aim of this program is to introduce you to the ideas and practices of learning that are relevant to youth development work. The module focuses on the role of youth development workers as educators, or to put it another way, as ‘learning facilitators’. We prefer this term because it indicates that your role will be to help and guide the very powerful internal learning processes in young people, rather than to control them.

The module explores different theories of learning and their influences. It identifies the different ways in which people learn and the factors that inhibit or facilitate learning. It also considers experiential learning as a method that is appropriate to youth development workers, and examines appropriate strategies for face-to face work with young people and adults.

When you successfully complete this program, you should be able to:

• Give an overview of important psychological and philosophical principles relevant to ‘education for all’ and youth development work.
• Describe the characteristics of informal education and apply this knowledge to youth development work.
• Make use of the techniques of informal and experiential learning in youth development work and enable other people to use it.
• Describe your own and other people’s learning style(s) and mode of intelligence.
• Identify factors that help and factors that hinder people’s learning, particularly in informal settings.
• Devise effective strategies for learning with a range of individuals and groups in youth development work.

• Youth workers in government departments, corporates and NGOs.
• Young leaders.
• Student activities coordinators.
• School and University teachers.
• Professionals responsible for youth policy formulation and strategy development.

Day 1

What is Learning?

Thinking about learning

Experiential learning

How adults learn best

Self-directed learning

Education for All

A positive philosophy of learning
Developing the whole person
Lifelong learning
Guiding principles

Day 2

Informal Education

Types of learning and education

Agents of informal education

Implications for youth development work

What Helps and What Hinders Learning?

A good learning environment
Factors that hinder learning

Day 3

Learning styles

What is learning style?
Learning style models
Meeting learner needs
Socio-cultural background and learning

Day 4

Facilitating Adult Learning

Communication and participation
Designing the program
Selecting learning strategies
Resources
Implementation
Evaluation