Music is one of the elements that more easily engages and with a highest impact on the personal and professional development of young people. People with a musical background gain a number of soft skills that are helpful for both personal and labour market aspects.Thus, skills acquired through music, such as self-discipline, responsibility, adaptability, perseverance, concentration, communication, teamwork, openness to feedback or confidence, etc., have an increasing importance in today's changing environment, making young people more prepared to success in personal and professional life. And it is especially important that the sooner these skills are acquired the better, and herein lays the importance to address this issue at a young age. Youth organisations (particularly music schools) will be key in this regard, as they have a deep knowledge and capacity of action in the informal education and training of young people. So, considering this background and the possibilities that music offers, Play2Grow! project will develop, through international cooperation of 5 complementary entities active in the music, training and youth field, a set of training outputs and activities that will contribute to the acquisition of a series of values (respect, capacity to overcome challenges....) and key skills at both hard (music-related skills, audiovisuals, linguistics...) and soft level (teamwork, creativity, initiative, critical spirit...). And it will be done through a music-based approach. In this regard, project will use music as a way to develop 2 complementary intellectual outputs to foster and improve the provision and acquisition of such values and skills: a Methodology and Training Curricula for the provision and acquisition of key skills through music (IO1) and a Collaborative Knowledge Exchange Tool for the dynamic learning and interaction on key skills through music–Play2Grow HUB (IO2). Such outputs will address/cover the needs of 2 main target groups: Youth Workers (staff of centres that work with young people and that use music as a conductor of their activities) and Youngsters themselves, final beneficiaries of the project. Thus, Youth Workers will benefit from acquiring an innovative methodology and training resources that will increase their capacity for the provision of the key skills and values among youngsters, while Youngsters will see their key skills and values improved by getting more trained Youth Workers and access to innovative and state of the art educational resources. This be complemented with a series of activities, such as project meetings (4) and 2 training events (addressed to both Youth Workers and Youngsters) to get useful feedback and reinforce project outcomes. Constant collaboration and feedback will be a core part of the project methodology. Thus, all partners will provide its expertise and know-how for the proper development and testing of project outputs. Then, feedback obtained from internal and external testing will be highly taken into consideration for the improvement/adaptation of the outputs according to the target public needs and demands. In addition, the IO2 (Play2Grow HUB) will offer a virtual space to deepen in this aspect (peer learning, interaction, etc.), on which project partners and external interested youth organisations an youngsters can cooperate and exchange ideas and feelings.Transnational approach is also at the very heart of the project idea, with 5 organisations from 3 EU countries (Portugal, Spain and Italy), which will reinforce the variety of approaches in teaching youngsters through music, increasing outcomes richness and contributing to the European motto "United in Diversity" by using music as an element of cohesion. The Cross-border approach of the 5 partner organisations, and the fact that it will have a deep impact in the rural areas (as the majority of the project partners come from low-populated rural areas) will therefore support the implementation of high quality training materials and tools in those areas with traditionally less opportunities. Regarding the impact, it will suppose an increase in the competences of both Youngsters and youth organisations (especially music-schools), that will get a further recognition of their key work as informal learning providers in the youth field. Thus, as a result, a minimum of 100 Youth Workers will benefit from the Methodology and Training Curricula (IO1), 200 Youth Workers will benefit from the virtual space- Play2Grow Hub (IO2) and its associated resources and 300 Youngsters will directly benefit from an innovative, music-based training methodology, resources and tools that will make them acquire/improve a set of key skills and values under a playful, practical and informal perspective. This impact will be reinforced in the future, as project outputs (especially the virtual space- Play2Grow Hub) will be fostered and implemented by partner organisations in their daily activities.
The project has been developed to achieve the following objectives: - Making trainers/youth workers of music-related schools acquire innovative methodologies and tools for the provision of key competences, skills and values in the youth field. - Highlighting the importance of non-formal education through music as a key factor in the development of key competences and skills among youngsters and the key role of ERASMUS+ in this regard - Reinforcing the role of trainer/youth workers related to the music field in the provision of competences, skills and values in the youth field, connecting them at transnational level. In this regard, the project developed a series of simple and explanatory training resources (IOs) where any interested user can navigate through the different training resources, with the possibility also to enrol in the Moodle platform available (free registration) and get the most out of the training curricula in a set of different training modules / courses that can serve as inspiration for the youth workers/trainers so that they can easily implement them in their daily activities.
People with a musical background gain a number of soft skills that are helpful for both personal and labour market aspects. Thus, skills acquired through music, such as self-discipline, responsibility, adaptability, perseverance, concentration, communication, teamwork, etc., have an increasing importance in today's changing environment, making young people more prepared to success in personal and professional life. Youth organisations (particularly music schools) are key in this regard, as they have a deep knowledge and capacity of action in the informal education and training of young people. Thus, Play2Grow! project developed, through international cooperation of 5 complementary entities active in the music, training and youth field, a set of training outputs and activities that have contributed to the acquisition of a series of values and key skills at both hard and soft level , by doing so through a music-based approach. In this regard, project has used music to develop 2 complementary intellectual outputs to foster and improve the provision and acquisition of such values and skills, addressed mainly to trainers/youth workers, and complemented with a series of activities, (2 training events and 3 Multiplier Events).