The EC and the European Parliament have identified a need for developing transversal skills through education. Transversal skills, also called life skills or transferable skills, are those skills that can be applied in various life domains such as work, family and personal well-being. Examples of such skills are goal-setting, co-operation, communication, initiative, problem solving and critical thinking. It is widely accepted that physical and cultural activities including play, dance and sport can help develop a range of life skills. This is because these types of activities require: problem solving; self/time management; the ability to meet deadlines and/or challenges; personal and collective goal setting/achievement; communication, the ability to cope with success and failure, team/ organisational working, and the ability to receive and apply feedback. The key deliverables for PAClife include: - Understanding country perspectives through National Adaptation Planning; - Development of a training course, training the trainers, and delivering pilots to disadvantaged young people and migrant young people; - Production of articles, workshops and disseminating findings to policy makers and influencers to spread the opportunities of the project beyond the immediate participants. The first phase of PAClife is to develop a methodological approach and framework for the building of life skills and competences tailored to the needs of low-skilled/low-qualified migrant and disadvantaged young people. The innovative element of this methodological approach is that it will be designed so as to enable the young people to develop the social and civic capacities through physical and cultural activities such as sport and play to enable them to gain a range of life skills such as language skills, helping with seeking employment, social networking skills and the ability to contribute to social participation activities etc. The proposed methodological approach and framework will be easily transferable, as it will be accompanied by a set of concrete instructions providing clear guidance on how to better define the adaptation requirements for a specific country context, along with implementation guidelines, all written up in a National Adaptation Plan. The second stage of the PAClife concerns the development and pilot implementation of a training tool for the building of life skills for low-skilled/low-qualified migrant and disadvantaged young people based on the methodological approach and framework developed under O1. The training will be designed so that it can be easily used by low-skilled/low-qualified migrant and disadvantaged young people. Through the training, the targeted young people will be involved in physical and cultural activities and will build their ‘social and civic competences’ which have a clear link to critical thinking and also ‘cultural awareness and expression’. The availability of the training in English, as well as Danish, Greek, Italian and Hungarian, will facilitate the use/uptake of this training by other organisations providing support to migrant and disadvantaged young people in other EU countries. As part of the work, there will be an event to train trainers in the use of the tools with young people. Once the training is completed, partners will pilot the course with young people in their own countries before working towards finalising the course and having it accredited. National workshops have been planned towards the end of the project, to include wider promotion of the project and the course. From this the young people will undertake a placement element of the programme by young people. The young people will be supported to undertake volunteer placements in the community working within settings to maximise the skills they have acquired working with children utilising physical and cultural activities. This work will take place during May-September 2021 and is a core element of the programme. In addition, as a result of the project, partners will be empowered to work with their local community around this topic, having trained trainers whom they can work with beyond the project. Young people will directly benefit from the project through the piloting work that is undertaken by the partners. Through effective dissemination, the aim in the longer-term is to influence policy-makers in this area and leave a lasting legacy beyond the project.
A number of objectives were developed which we sought to address through the programme of work set out in the project. Specifically, these included: -To support young people growing up in disadvantaged circumstances to develop skills and competencies in order to support lifelong education and personal development and build resilience -To draw on diverse partner experiences and expertise of working with young people in order to identify sensitive and flexible approaches that reflected the contextual complexity of the delivery environment -To devise evidence-informed physical activity and cultural activities that focused on a participatory rather than competition or performance-based approaches -To develop and disseminate a common training tool and underpinning methodology that is particularly relevant to areas that receive large numbers of migrants and refugees -To provide opportunities for meaningful interaction between groups of peers and trusted adults in order to foster understanding and mutual respect -To establish opportunities to engage in volunteer activities that deepened and extended the learning taken from PAClife so that young people could explore the relevance of their learning in ways that reflected their needs and aspirations -To contribute to the wider objective of supporting the integration of third country nationals.
Young people growing up in disadvantaged circumstances lead complex and challenging lives. As a result, they experience disproportionate mental health problems, including stress and anxiety. Many young people routinely take part in, or are interested in, physical and other activities as a means of enjoyment, relaxation and health-enhancement including social interaction. Young people are more likely to seek help from their peers, in addition to parents or other trusted adults, and structured activities can support meaningful interaction and enjoyment. Having identified migrants and disadvantaged young people (such as those in care) as those in particular need of support, we applied for this project in order to utilise the experience and expertise within the consortium to support the development of knowledge, skills, competencies that help young people adapt to new situations and improve their quality of life. Physical and cultural activities including play, dance and sport can help develop a range of life skills because they require problem solving, self/time management, the ability to meet deadlines and/or challenges, personal and collective goal setting, communication, team working and the ability to cope with success and failure. Developing cognitive and non-cognitive skills and abilities ultimately increases young people’s well-being and helps them to develop into active and productive members of their communities. Through the delivery of the project, we have been able to address the following needs: - Access to safe, structured and fun activities that are based on participation and enjoyment - Support for life skills through activities that are developed with young people to ensure they reflect their needs and preferences - Opportunities to interact with peers and trusted adults within the communities in which young people live - Access to Organisations and spaces that promote co-operation, communication, initiative, problem solving and critical thinking - Opportunities to enhance skills through volunteer placements that provide meaningful experiences and help increase confidence and competencies.