Youth workers are very diverse public with different needs. Although some youth workers have had a higher education, we notice many of them mostly work intuitively and lack a theoretical framework. Youth work and non-formal education are undervalued and therefore youth workers lack support and resources. A lot of work is done by volunteers without proper education, leading to a higher turnover rate. Besides the creation of the StreetSmart Impact app and the offer of educational activities which is available on the activity platform StreetSmart Play, we want to keep looking for innovative ways to support youth workers. By providing an online offer of training, we want to increase their theoretical and practical knowledge and strengthen their skills. Through research, online content analysis, questionnaires and focus groups, we became aware that there is a need for more and concrete training for youth workers in non-formal education (YouthWork HD, 2018). In our own survey we conducted with 118 persons, we saw a confirmation of this need. 84% told us they feel the need to have additional training. This training is not only necessary to help new employees, but also to support active youth workers on different topics related to youth work. 52% of the respondents want to receive more training on coaching of youth workers (n=61). 47% would like some extra training on methodologies for youth work (n=56), 42% on psychological themes related to youth (n=50), 31% on youth policy (n=36). By providing advanced training opportunities for youth workers, we aim to increase the competence level of youth workers in Europe (and worldwide). Training modules offered to youth workers should be interactive, fun and easy to use, allow collaboration with other participants, and be available both online and mobile, including good practices and references for additional information. Our aim with this project is to provide youth workers with the tools they need, so that they, with a correct background/ knowledge, can set up the right processes with their target group, based on the latter’s needs. Also, since the launch of the StreetSmart Impact app and StreetSmart Play activity platform, we got some relevant feedback which we want to take into account in this new project. First of all, users of the Impact app need additional support to understand the data they are collecting and set it up for their organisation. When scaling up, it will be difficult to help each user personally so we need to create a support system which can guide users. Secondly, we notice that for some youth workers, the content on the activity platform is insufficient as they work less with specific activities and they have a bigger need for training and inspiration. Therefore, we want to reinforce them with training, support videos and inspiration. To answer these needs, we will develop a Learning Hub, StreetSmart Learn, on which we will host training videos and inspiration, which will be the reference for youth workers to go to. Mobile School vzw, Salvati Copiii and PRAKSIS want to create this Learning Hub to fulfil these needs. The development of the Learning Hub will exist in two parts: the set-up of the learning management system (LMS) and the development of training modules. For the set-up of the LMS, all partners will have an important role in checking the user experience of the LMS, the development of learning tracks and modules and will be involved in writing out the format of the good practice section of the training. For the development of the training modules, all partners will determine training topics (necessary in the Learning Hub), create the pilot training and will contribute with good practices and specific tips and tricks, based on their experience and complementary to the theoretical framework which will be developed by Mobile School. This cooperation is valuable because of the different backgrounds all partners have. They were included in previous Erasmus+ projects. PRAKSIS was a partner of Mobile School in the development of StreetSmart Impact. Salvati Copiii partnered with Mobile School vzw for the development of the activity platform, StreetSmart Play. Both partners have a lot of experience in non-formal education and have years of experience in the field with refugees and Roma populations. Therefore, they will have an important role in the research, the development and the good practices of the different training modules. The technical integration and training content will be coordinated and developed by Mobile School NPO, while the partners will be involved in giving feedback on the development. Each partner will also include organisations from their own local network, to bring together in their focus groups or to help disseminate the final product. Besides this, we will partner up with network organisations to spread the integrated Learning Hub to youth workers around the world.
Our goal by implementing StreetSmart Learn was to provide youth workers with the training and knowledge they need and want, so they can set up the right processes with their target group, based on the latter’s needs. Our partners in this project shared the same goal and additional experienced challenges like staff turnover. By creating this Learning Hub, they can also support new staff with the knowledge they need to do a qualitative job as well. By realizing the two project results, building a user-friendly state-of-art digital learning management system (LMS) for youth workers, and creating two types of interactive training (based on educational processes and support training), we think we achieved what we wanted to accomplish within this project.
Through our experience working with different youth work organisations, we noticed a need for educational training platforms focused on youth work. Our partners were looking for inspiration and new training to deliver qualitative youth work but found it hard to encounter the necessary tools and training for their specific needs. Next to the two tools Mobile School vzw already developed with the help of Erasmus+ (StreetSmart Impact – mobile app to measure the impact of youth work; and StreetSmart Play – website with educational games), we saw an added value in starting up an online Learning Hub, together with two experienced partners, PRAKSIS and Salvati Copiii Iasi. Through focus groups and research, we learned that important features for this Learning Hub should be interactivity, fun, and easy-to-use, the possibility to collaborate with other users, availability in the mother tongue, certificates and offer good practices. We believe with StreetSmart Learn (http://learn.street-smart.be), we met all those needs, and youth workers inside and outside our own network can now follow online training specified on youth work.