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OOPS! Accidentally on Purpose

2021-1-SI02-KA153-YOU-0000200072021Mobility of youth workersfinalizedGood practice
Countries: SI|ES|HR|FI|MA|GE · Grant: €15,576
New learning and teaching methods and approachesPrevention of bullyingPhysical and mental health, well-being

Objectives

As we have seen an increased level of prejudice and discrimination in the environment, we wanted to confront and tackle this in an innovative and different way: the OOPS! Accidentally on Purpose was created, as the title says, to discover which prejudices and stereotypes we are "accidentally" breeding - those that are bred by our environment and that we are often unaware of or fail to recognise. When we are aware of this, we can act preventively and prevent forms of violence and discrimination. The project's purpose came out of a short workshop Laughter is Half the Health - after observing the participants and the effects, we came up with a key question: 'How can laughter and humour both impair and help mental health, wellbeing, and the search for meaning and goal-setting in life for those of us who work with young people, and for the young people we work with?' With the implementation of Oops! Accidentally on Purpose, which was held in April 2022 at the Krško Youth Centre, we wanted to achieve that young people and youth workers can become aware of themselves and their identity in relation to the world, restructure prejudices and discriminations (both from the position of the oppressed and the oppressor), establish a positive self-image, which will allow to provide a safe space for them and their peers, so that they can establish themselves in the world and act for the good of themselves, for the good of the local community and for the good of the world. As the Youth Centre is located in an environment where many different nationalities and cultures coexist, it also generates a lot of prejudices and stereotypes, which in some cases escalate into more severe forms of verbal and physical violence. We addressed these issues through non-violent communication methods, theatre of the oppressed, creative writing, neuro-linguistic programming and laughter yoga. The aim of the project was to empower and equip youth workers with tools, i. e. methods and techniques (theatre of the oppressed, and knowledge of the subject matter addressed and the search for concrete solutions in their local environment) that they can use and disseminate in their work with adolescents in the partner organisations. During the training, we aimed to analyse and contextualise our prejudices and stereotypes and to reframe them. Through six days of training with a variety of methods, techniques and approaches and a wide range of skills and knowledge, the aim was to enable youth workers to pinpoint problem areas among young people in their own environment and to apply the methods. The aim was to learn Laughter Yoga and to teach it together with other workshop methods as a technique of self-initiative for well-being. The aim was broader and longer-term: to enable young people to improve their self-image, especially in the aftermath of the Covid-19 epidemic, and thus create a safe space in the world for themselves and others, to act well towards their fellow human beings and to define their own responsibilities towards themselves, their local environment and the world. At the same time, the training also asked questions of the youth workers in different ways - firstly, it questioned his stereotypes and prejudices, especially those that he was not aware of, or those that acted as a covert form of violence or oppression towards young people and their difference, which is something that is difficult to face, and the answers are not easily accepted. Secondly, how bullying or other forms of violence that the youth worker himself or herself has experienced or experienced in the past are reflected in his or her self-image, mental health, his or her work with young people, whether these experiences have positive or negative consequences, where the latter are most evident, and how the cumulative effect affects the youth worker's self-image as a practitioner. To repeat this from the youth worker's perspective: when a youth worker questions his/her limits and his/her behaviours and patterns, he/she is ensuring a positive self-image and improving his/her work, as he/she is evaluating himself/herself again and again. The more he or she cares about a positive self-image and mental health, the more satisfied he or she is with himself or herself and with the choices he or she makes, and the easier it is for him or her to pass this on to young people. With the newly acquired skills and content on oppression and discrimination, the youth worker can continue the activities independently in his/her own organisation. By empowering youth workers as individuals and later as important members of society, we have consequently raised the level of youth work itself. One of the goals we have set ourselves is to collaborate again and plan new, innovative and socially relevant projects with the OOPS! partners. By being able to transfer the knowledge gained to new, future projects, we ensure that both the results and the impacts of the OOPS! and its predecessor E. T. were add

Project partners (6)