CONNECT INTERNATIONAL – EXPERTISE POOL OF TRAINERS

POT is a platform of trainers who have worked or who have shown interest in working for CONNECT educational activities – training courses, youth exchanges, seminars, conventions and similar events. The main role of the POT is to empower, motivate and coach members and Member Organisations. POT contributes to the capacity building of the network and by that increases the visibility of the organisation. Furthermore, POT provides a space for exchange of experience, educates and develops the competences of its members.

Their role is to work on three main fields: 

  • Capacity building of Member Organisations;
  • Advise on educational matter and produce educational materials;
  • Capacity building and development of competences of POT members;

 

1. Capacity building of Connect International: Empower, motivate and coach its Members and Member Organizations

POT is the tool to improve and support capacity building of the organization and its members. In regards to this, POT will be used for activities of Connect International and its Member and Partner Organizations (when requested).

The POT provides educational services for:

  • International educational activities such as Conferences, Seminars, Trainings, Youth Exchanges and similar events implemented by Connect International, its Member Organizations and partners;
  • Local educational activities: consultation and training for Member Organizations as a capacity building and competence development of their staff, volunteers and members;
  • Ensuring quality in implementation of the activities and programme according to the quality standards, aims and values of Connect;

 

 

2. Advise on educational matters and produce resource material:

  • The POT will have an advisory role for educational matters based on their experience during their mandate;
  • The POT will work on the capitalisation of the experience acquired and conceptualization in Connect’s practice. In regards to this, the POT will have the role to develop new methodologies and approaches, create manuals, guidelines and documents that will further serve improving the quality of the educational activities organised within Connect;

 

 

3. Capacity building and development of competencies of its members:

POT is a platform/space for its members to further develop and improve in the field.

Thematic Meetings: Capacity building training and meetings. The meetings of the POT are structured so to allow further development of members’ competences. The meetings of POT are organized on a specific theme, based on the current need assessment on its current members.

Peer learning: POT Membership is organized as long-term training in which member competencies are regularly assessed and developed. Capacity building is ensured through: personal assessment processes, vocational trainings, peer learning/education process and mentorship/coaching system established within the POT.

E-learning platform: The POT has an e-learning platform available for sharing experience, best practice, implement on-line trainings and gather resource material relevant to youth work and Connect activities.

 

 

Bases for Operational Rules

 

Human Resources Development:

“Human Resources Development is a framework for the expansion of human capital within an organization.” Using HRM tools such as those related to motivation, recognition, and sustainability, e-learning platforms as a tool, quality assurance, trust & transparency, the ideas from the documents that defined the role and relevance for the POT inside the organizational structure are put into practice. All these aspects are related to making the POT a learning platform that stimulates the exchange of best practice and effective knowledge management.

 

Facilitation process:

POT promotes continuous improvement, capacity building and innovation to its members. It is crucial to create a learning atmosphere where POT members feel comfortable to be part of and that gives them learning opportunities in a collaborative knowledge-building process. Learning is best achieved by actively doing and managing personal learning. Learning takes place in a social context through mind, body and emotions.

 

Motivation:

It’s one of the key elements for the success of POT. In order to keep POT alive and dynamic it must be a learning space for all members, maximizing it usefulness for the network. Motivation can be expressed in different ways, whether it is a motive for action, inner power, energy and encouragement for action or feeling.

 

Creativity and space for individual expression:

POT members must have the space to express themselves and exchange opinions with colleagues in the POT, otherwise it cannot be considered a place guided by the values of democracy or an ideal place for learning. The facilitation of this process must rely on the more experienced members. Creativity is one of the most important aspects of the production of knowledge, so it must be stimulated and all initiatives and ideas must be supported.

 

Communication:

Communication is a tool for providing knowledge and information, motivate POT members, share emotions and feelings of members and to keep within the rules of POT. The most important aspect is that the communication is transparent and based on trust, as it is the best way to keep up the motivation of members and ensure fair learning and training opportunities for all members.

 

Recognition and Ownership of POT:

POT is made of Trainers/Organizers in NFE who share the same domain of interest and who are committed to the aims and goals of POT. This belonging will distinguish them from the other trainers in NFE. This status is built not only by the opportunities they have inside the POT through the exchange of information, learning and great social contact, but also by recognition of the POT by other stakeholders that might open new possibilities for POT members. Only if POT is internally active and has a good cooperation with other stakeholders it is a good basis for trainers/organizers to have a strong ownership over it.

 

Assuring quality:

The performance and approach of POT members must be connected to the quality indicators defined by Connect. How well POT members can do their job is not directly proportional to how much they are paid, but it is directly proportional to how much they are motivated and dedicated to the activity/programme they are responsible for. The quality assurance indicators should be established in a general sense for any training undertaken by the POT and those indicators must be fine-tuned for each specific context of each TC.

 

The indicators that restrict POT members from giving the right amount of time and energy to fulfill a task needs to be eliminated during the process, always respecting every voluntary contribution of members in the POT. This is crucial if the motivation and sense of ownership of the POT from within is to be maintained and even increased. Other aspects of quality in training must be assured by setting indicators related to the number of trainers per trainee, the space and materials that are required, the number of hours of training, etc