The training course is based on the use of non-formal education methods as an approach for delivering the contents. The general delivery method during the course is simulation of real lessons with students: during the 7-day training sessions there will be almost no lectures and presentations. Participants will, most of the time, step in the shoes of their students whereas the trainers will deliver the contents as suggested in the Teachers’ Manual. This will provide trainees with first-hand experience how to deliver the trainings to their students after attending the course.
The pedagogical methods that we use are based upon experiential training, group and peer activities, learning-by-doing and best practices’ exchange.
Teachers will learn about and participate in implementing a diverse number of non-formal ways for delivering contents in which trainees are active participants, e.g. simulations, role plays, guided drama activities, theatre of the oppressed, interactive video resources, Oxford-style debates, group and pair work, mind-mapping, creating artistic productions – collages, drawings, dances, poems/ prose, etc..
Local Portuguese teachers who have previously used the Manual and have delivered the suggested trainings to their students will participate in specialized sessions during which they will talk about their experiences and provide some first-hand tips and support to the course participants. Local visits to the schools could be organized depending on the participants’ needs and the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The training team is multinational - experienced trainers from Bulgaria, Portugal, and Greece, who have participated in the design of the Teachers’ Manual and the past teacher trainings within the YESI project.