Foróige, Leadership for Life:
The below info was published by Foróige Ireland, please visit there website ---> here.
About Foróige Leadership or Life:
This exciting programme enables young people to develop the skills and qualities necessary to be good leaders, as well as challenging them to use these skills for the betterment of society. Leadership is defined as facilitating change and development of the individual and society through use of core social and emotional competencies, including self-awareness, collaboration, empathy and relationship building.
The programme sets out to empower young people to make a positive difference to their community through practical actions and projects. Throughout the course of the programme, young people learn the core concepts of leadership and gain skills such as communication, teamwork, problem solving, critical thinking, self-awareness etc. The programme sets about developing the leadership capabilities and potential of young people and gives them an opportunity to harness their skills and attributes to contribute to their society in a fun and encouraging environment.
Background:
The programme is underpinned by theories and principles of youth work, leadership styles and adolescent development, as well as a literature review compiled specifically to inform the programme by the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre at the National University of Ireland, Galway. The accompanying conceptual model brings together the development of skills, environmental factors and action orientated behaviour necessary for youth leadership development.
Aim & Outcomes:
The Leadership for Life programme aims,
To enable young people to develop the skills, inspiration, vision, confidence, and action plans to be effective leaders.
To empower young people to make a positive difference to their society through the practice of effective leadership.
The programme will motivate and equip young people to:
Identify their personal strengths and the motivations that inspire them to become leaders
Develop a clear vision of what they would like to achieve as a leader
Develop a greater understanding of their style of leadership
Explore the challenges and difficulties of leadership
Develop clear communication skills
Explore local, national and global issues
Explain and apply methods of conflict resolution
Practice problem solving and critical thinking skills as part of a group
Identify goals and vision for the future and develop action plans to achieve these
Organise and plan a project
Understand and use the logic model for planning
Module 1 introduces participants to the concepts of leadership and the core skills necessary to be a good leader. Participants devise a personal leadership goal and begin planning and working towards achieving this, alongside workshops focusing on communication skills, self awareness, values, and team problem solving.
Module 2 builds on the learning from module one, with participants continuing to develop core leadership skills, while working on a team research project investigating local, community, or global issues. Module 2 introduces planning using the logic model, and advances communication and personal development skills in addition to exploring conflict resolution, critical thinking and debating.
Module 3 enables participants to put into practice their learning from the previous modules by actively engaging in a community project of their choice, keeping a journal of their experiences, and presenting a portfolio on completion. Foundation Certificate in Youth Leadership and Community Action.
In Ireland, Foróige’s Leadership for Life programme has been accredited by the National University of Ireland, Galway, as a Foundation Certificate in Youth Leadership and Community Action. The programme was developed as a Lifelong Learning Initiative through partnership between Foróige and the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre based at NUI Galway. It is accredited as a Foundation Course as 15 credits at NFQ Level 6.
Training Description:
The facilitator training programme is a lively and interactive training, using experiential learning techniques to equip participants with the skills needed to facilitate the Leadership for Life programme with young people aged 15+ in a group work setting.
Following the training, facilitators will be able to:
Use interactive approaches to explore youth leadership with young people
Understand the theoretical basis upon which the leadership programme has been developed
Facilitate the development of youth leaders in their community
Grade youth leader workbooks for the Foundation Certificate in Youth Leadership and Community Action
Training takes place over two consecutive days, and requires a minimum of 12 participants.
Overview of Evaluation:
Evaluation of Foróige’s Leadership for Life programme took place over 2011-2013, and involved 431 young people (264 who completed the programme and 164 as a comparison group). Measures of leadership, life skills, resilience, empathy and social support were taken at three points, before, after, and as a follow up to the programme, in addition to qualitative measures from focus groups and interviews.
The evaluation showed that young people who completed the leadership programme showed significant improvement when compared to the comparison group including increased goal setting, empathy, critical thinking, communication skills, team work, problem solving, leadership skills, community involvement, resilience, sibling support, total social support, emotional support and esteem support.