Learning Through Art

With this unique experimental seminar, we intend to exchange and explore fresh ideas and innovative practices and tools for youth work. Consciousness of Learning Through Art usually open new "channels" and “connections” in learners, generating new feelings, thoughts and helping people to become more open, self-aware, spiritual, creative and to realize their full potential. We project and receive through art a lot of information that can be useful for learning. Besides, activities that involve constituents of art can attract young people that are not appealed by “traditional” learning methods. So, for our organizations to be able to provide better learning opportunities for our youngsters and include young people that are currently “left out” we need to include more Learning Through Art dimension in it.

The general aim of this project is to contribute to the improvement of the quality of youth work by developing competencies of people that work with youth (teachers, youth workers, youth leaders, trainers, educators that work with young people outside formal education settings) to apply Learning Through Art as a tool and approach in the formal as well as in non-formal settings.

Based on experiential learning approach, this training has the following five objectives that are closely related to each other:

1. Practical part: Experiencing a series of exercises with different constituents of the arts, discovering own approach to teaching and learning, becoming more self-aware and developing a creative way of expression and developing the personal motivation to use LTA approach.

2. Analyzing the experience: Becoming more aware of the power of LTA for promoting holistic development – learning from one's own emotions and also discovering it from a theoretical point of view.

3. Conceptualizing: Exploring opportunities for including art as an approach and/or a tool in youth work and discovering what competencies it could develop in young people.

4. Developing skills in designing and implementing learning activities for/with youth that would be based on consciously chosen learning elements of art that develop concrete competences.

5. Sharing experience from the training course and developing ideas on follow-up activities on using learning elements of art in youth work in local and international projects.