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Brückenschlag: Zirkus
Brückenschlag: Zirkus
Start date: Dec 1, 2014,
End date: Oct 31, 2015
PROJECT
FINISHED
The high educational value of circus pedagogy to support the personality development and social learning processes of children and youngsters is acknowledged and proved. The methods have multiple positive effects on young people, which effect all youths equally: next to physical capabilities and skills, circus training also develops very important social competencies. Youngsters experience and learn above all about things like fairness, helpfulness, consideration, cooperation, responsibility and reliability. In the process of circus training young people undergo formative community experiences and sense of achievements, they take on responsibilities for joint choreographies and here they develop confidence and self-discipline. By participating in circus workshops, culture, language and abilities move in the background. In particular the variety of circus disciplines allows the participation to all and stimulate individual talents and abilities.
Therefore circus pedagogy is an excellent approach for international and inclusive youth work which contributes to individual empowerment as well as to intense group processes.
For this reason circus pedagogy is the main topic in the international and inclusive project “Building bridges: Circus”, which consisted of two , partly connected activities:
a training for facilitators and an international inclusive youth meeting.
Both activities have partners from Germany, Poland , Czech Republic and Romania .
Overview of activities:
A1 Training Building bridges – Circus inclusive!
Target group: Facilitators and youth workers from international and inclusive youth work from
DE, PL, CZ, RO
Place of Venue: International Youth Meeting Centre of the Krzyzowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe
Date: 21.-26.06.2015
The aim of the training was to present the particularities of circus pedagogy to youth workers and to show its potential for international and inclusive youth work. By getting to know various circus disciplines and participating in clown workshops led by experts the participants gained competencies in facilitating similar workshops in their own working contexts. Beside this the program offered time for exchange of experiences and reflection on the training topic. To enable the participants to realize own international and inclusive youth meetings, they also participated in a workshop introducing to the organizational issues of those kind of youth meetings.
A2 International and inklusive youth meeting „Building Bridges: Circus“
Target group: Youngsters in the age 15-30 from DE, PL, CZ, RO
Diversity played a crucial role in the selection of participants. By choosing the participants it was important to specifically addressed marginalized groups of young people, who never had the possibility to participate in those kind of educational programs. Among the 38 youngsters, who participated in the youth meeting, were boys and girls in the age of 15-30 including 13 young people with physical or multiple disabilities, as well as 15 young people with fewer opportunities.
Among the team were youth workers accompanying the youngsters, who had been participating in the Circus training in June.
Place of Venue: International Youth Meeting Centre of the Krzyzowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe
Date: 11.-17.10.2015
The main aim of this project was the meeting between youngsters. The international character and the inclusive profile allowed the participants to meet peers, which they would rather not meet in their daily lives. The time spent together promoted understanding for diversity and made inclusion for all tangible.
During the project, the youngsters participated in various circus workshops which they choose by personal preferences and talents. In addition to the process-oriented work during the workshops, the young people prepared small choreographies, which they presented at the closing show to the whole group. Due to the individual as well as collaborative work with the approach of circus pedagogy the youngsters experienced a strong personal empowerment and the development of important social skills.
Results/benefits:
The participants of the training were youth workers, who are active in various contexts of formal and non-formal education. With this youngsters from their working contexts will directly benefit from the learning experiences. It have already been established small circus groups in partner organizations. Some of the youth workers accompanied the youth groups of the international youth exchange in October, so they were able to support the youth during and after the project.
Most of the facilitators adopted the idea of inclusive youth work to their own working live.
The participants of the youth exchange had a very positive experience and went back home empowered. To experience inclusive learning and living settings has influenced their perspective of seeing the world and will be spread within their environments.