My Placement at a Youth Club for Asylum Seekers

As I reflect on the six weeks of determination in my placement practice in a youth club catering for asylum seekers, I feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. My six-week journey through the placement had been characterized by numerous tribulations and trials; however, I believe that my development as a student and an individual directly results from my experiences at the youth club. Before I engaged in my placement at the youth club, I had to consider the following factors namely, the aim of the internship, time-frame of my placement, the number of participants, and the location of the institution. These factors in many ways influenced the methodologies and techniques I employed throughout my placement period. The entries chosen illustrate my proficiency in understanding and working with disadvantaged groups as well as demonstrate my growth story.

            My main aim of conducting the workshop in the youth group was to bring everybody together and make quality time for everyone to enjoy as some of the young people were not social with others being around them. The people I worked with were young people who understood or spoke little or no English at all most of them a few days or months old within the institution. During my first day at the club, I engaged with the participants in playing musical chairs name games. I specifically chose the game to attain their trust in me and also get to know them. Playing musical chairs in teaching set up is particularly essential in making lessons enjoyable and improving listening skills for learners (Filoche 2017, p.20). The game of musical chairs undefines the value of sharing. As the game begins, the seats are placed in the middles of a circle; all the participants are requested to stand up.

Each time music is played and one chair removed, at the end of the music they are instructed to seat, and any participant who cannot find a seat is required to share a seat with anybody. As the game progresses, seats are consequently removed till all the participants are forced to share a seat. Musical chair game is proved as a way to enhance collaboration among team members and easing a tense atmosphere. At the close of the play, it is essential to ask questions such as how they felt sharing the seat. Besides, one can ask how it feels to have a seat when another person lacks a place to seat, how it felt when another person was willing to share a seat with you, and if they were willing to share. By evaluating their responses, I realized that the social boundaries they had erected around them had not diminished as I had expected.

My second week was the most challenging as only two volunteers turned up for the workshop. This development prompted me to ask the two volunteers about any particular struggles they are facing. From their responses, it was clear that the participants' principal concern was engaging in activities aimed at improving their English, as those who could speak the language did not feel comfortable conversing with them. Another daunting task for the participants was the inability to interact with other group members who could speak English cohesively. So, on the third week of my placement, I decided to incorporate games I thought would bring the group members together such as tongue twisters aimed at encouraging them to speak up. I would reward the members by cheering each participant that took part in the game. However, to my dismay as soon as we the tongue twisters game, some of the members withdrew back to their groups. I realized the members of the club did not want drama, as such I resorted to the book "Drama Games for Those Who Like to Say No” to help me design the games to make them more exciting and appealing to everyone (Johnston 2010, p. 29).

In this regard, I decided to improvise my approach by joining and actively taking part in their games such as football- I noticed the boys liked playing table tennis and football (Depping, Mandryk, Johanson, Bowey &Thomson 2016, pp.129). ACM. In my approach, I involved everybody in the football game by having one individual stationed in the middle of the circle. The point of the game was passing the ball to other members; however, when the person in the center of the circle manages to touch the ball while you are passing the ball, then you become the person in the middle. As the games progressed, I realized that it was getting extremely competitive for the boys, so I made rules such as being respectful during the games, being sensitive to others, teamwork, taking part in their own volition, and lastly being confidential unless one faces danger. During my third week of placement, I decided we play table tennis. As time progressed, I noticed that even though I had succeeded in creating an enjoyable program for the participants, I missed the greater picture of developing an all-inclusive environment where the members genuinely appreciate and understand the underlying UK culture (Johnston 2010, p. 47).

Working at the club proved quite challenging at times because things did not always go as planned. Even though, I mostly had contingency plans some of the challenges proved quite a hard nut to crack. For instance, some of the youth would think you are one of them and begin to flirt with you. At first, I could respond by telling them they would do that to their teacher and I would proceed to remind them I was specifically there to help them. Besides, they would often get into fights while playing the games. More often I had to tell them about the UK culture as most of them did not understand.  For instance, one of the members was being investigated for sexual harassment offense by the police.

Ways to Improve My Future Workshop Experience

Following the disastrous failure of techniques, I had employed. I decided to introduce a raft of new ideas that would promote a healthy balanced environment for the participants as well improve their self-development. For example: designing workshop rules; establishing the factors to focus more before creating a workshop; and introducing a mix of icebreaker games aimed at promoting knowledge of each other and providing an exciting environment (Lorenc, Petticrew, Welch & Tugwell 2013, p.193).

Redesigning the Planning Process

Throughout my placement experience, I realized that I had focused on misplaced aspects that eventually contributed to the dismal performance of the workshop. Thus, therefore it is critical to redesign the planning to encompass specific needs of the diverse individuals within the group. The new plan comprises eight stages. The first phase is drawing a planner that includes the aim, details, teaching modalities, duration, and materials to be utilized throughout the workshop duration. This phase is particularly important as it provides an overview of the workshop process and forecasts any issues that might arise in the course of training. The second step is designing and deciding what the participants are expected to learn. A thorough background check is essential in the determination of knowledge gaps present within the group members. Moreover, a clear statement of what is to be learned provides direction and the course of the workshop.

For instance, through association with the members of the asylum seekers group, it became apparent that learning the English language was the most paramount objective. Language training is necessary because it is the only way they can converse and relate in unison. Asylum seekers come from different countries with diverse languages and cultures thus making hence facing a challenge in communicating with each other. Another critical concern is making them understand the UK culture especially when it comes to respecting females and other people irrespective of their ages. Further, I noted that for the topics to be more interesting they should be modeled more as learning outcomes rather than a topic to teach. At the end of the lesson, a participant should concretely state what they have learned.

            Thirdly, thoroughly understanding the audience. This stage involves determining the level of knowledge the participants have in regards to the topic under discussion. Understanding the audience greatly influences facilitation techniques to be utilized. People exhibit different learning styles. Therefore, it is essential to employ a mix of teaching methodologies. About the youth groups, incorporating audiovisuals to make learning more interactive and exciting. Factors such as the duration of the workshop play a central role in determining the techniques to be employed. For instance, for a short span training, it’s imperative to design teaching methodologies that incorporate a great deal of information. More importantly, the duration of the workshop spells out the aspects to be included and those to be left out. Prioritizing on issues that contribute to the overall goal of the training in a short duration is critical at this stage. Additionally, understanding your audience is vital especially their aspirations, challenges, and motivations.

The youth at main club challenges understood the English language and the UK culture. Consequently, as I a trainer it was essential for me to tailor my training to enable them to understand English. Inability to listen and speak English severely hampered the pieces of training as well as the cohesion among the youths-something I failed to acknowledge during the development of the practice (Fraser 2012). Being able to understand the participants significantly influences the aim and methodologies utilized in a given workshop.

Another aspect worth noting is consideration of workshop location. Institutions such as prisons and shelters mostly comprise of hardened personalities, therefore calling for more adult-oriented methodologies compared to learning institutions such as junior schools that contain relatively young individuals. Nature of facility significantly determine the methods and the aim of any given intervention. Asylum seekers club members for instance, mainly hope to learn the English language, prevailing culture, a dream of self-development (Schapira 2016, p.407). Therefore, methodologies should be more aligned towards understanding the dominant language, culture and imparting them with skills to improve their lives. Games also should be used to develop positive relations with other members but not on a large scale.  Further, it is vital to isolate and point out at least three important lesson the group aims to achieve at the end of the exercise. These goals can include improving cohesion among group members, learning the dominant language and positive transformation in regards to habits. The objectives can be listed at beside corresponding topics or at the end of the planner.

Redesigning the Workshop Methodologies

Deciding the teaching methods for each section plays a tremendous role in the overall goals of the intervention. This phase involves thinking to anticipate the needs of the audience and the message you are trying to pass (Schapira 2016, p.408). It is imperative to select the learning style that produces the best results. Various icebreakers methods can be used to get members to open up and participate, following the failure of the previous methods-musical chair and getting involved in the games- I decided to new method namely solemn and silent strike the funny bone, and jump in jump out. With the new techniques, I hope my next placement would proceed with few challenges.

            I expect the new icebreaker games to contribute significantly to the overall success of the workshop in various ways. First, the games add laughter and fun in the training process, thus, making learning enjoyable by creating a conducive environment. The games also assist in the breaking down of existing barriers between members. This way, participants can easily converse and feel free to ask questions and share the experiences. Icebreaker games such solemn & silent and strike the funny bone play a substantial role in getting the participants' attention. The games help in clearing the minds of any thoughts and direct all their focus to the facilitator. More importantly, icebreaker games aid members to introduce themselves to each other easily. By bringing down the barriers individual barriers, members can easily find themselves able to approach other group members to present themselves. Besides, team members on most occasions find themselves at ease to share their personal information in great detail.

            Also, icebreaker activities are effective ways to stimulate creativity and resuscitate failing energy of team members in the attainment of a particular goal (Depping et al. 2016, p. 117). By utilizing games such as a jump in jump out, team members are energized, and tensions that might have built up in the course of training is released, hence being able to think creatively and generate new ideas. Nonetheless, as team leader, engaging in games with members often opens up vertical communication lines as members find their leaders approachable. In turn, members can easily share their challenges with their leaders. The instructors can also rest assured that downward information within a group is well conceived. Last but not least, facilitators can use icebreakers as introductory phases before exploring the main topic in detail. Facilitators often use icebreaker games to quickly gauge how members understand a given issue, comfortability levels within groups, and their backgrounds.

Solemn & Silent

The solemn & Silent game is preferably suitable for groups ranging from any size. Besides the risk levels of the game to participants is significantly low compared to other icebreaker games (Lc.iastate.edu, 2018). The duration of the game varies depending on the size of the group thus can be modified to save time. Even though even number of members is mostly preferred, an odd number of participants can as well take part in the game. The game is structured in the following way. First, the instructor illustrates to the participants how the activity requires self-control from them.  The member pair themselves with each other’s back facing one another. After three counts, members turn around and face each other looking directly towards their partner's eyes and strive to remain severe and solemn without raising a word. The first to break is forced to take a seat as their partners take on new members until the only one person is left standing without ever laughing. The second phase can involve a couple of teams taking on each other. If a group has got two severe members at the end of the game, the other team members can act as hecklers to disrupt the other side.

Strike the Funny Bone

Strike the funny bone icebreaker game involves the group members sitting inside a circle. The facilitator informs the members that the activity should be conducted without any laughter (Lc.iastate.edu, 2018). The first person begins by saying the word "Ha," the second person repeats the word "Ha" and adds another "Ha" so is the third person but now says three "Has." The exercise only comes at a close when the members who have strived no to laugh often find themselves additional "Has" than required.

Jump in Jump Out

Jump in the jump is at the type of icebreaker activity that entails group members forming a circle by holding each other's hands (Lc.iastate.edu, 2018). The leader, on the other side, shouts any order such as instructing members to jump to the left. The game becomes challenging because members have to follow whatever the leader says even though the motion of the group is in the opposite direction. In many instances, the group finds itself in an awkward position where they misconstrue entirely the instructions of their leader. Therefore, becoming more exciting.

Lessons Learnt

My placement at the youth club was an essential eye-opener on how I should have gone about my intervention measures and in selecting the overall goal of the of the project. I feel I should have focused more on training the youths English language, culture and the value of coexistence. I should have first introduced myself to the students, and what to expect from me to avoid awkward positions they put me at sometimes. Second, I would instruct the students a short poem about themselves, and it read it out in the class. This method would enable other group members to have a glimpse of about their counterparts, therefore, reducing any tensions present (Panggua 2016, p.193).

I also realized that choosing the right icebreaker activity based on the group demographics is essential in achieving maximum benefits for a training session. Another critical lesson is allowing sufficient time for the events. Six weeks was reasonably adequate; however, I did not manage to create a relaxed environment for the participants as it did not entirely break down boundaries brought about by diversity in culture and language (Panggua 2016, p.191). More importantly, monitoring the group members during the games is essential to ensure the participants follow all the rules of the game. The instructions and the nature of the games should be simple and readily improvised in case a challenge occurs. As a leader, one should have a backup plan in-case an icebreaker game does not meet its objectives. 

I also learned that any icebreaker activity that makes other team members uncomfortable should be avoided at all cost as it will only promote divisiveness in the group (Johnston 2010 p. 43). Icebreaker activities should be limited to stages such as the beginning of a training session or between breaks to revitalize and gain members attention. Lastly, no member should be forced to take part in an ice-breaker activity. In summary, I enjoyed my placement at the youth group despite the myriad of challenges I experienced and learned to appreciate diversity.

References

Boal, A., 2002. Games for Actors and Non-Actors. 2nd. Trans. Adrian Jackson. New York: Routledge.

Depping, A.E., Mandryk, R.L., Johanson, C., Bowey, J.T. and Thomson, S.C., 2016, October. Trust me: social games are better than social icebreakers at building trust. In Proceedings of the 2016 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (pp. 116-129). ACM.

Filoche, G., 2017. Playing musical chairs with land use obligations: Market-based instruments and environmental public policies in Brazil. Land Use Policy, 63, pp.20-29.

Fraser, H., 2012. Language analysis for the determination of origin (LADO). The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics.

Johnston, C., 2010. Drama Games for Those who Like to Say No. Nick Hern Books.

Lc.iastate.edu. (2018). Icebreakers and Teambuilders. [online] Available at: https://www.lc.iastate.edu/pdfs-docs/Icebreakers%20and%20Teambuilders.pdf [Accessed 18 Apr. 2018].

Lorenc, T., Petticrew, M., Welch, V. and Tugwell, P., 2013. What types of interventions generate inequalities? Evidence from systematic reviews. J Epidemiol Community Health, 67(2), pp.190-193.

Panggua, S., 2016. The Effectiveness of Ice-Breaker Activity to Improve Students’ Speaking Skill of The Third Semester Students of English Department Students of FKIP UKI Toraja. TEFL Overseas Journal, 2(1), pp.179-193.

Schapira, L., 2016. Caring for refugees with cancer: a case for training of US oncology professionals. In Cancer Care in Countries and Societies in Transition (pp. 399-407). Springer, Cham.