Short-Term Staff Training Event of the REFORM Project Held in Ankara

REFORM Short Term Staff Training Event organized within the scope of the Erasmus+ project titled “We Want to Be Ready for Today’s Ever-Changing Life – Developing Skills of Persons with Disabilities for the 21st Century-REFORM” was successfully held in Ankara between 30 September – 2 October 2024. The main purpose of the event was to enable professionals working with people with disabilities to gain practical skills through experiential learning in line with the theoretical knowledge based on 21st century skills, to teach the effective use of the REFORM Handbook, to complete the implementation processes of the REFORM Blended Learning Training Program and to provide technical information for the preparation of training videos.

The first day of the event started with the opening speech of İlknur Ünal. Then, the process of preparing the REFORM Handbook was comprehensively evaluated in line with the feedback from the partners. Steps such as creating the content structure, finalizing the graphic design, summarizing the chapters and approving the final version were detailed. It was also planned to complete the handbook electronically, translate it into the languages of the partner countries and publish it on the project website. In the following sessions, under the title “What a professional working with persons with disabilities should know about 21st century skills”, the importance of lifelong learning, the unique aspects of working with persons with disabilities, strategies that support skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity were presented by project partners GGEKSD and SAMDER. In addition, presentations were made on life skills such as resilience, social skills and media-literacy, and workforce skills such as job search, interview preparation and entrepreneurship. Strategies to increase intrinsic motivation and new approaches and tools for the 21st century adult educator were shared by SPLB, one of the project partners.

The second day started with the evaluation and structuring process of REFORM Blended Learning Training Program. The pedagogical objectives of the training program, module structures, sub-activity calendars were determined and distributed to the partners. The program, enriched with theoretical content, instructional videos, practical exercises, worksheets and inspirational activities, was planned to be translated into all partner languages. Evaluations were made on the participant selection process and pilot implementation. During the day, presentations were made on individual and interpersonal life skills in the 21st century, financial and health competences (SAMDER), skills for the labor market (GGEKSD) and active citizenship, social responsibility and media literacy (SPLB).
The third and final day started with a video production training for the participants. Practical trainings such as script writing, audio editing with Audacity software and using IceCream Video Editor were presented in practice under the leadership of SPLB. Then, all partners discussed the quality management plan, evaluation tools, financial management and reporting processes under the heading of project management and implementation. In the following session, the project brochure, Facebook page, EPALE platform contributions, newsletters, project website and academic publications were evaluated under the dissemination and promotion activities.

The REFORM Short-Term Staff Training Event contributed greatly to the effective implementation and sustainability of the project outputs. This comprehensive three-day event allowed professionals to consolidate their knowledge and skills, increased experience sharing among partners and strengthened the widespread impact of the project.