LTTA in Nice, France: activities, learning outcomes and results
Sixteen participants from across Europe attended FinancialLit4Women short-term joint-staff training event held in Nice, France from March 15th to the 17th, 2022.
The participants included individuals already working with adult learners, wanting to gain knowledge on financial literacy, upgrading their training methodology, hoping to acquire the competencies needed to train learners in financial literacy having NEET women as a specific target group.
The purpose of FinancialLit4Women training in France was split into two main goals. The first being to increase the range of training abilities used by adult educators. Training NEET women requires a certain confidence and skill set not usually taught at the university level. The training helped to instill confidence on financial literacy by allowing to become familiar with the FinancialLit4Women materials and games developed by the project partners. Participants learned how to properly use intellectual outputs to train NEET women on financial literacy.
The course also aimed to pilot-test the effectiveness of developed materials while identifying and providing a critical view of possible gaps or difficulties to learners coming from different countries. This proved particularly useful for adjusting and fine-tuning the secondary versions of the intellectual outputs, as well as teaching adult educators practical methods to integrate financial literacy into non-formal learning processes.
Through the training program, participants understood the logical steps based on the learner–centered approach. Group dynamics activities in the program helped to create a safe and friendly environment, providing the space and time for people to get to know each other personally and professionally before entering the intensive group learning process. The majority of the methods used in the course were experience-based.
Throughout the event, the following methods provided a wide-array of approaches to learning: participants worked individually, in peers, in small groups and all-together; thematic workshops, digital presentations, Percipio cards, quizzes and puzzles, a “Where do you stand” game, mapping, experiential learning of newly created games, analysis of materials created by partners, debates, skills development activities, exchange of good practices, collaborative work, facilitated and self-facilitated discussions, reflection sessions and constructive feedback all provided attendees with a constantly fresh and interactive opportunity to learn. The program focused on practical examples of developed app (IO2) games about financial literacy with the involvement of ICT.
As a result, participants improved communication, public speaking, presentation and facilitation skills, went through needs analysis, gained new working methods by using the phones and computers. Project partners got fresh feedback from the participants of the short-term joint staff training event and check of the project materials – the curriculum with handbook and games – for the future work on them.
Mitra France volunteers aided participants as they visited one of the most famous and loved NGOs in France – The Restaurants du Coeur (translating directly to Restaurants of the Heart, but meaning Restaurants of Love). The main activities during this time were to distribute food packages and hot meals to those in need while learning how this esteemed association aided its clients in budgetary planning. The association assists both the homeless and those with low or very low incomes: single families, NEET women, elderly with low pensions, and young adults. Now the association has grown to assist people in finding housing, in addition to supporting other projects.
Participants of the training course also had a study visit to Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild. Education, encouragement and support of young people has been a core strand of Rothschild philanthropic activity over the years. Participants learned valuable knowledge about various scholarships and school prizes granted by the family such as the Rhodes Scholarship and the Pathways to Banking and Finance programme which aims to increase social mobility across the entire banking and financial sector.
All participants received certificates of attendance at the end of the training course. During this final day the participants were provided an opportunity to evaluate the training course and provide feedback.
Partners back home continue to work on the outputs; taking into account recommendations and testing results for future improvements of materials and games.
