Training Delivery
Hub training and development is comprised of theoretical, planning, practice and guidance sessions. Follow-up coaching is also available to client organisations who have taken part in Hub training.
Theoretical and Planning Sessions
All Hub na nÓg training programmes include 2 core theoretical sessions:
1) National and International Child Rights Obligations With Reference to the Voice of the Child
2) The National Participation Framework
1) National and International Child Rights Obligations With Reference to the Voice of the Child:
This session includes:
- A presentation tailored to the needs and child rights obligations of the client organisation.
- A training task that requires participants to demonstrate their ability to describe the child rights obligations of their organisation in giving children and young people in decision-making.
2) The National Participation Framework:
This session includes:
- A presentation tailored to the needs of the client organisation, which outlines the Lundy Model and the National Participation Framework.
- A training task that requires participants to use the Framework guidance and Planning Checklist to start the process of developing a plan on how they will adopt a rights-based approach to involving children and young people in decision-making in a specific project/s being undertaken by the organisation.
- The training task is undertaken by participants using a template in the training manual, which takes them through a good practice planning process using the Planning Checklist.
- Participants are expected to use the planning undertaken at the training as the starting point for the development and implementation of a plan/s to involve children and/or young people in a specific project/s.
Practice Sessions
All Hub na nÓg training programmes include practice sessions that require participants to demonstrate the ability to use best practice and age-appropriate methods to seek the views of children and young people. Individual training programmes are tailored to the role, responsibilities and needs of client organisations and to how ready they are to involve children and/or young people in decision-making.
The participative methods used in practice sessions include:
- Open Space, categorising and naming.
- World Café sessions using dedicated placemats.
- Jotter page sessions.
- Individual lifelines.
- Group lifelines.
- Body-maps.
- Moving debates.
The video below details 4 of the participative methods listed above:
Other participative methods and approaches regularly used in practice sessions include:
- Developing consultation topics and questions.
- Establishing and conducting advisory groups of children and/or young people.
- Facilitating children/young people to review and give feedback on surveys and other documents.
- Facilitating children/young people to develop survey or questionnaires.
- Developing child-friendly versions of documents or surveys.
Guidance Sessions
Guidance sessions are conducted on:
- The importance of conducting evaluation of all child and youth participation initiatives. A number of simple child-friendly evaluation tools are included in training manuals, where appropriate.
- The importance of providing feedback to children and young people, with examples of good practice.
- The appropriate use of the National Participation Framework checklists and child/youth feedback forms.
Coaching and Mentoring
The Hub offers dedicated time and space for follow-up coaching and mentoring to organisations and individuals who have attended preliminary training. A number of client organisations and individuals have availed of such support, which is delivered in the following ways:
- Co-design (between the client organisation and the Hub) of methodologies to conduct consultations, work on specific projects with advisory groups or improve existing approaches to seeking the views of children and/or young people.
- Practice workshops to coach client organisations and individuals in developing the skills to use co-designed methodologies or Hub methodologies.
- Sharing existing Hub and other good practice tools.
- Developing good practice tools with client organisations.
- Providing face-to-face, telephone and email support and guidance.
Training Resources