From 3X3 Leader to 3X3 Educator
How do you guide a group of young people? How do you create a safe environment? And how do you offer young people perspective and encourage them to take ownership? These questions, and many more, were central to the new 3X3 Educator Course.
During the course, twelve 3X3 Leaders were educated to become 3X3 Educators and prepared to deliver the 3X3 Leader Course themselves. “With this new course, it’s a win-win”, says Bas Rozendaal, educator at 3X3 Unites. He developed the programme together with Melissa ’t Jong, the education manager. “On the one hand, the participants are experts by experience and can pass on their knowledge to new 3X3 Leaders. On the other hand, it’s an opportunity for them to continue developing themselves.”
The 3X3 Educator Course, which consisted of four sessions, is one of the programmes within the 3X3 Unites Academy: an in-depth pathway for young people who have completed the 3X3 Leader Course. The aim of the academy is to keep young people engaged in the 3X3 Unites community, to inspire them, and to offer them even more perspective and opportunities for growth, both personally and professionally.
“That’s exactly what we want to achieve with the 3X3 Educator Course”, Bas says. “The more 3X3 Educators we have, the more new 3X3 Leaders we can train. This is how we want our community to spread like an oil stain. Our goal is to train 750 new 3X3 Leaders this year - significantly more than last year.”
Several themes were covered during the four-day course. Participants worked on storytelling, administration, creating a safe environment, and the hand-off approach. “As an educator, it’s important to distinguish between good mistakes and bad mistakes”, Bas says about the latter theme.
He explains: “Sometimes it’s useful to let good mistakes happen. You can then talk about them afterwards and learn from them. An example? If there’s an event on the agenda and nothing has been arranged a week beforehand, you can let it play out. If you were to say, ‘I’ll fix it’, young people won’t learn to take ownership. In the end, you often see that things still get sorted out.”
What he means is that good mistakes are allowed. Bad mistakes, on the other hand, should be prevented, according to Bas. By that he refers, among other things, to being late, how participants treat each other, or shutting down each other’s ideas.
The participants also worked on a case study about safety on the court, discussed what kind of educator they want to be, and had to create their own plan to recruit young people. Bas: “How do you get young people excited about your event, or how do you bring them to the court?”
In the coming period, the 3X3 Leaders will start delivering 3X3 Leader Courses themselves, under supervision. “I’ll be going to a school in Alkmaar with three 3X3 Leaders”, Bas says. “We’re throwing them in at the deep end - but not completely.”
He looks back positively on the launch of the 3X3 Educators Course. “At 3X3 Unites, we want to give young people opportunities and perspective. With this course, we are offering them new opportunities and even more perspective, while continuing to grow our community.”
Lees hier meer nieuws van 3X3 Unites
Show more