Course Description
This course examines the concept of soft skills (or people skills) and their importance both in the classroom and in teachers’ interactions with colleagues. The course will draw on a unique Core24 syllabus of key people skills developed jointly be York Associates in the UK and O’CONNOR Language and Communication in Germany. The goals of the course are to (further) develop effective communication, enable participants to recognize and maximize their personal strengths, help them unlock motivation in themselves and their students, develop and employ empathy to strengthen relationships and impact, and to manage conflicts.
Participants will be encouraged to reflect and share their own views and experiences, will receive research-based input on the above topics and examine how to apply this input to their own specific situations. Participants will also have the opportunity to develop their people skills in discussions and role plays over the course of the week.
This course is offered by O’CONNOR Language and Communication in Ulm (Germany) and York Associates in Eindhoven (Netherlands) in collaboration with Babylon Academy.
Course Objectives
- To develop a global understanding of people skills and their relevance in the classroom and in interactions with colleagues
- To help participants recognize and develop their own potential, build stronger professional relationships with students and colleagues, to increase influence and impact in the school environment and to improve performance
- To develop key people skills in the areas listed below.
- Effective communication: establishing what we understand by “effective communication”, establishing how to communicate effectively, practicing effective communication skills
- Maximizing our strengths: identifying our own unique strengths and exploring ways to develop and use these to improve our performance and job satisfaction
- Unlocking motivation: analyzing and practicing ways of enhancing both our own motivation and that of our students
- Developing empathy to enhance relationships and impact: understanding and practicing empathy to enhance relationships and impact both inside and outside the classroom
- Managing conflict: developing and practicing conflict management strategies for classroom management and teamwork with colleagues
- To explore ways to develop these key skills in our students
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course you will:
- Understand how (further) developing people skills can enhance the way you interact and work with students and colleagues
- Have determined which people skills are especially relevant to you personally and your work
- Have (further) developed skills in critical areas such as those listed above
- Have developed a concept for developing our students’ people skills
- Drafted an action plan for further development
Target Audience
This five-day course is for teachers and trainers who want to better understand the concept of people skills, want to maximize their own people skills in the classroom and in the school environment, and who want to develop people skills in their students.
Planned Schedule
| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | |
| 1 | Introduction of Core24, host institution and participants | Why a strengths-based approach to professional life can lead to greater happiness, health and success | What motivates us and our students? | Understanding empathy and how it can enhance both our relationships and our impact on others | Conflict in educational settings – definition and analysis |
| 2 | Team building activity | Identifying and building on our own strengths | Organizing our working lives to ensure we remain motivated | Practicing empathy inside and outside the classroom | Strategies and skills for conflict resolution |
| 3 | What do we mean by effective communication? | Connecting with the strengths of others | Increasing our students‘ motivation through autonomy, mastery and purpose | Empathy and conflict resolution | Developing a personal action plan. |
| 4 | Practicing effective communication | Employing a strengths-based approach in the classroom | Course feedback and certificates of participation |
Dates and Prices
| Language level: | English B1 and above |
| Locations: | Eindhoven (Netherlands), Ulm (Germany) |
| Time: | 9 AM to 2:30 PM daily (extracurricular activities outside of learning activities) |
| Dates: |
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| Price: | €510 (5 days) - including an extracurricular activity and a welcome lunch or dinner |
Conditions
The course complies with all rules as set in the Quality Standards of the Erasmus+ program. Courses are including an extracurricular cultural activity and a welcome lunch or dinner, and study groups are international. Note: should the latter condition not be met, participants will be informed 40 days in advance.
Payment facilities: participants with funding from the actual year’s project budget may ask to request a deposit of EUR 100 to guarantee their places on the course and pay the rest of the fees later.
It is possible to take part in 2 consecutive courses, please book both separately. A price reduction of 15% will be applied.
