The Autobiographical Approach: Unpack the Past to Shape the Future - Amsterdam

Available in: Florence, Amsterdam, Prague

Course calendar: Check the confirmed dates

Cultural activities: The number and schedule of the cultural activities depend on the location; check the location webpage to discover more.

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Course Description

Being constantly pressured by educational bureaucracies, teachers often experience the frustration of having their chance to listen to their pupils’ life experiences limited by the necessities of pursuing academic goals. Against a background of tests and targets to meet, the need for a deep relational connection goes mainly unsatisfied, and educational opportunities are lost.

Creating a deep and valuable personal relationship between teachers and their learners, however, is at the core of educational activities, and fundamental for their success. Luckily, this possibility is always at hand in the context of the classroom – if teachers only use appropriate tools.

This course proposes narrative autobiography as a valuable resource to close the distance between school teachers and their students. Engaging with narrative autobiography is extremely significant for personal development, as it helps accommodate new ideas and experiences, thus contributing to developing self-awareness and building self-esteem.

In relational terms, practicing narrative autobiography empowers active listening skills and communication abilities. Introducing narrative autobiography in a group may also help engage it with meaningful dialogues about values, beliefs and perspectives, and facilitate the growth of the class into an interactive community while encouraging self-reflection, shared experiences, the ethic of care, and understanding among students.

As a participant in the course, you will be engaged through a highly participatory method to practice specific autobiographical techniques (including games and a lot of fun!), gently conducting through a self-awareness path. You will, hence, experience the method on yourself first in order to be able to propose it later to your students.

By the end of the course, you will be able to use communication tools to develop effective relationships both with your students and with their social environment at large. You will be also confident in designing autobiographical workshops to encourage the identity development of your students, and in promoting a positive classroom atmosphere with a revitalized sense of purpose and a renewed boost of motivation for their educational role.

Continue reading: Discover the learning outcomes and the tentative schedule of this course.

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Course category: Creativity and Soft Skills

Creativity and Soft Skills: By fostering critical thinking and communicative abilities, an educator can develop better relationships with students, colleagues, and students’ parents, thus obtaining higher learning outcomes. If you want to expand both your creative thinking and storytelling skills, you should check out our Creativity and Soft Skills courses. They can help you design stimulating activities which aim to promote entrepreneurship and collaboration among your students.

Discover other courses on:

• Communication and social skills
• Public speaking and storytelling
• Personal growth
• Self-awareness