In September, the project coordinator KEMEA held the first two trainings of the trainers in Thessaloniki and Larissa, Greece.
The first training of trainers took place in Thessaloniki, with 8 participants, 4 psychologists and 4 social workers from the Prisons of Thessaloniki, Nigrita, Komotini and Grevena, while the second session took place in Larissa, with 6 participants, 2 psychologists and 4 social workers from the Prisons of Larissa, Domokos, Trikala and Kassaveteia.
On the first day, the social workers learned about the needs of prison fathers as described in the research findings and best practices presented by KEMEA. On the second day, EETAA presented the transformative learning methodology and how it can be applied within the prison. Participants then engaged in an experiential workshop that lasted 7 hours, divided into two days, during which an abbreviated simulation of the Parent School was implemented. At the end, a discussion was held with all participants, including an evaluation of the training and next steps.
The training of the prison staff (social workers, psychologists, etc.) was conducted with the help of the toolkit that was developed within the project implementation. The training manual consists of best practices for enhancing the parental role of prisoners and an introduction to the transformative learning process. In the first part, there are "Activities" in the form of exercises that professionals can use to put the theoretical knowledge into practice. In addition, the second part of the material is divided into 12 different "Meetings" to be held with groups of incarcerated parents. Each meeting is accompanied by practical exercises that can be modified depending on the conditions, needs and experience of the participants.
The toolkit was provided to the trainers, during the first day of the training.
The project is implemented with the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission under Grant Agreement 621410-EPP-1-2020-1-EL-EPPKA3-IPI-SOC-IN.