It is often said that everything happens for a reason, and that sometimes things have a meaning we cannot immediately grasp. The journey I have undertaken over the past two years has proven to be a path that goes far beyond the professional realm. It has been a collection of shared experiences during various training sessions, with seasoned companions from whom I have received care, understanding, and through whom I have reconnected with my essence.
A turning point in uncertain times
Rebirth in Education: A Journey from Uncertainty to Transformation
My participation in ETT1 was almost pure coincidence. I found myself in a very complex professional moment. After fifteen years of experience in European trade unionism, the worst aspects of politics had sidelined me from leadership. In politics, losing a congress is like spending years building a solid and well-designed structure, only to see it cast into the shadows of indifference by a vote. That is exactly what had happened to me. As a result, I was relegated to communicative tasks in a regional department. My self-esteem was in tatters, sadness consumed my days, and I felt lost, thinking I had sacrificed my best years in the trade union movement.
Designing objectives together
Training Design: Bridging Past Experiences with New Horizons
However, since I started my union career, even though I have not been a full-time trainer, I have spent a lot of time designing one-year training projects for young people as well as structuring and designing youth schools and European projects for years. In my opinion, nothing like those colleagues whose exclusive task was training.
From politics to union training: A personal transformation
With this background and this state of mind I arrived in Zagreb in October 2024, surrounded by people who had been involved in training for years, with extensive experience in their union. I had a bachelor's degree in English philology and a master's degree in European Union law. In the years when I studied at the Complutense, they directed a lot of your studies towards teaching English to teenagers, a job prospect that did not appeal to me at all. I found it boring and complicated to have to dedicate my whole life to teaching English. Too monotonous for my personality.
French trainers during ETT1 presenting their projects.
Guidance and Inspiration: The ETT1 Team
Despite the shyness of the first moment, I got to work in English with a group of colleagues who became my guides in a sense: Yavuz's insight and empathy, Janne's self-assurance, and Leontina's gentleness and wisdom. They were my guide in ETT1.
Having dinner at the hotel in Zagreb. It was quite cold...
Learning from a Remarkable Pedagogical Team
On top of all this, I could not have had a better pedagogical team: Colin, Valerie, Alessandro, Marianick and Anna. They not only provided me with technical knowledge, but also taught me values such as patience, adaptability and the importance of maintaining curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, no matter how far you have already traveled in the professional field. The most important thing is that at no time did I feel judged, and that is also what adult education is all about, understanding that each person is unique and makes his or her own path.
The pedagogical Team during a surprising activity. ETT2
Rediscovery Through Shared Learning
One of the most important aspects of this process has been the opportunity to reconnect with myself. In this shared learning environment, I have discovered that failures are not endings, but transitions to new stages. So much so that, a few months after starting the training process, CCOO asked me to deal politically with European affairs in the union, which has allowed us to open the perspective of union training on the fight against the extreme right to workers, although not only. So, everything happens for a reason!
Innovative Tools and Active Learning for the Future
As for the more technical part, I have learned the usefulness of tools to design courses such as Bloom's taxonomy and to establish more coherently both general and specific objectives. In addition, I have discovered very interesting digital tools for learning (Miró, Genially, Scratch, Howspace, etc). Having previous training in new technologies has helped me a lot, but it is true that I have discovered that a whole new world is opening up before me. The training at the Torino training center on active learning, although it made me end up exhausted, I really liked it and I believe that the use of artificial intelligence and applied technology can be very powerful tools for the training of workers.
Video made with pictures from Anna Kostetska
This is one of the tools I am exploring to learn how to use it . Its name is Scratch.
The Learning Journey as a Tool for Emancipation
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, has been the learning journey. Learning from others and with others, without any value judgments. We have collectively learned to solve problems and conflicts. Despite the challenges, the learning environments created in both ETT1 and ETT2 are safe spaces for work and learning. A learning process that compels us to reflect on the how, what, why, and for what purpose. Just like this journey with the e-portfolio. The first time I heard the term, I didn’t quite understand its purpose. Now, after two years of work, with colleagues full of generosity and empathy, I deeply understand and value the methodology of active learning. I believe it is a very powerful tool, not only for adults but also for those who learn differently, far from the traditional frameworks of absurd memorization. A methodology that greatly emancipates the working class.