Gamificationfor hard to reach adults

ASSE is the association which has different activities from which, the ones that are useful for this project are the ones that recommended our association to be:

Practice partner:

Within “Promoting Centre for Lifelong Learning” the association concerns of life long education, regardless of age and has as a target group the education of the adults, unemployed or employed. The association is working in the formal and non-formal education levels, but maintains links with all sectors of economic life and ITC;

Moreover, in collaboration with Teacher Training Centre we conducted various seminars and international events on funding programs, activities on entrepreneurship, networking and EU integration and active citizenship.

Knowledge partner:

Regarding the studies made by our association in the commercial and economic area

In the beginning we were here.We didn’t know the right way…

The challenge of this project for our association was multiple:

A. Being a practice partner:

1. by the time this project was realized, all the themes of our courses were discussed and chosen by the association, then we looked for the trainers and the financing and the unemployed or the employees came to the courses, received the certificate and a qualification, trying either to be active in the economic life again, or to maintain themselves active in the economic life.

But the project wants H2R people and we realized that the ones, who were participating at our courses, were not making part in the H2R category.

H2R do not attend courses! They do not lose time even though they have enough because they basically refuse to participate. So the first challenge was to find H2R people, to have them in front of us, in order to be able to talk directly with them.

2. Immediately, we connected with the Social Service of Craiova City Hall, a city with 310.000 inhabitants. At first they refused to collaborate. After that, they sent us a big list with 15.000 people. We received a list, with no phone numbers, without any levels of study or the period of time they have been unemployed.

We looked for H2R adults, with the help of the addresses. Our members visited 34 addresses and this is what we found: At 9 of them, we couldn’t find the persons we

looked for, because they were gone out of the city At 11 addresses, we identified and talked with H2R

adults but they refused to participate At 13 addresses, the H2R demanded to be paid on

each day of work At 1 address we were threatened and told he

would put the dogs to bite us if we didn’t leave.

We made a last try talking to some people who came to take their monthly rate of help / unemployment benefits. From the big group, of about 25 persons we talked to, we couldn’t attract any person to get involved in this project, all of them demanding for daily charge.

Most people sincerely told us: “we work illegally in agriculture or construction. If my neighbour calls for my help, I will go to help him and at the end of the day I will get the money that we use to buy what our children need. I can’t leave home without returning with money.”

In this way, the scepticism of those from the Social Service of the City Hall was completely explained when, at first, they refused us to have access at their information when they told us that these H2R are reluctant and selfish, too and distressed to participate as a volunteer at this project.

3. We went to Unemployment Agency of Dolj, which after more discussions agreed to have meetings with the long time unemployed H2R adults. Here it was easier to contact the people from the target group because they come there with different issues at this agency (without us looking for them in different parts of the town). This is how we talked to 43 people and we got 7 of them to participate at this project.

4. The 8th participant was identified through being related to a member of our association. This H2R participant was the only one we were assured he is not going to leave the project.

B. The next challenge was to organize the meetings and we had to find answers to these questions:

1. How can we maintain the enthusiasm from the start? We decided to avoid the Bistrita effect and not to organize the meetings only with H2R and we to be on one side and they on the other side.

It came out the idea that is appropriate to increase the staff with trainers and members of the community. We used it and it was a great decision.

The community started to consolidate after the first hour spent together. The trainers were very helpful.

2. Where do we organize this? As a meeting place, we chose one of the halls where ASSE have courses, halls from the patrimony of the “Gheorghe Titeica” School. Here we had everything we needed to explain what this project wants to do.

3. What do we present and what games do we have to choose in order to be able to work together?

Our association does not have experience in games so we started to look for these.

We searched through the ideas launched by Oscar and Sylvester; we looked for other games which would be applicable. A good idea was to make a list of movies which are able to increase motivation.

We all know that movies have a strong emotional impact. The film is a game somehow; it is a game of mind and soul.

We have made a list of 101 movies that can motivate changing of mentality, attitude, increasing of desire of quick change for a better life.

We chose to watch Good Will Hunting – “Will Hunting, a janitor (a person employed as a caretaker of a building) at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.

A touching tale of a wayward young man who struggles to find his identity, living in a world where he can solve any problem, except the one brewing deep within himself, until one day he meets his soul mate who opens his mind and his heart.

Taglines: Some people can never believe in themselves, until someone believes in them.”

4. The trainers moved to action. We organized a round table with those involved in the project. We selected four games which we have played them in two consecutive Saturdays. The trainers selected two motivational movies that we watched in two consecutive Sundays.

5. We assessed using a questionnaire the impact on all participants. Everybody evaluated that the game effect on them were positive. 70% of them appreciated that the effect as very positive and 20% positive and 10% neutral.

6. Following this experience, new questions have appeared:

OK, we found a way of motivation, but how we use this motivation to apply it in real life? The motivation is the brain, it is exactly as an idea, and we want that the motivation to be applied and to generate means of subsistence for H2R.

Motivation to be applied requires knowledge from many fields.

And we allowed to guide them because we want to reintroduce them into society not only economic but also relational, so we want to provide support outside the project to H2R through: professional counselling, financial, educational, familial.

Therefore the trainers asked the H2R what kind of courses they would be interested in to help them to complete their knowledge. Some of them identified what they would like, but from others we are looking for their response.

Constraints and difficulties found:

In the identification process of unemployed, the members of our association had struggled with some difficulties. In this way, it can be noted the difficulty of organizing a meeting group.

The help of the local authorities was requested for the mobilization of the long-term unemployed. In this stage, were met some difficulties with the bringing of some long-term unemployed to attend to some meetings. Therefore, the optimum number of participants couldn’t be achieved.

Also, the meeting’s participants had shown some reluctance, having some issues on the speaking level. The difficulty to select unemployed persons didn’t allow the organization of group meetings on different socio-demographic categories (gender, age, study level).

Because of this aspect, the members of our association remarked the lack of expression which had come from the people who had unfinished studies.

The majority of the selected unemployed had worked before. They worked in different branches: economy, under the table jobs (undeclared jobs) or at some local businessmen.

B. Conclusion:

Because the study samples in each country are small we propose you a common questionnaire of the project applicable to all participants in this project indifferent they are: H2R, trainers and managers.

1. "When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

Strong people don't give up when they come across challenges. They just work harder.

2. Always aim high, as expectations from yourself and not from others. Everyone has their own life and is alone responsible for it.

Do not blame others for your failures. However, see what you did wrong, learn from them, to correct and move on!

We’re doing everything we canso we don’t end up like this.