Deeper into LarXperience

Background In 08/2020 we completed the LarXperience strategic partnership, which aimed to shape young people's attitudes through the use of larps as an educational method, especially in the area of tolerance of differences and in the area of decision-making and bearing the consequences of their decisions. Our experience from this project has shown us that the process of attitude building is really about long-term intensive work and it is not enough to have just one experience, but it needs to be consolidated in the long term. Therefore, our intention in this project was to build on the results of the LarXperience project and develop them into the field of long-term attitude building for young people, especially in the area of strengthening attitudes of solidarity and sensitivity and in the area of building one's own self-esteem. We built on these needs, which were influenced by the coronavirus pandemic: Self-esteem: current young people have very low self-esteem and cannot accept themselves. Young people with low self-esteem are constantly faced with the question of what their self-worth is and whether they are worthy of being loved. Low self-worth promotes anxiety, and anxiety causes a lowering of self-worth with the coming fear. Objectives The main objective of this project was to strengthen young people's attitudes of solidarity and build their self-esteem in both non-formal and formal learning environments through long-term programmes using experiential learning. Sub-objectives of the project: - To support the consolidation of young people's attitudes through long-term continuous work with a concrete experience, generated by a larp game, as well as their motivation to persist in the programme. - To promote the linking of formal and non-formal education and thus increase its impact on young people. - Increase the impact of youth organisations' and schools' activities in shaping young people's attitudes. - Further develop larps as an educational tool. Implementation We have designed 4 learning programmes that develop young people's attitudes in both non-formal and formal education: Status life - the aim is for participants to become aware of and identify the real factors that influence perceptions of their own self-worth. Party Hollywood - The aim of the programme is that if young people find themselves in a particular situation where they encounter difference, they will prefer to be open to help rather than condemn. Jailbreak - The goal is for participants to realize that total altruism or selfishness has destructive effects on those around them and on their own lives. Playing with fire - the goal is that if the participant finds themselves in a challenging situation, they will prefer to face that reality by looking at the situation positively, seeking help and gratitude instead of escaping in the form of drugs, alcohol, or the virtual world. The larpies in each program are followed by a set of follow-up activities, which are chosen to be further used according to the chosen educational goals. We have also developed a gamified app to support young people's motivation. The app works on the principle of a card game. Achievements 4 long-term educational programmes were developed - 2 on solidarity and sensitivity and 2 on building self-esteem. These methods use larps as a starting point and include coherent follow-up activities that help youth workers and educators to make the most of the experience that arises in the larp and to develop it in a way that reinforces positive attitudes. Each programme includes a larp as a starting point and a series of follow-up activities. The long-term programmes have been tested with 4 groups of young people from Slovakia and 4 groups of young people from the Czech Republic. An original online application was created that supports young people's motivation while promoting the peer principle, which equally contributes to building one's self-esteem and developing an attitude of solidarity directly on the ground in informal and formal groups of young people. The application was tested on a total of 480 young people in formal and non-formal education in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. A set of four questionnaires measuring attitudes is developed as part of the Bethy application. 24 youth workers and teachers have completed the training course Introducing Larp.