Harvest Time

Your volunteering project has been like a field you’ve been cultivating. You’ve done many different things - in your work, in your free time, with people around you. Every one of these experiences could have helped you grow in ways you might not even realize at first. Now it’s harvest time - let’s gather the experiences, see what learning has grown, and connect it to your competences.

Instructions: 

  1. Prepare your sheet -  draw a table with three columns following the example below. Choose your preferred way to work with it -  drawing on paper, or post-its or digitally in excel spreadsheet. Whichever platform you choose, title your columns: What I did; What I learned; Which competence it belongs to.

  2. Step 1. Brain dump your experiences
    In the first column, write down everything you did during your project. Think of your work tasks, social life, everyday challenges, special events. See the example in the table below.

  3. Step 2. Identify the learning -  in the second column, next to each experience, write what you learned from it. Ask yourself: What skill, knowledge, or attitude did this give me? How did this affect me? As you can see from the example, there could be many learning outcomes from one thing that you’ve done.

  4. Step 3. Link to competences
    In the third column, connect each learning point to one (or more) of the 8 areas of key competences for lifelong learning (used in Youthpass as well). You can use the short descriptions provided to help you decide.

  5. Important: This reflection might take a while — and that’s okay. Just like real harvesting, gathering your learning takes time and care. Don’t rush; give yourself the space and time

Example:

1 step

2 step

3 step

What I did 

What I learned from it

Which competence area it belongs to
Helped to organise a local festival

Coordinate with others

Entrepreneurship competence

Graphic design skills

Digital competence
Shared a flat with people from 4 countries

Improved my English and learned some German

Multilingual competence

Respect differences

Citizenship competence
Created social media posts for the project

Learned about online communication and safety

Digital competence

Learned how to write a good post

Literacy competence
Contributed to park clean up campaign

Increased knowledge about sustainability

Citizenship competence

Developed organisational skills

Personal, social and learning to learn competence
etc.

etc.

etc.
     
     

Below you can find short descriptions of each competence area and if you want to understand it more have a look here.

Multilingual competence – using and learning different languages to understand and express thoughts, feelings, and facts.

Personal, social and learning to learn competence – managing yourself, working with others constructively, and taking responsibility for your own learning and well-being.

Citizenship competence – acting responsibly and participating in civic and social life with awareness of rights, values, and sustainability.

Entrepreneurship competence – turning ideas into action with creativity, initiative, planning, and teamwork.

Cultural awareness and expression competence – understanding and expressing ideas and emotions through diverse cultural and artistic forms.

Digital competence – using digital tools responsibly for communication, content creation, information, and problem solving.

Mathematical, science, technology and engineering (STEM) competence – applying logical, critical, and problem-solving thinking in everyday and project situations.

Literacy competence – expressing and understanding ideas in writing, speech, and other forms of communication.

Other competences

Reflection questions
After filling in the table, take a moment to think about:

  • Which competences do I see the strongest growth in?
  • Which experiences surprised me the most when I looked at the learning behind them?
  • Which competences would I like to keep developing further?
  • How can I use this learning in my future studies, work, or daily life?

Now are you ready to transfer your learning experience into a Youthpass certificate and document your learning?

With your buddy:

It’s great if you’d like to do it with a peer volunteer as you can help each other notice things that yourselves did not notice. Here is some guidance how you can do it:

  • Both of you create your own tables first.
  • Take turns sharing one experience from your table.
  • Most important - stay curious and ask supportive questions.

Guidance for mentors/facilitators:

Explain the purpose: to help the volunteer recognise and name their learning.
Remind them this is a process that takes time, like harvesting.
Encourage them to include all kinds of experiences (work tasks, social life, challenges, small daily things).
If they get stuck, ask gentle guiding questions, for example:

  • “What did this moment give you?”
  • “What’s different about you now compared to before the project?”

Avoid giving them the answers - let them make their own connections.