Every YFU program is built to achieve our Educational Goals. We ensure that exchange is not just about living abroad, but about:
Fostering intercultural understanding and constructive conflict resolution.
Building skills for democratic participation and civic engagement.
Creating opportunities for non-formal and lifelong learning and volunteering.
Developing responsibility, resilience, and empathy.
Acting in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
At YFU, we see every exchange as a powerful educational journey. Our mission as an educational organization is to ensure that students, host families, and natural parents not only have a successful exchange but also experience lasting personal growth and intercultural understanding.
A cornerstone of this journey is our comprehensive orientation program, delivered in alignment across the global YFU network. Orientations provide participants with the knowledge, skills, and tools to navigate their exchange successfully - while also helping them reflect on and process the learning taking place throughout their experience and thus reaching our Educational Goals.
To ensure consistency and quality across YFU orientations, we established a defined educational framework: the Learning Outcomes for Orientation Programs (LOOP) based on our Educational Goals. The LOOP outlines clear learning outcomes for orientations at each stage of the exchange — pre-departure, on-program, and post-program.
These outcomes describe the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that participants should gain and are expressed in a learner-centered way: focusing on what the participant should be able to do as a result of the orientation. The LOOP is regularly updated and serves as a practical guide for facilitators, who are trained in non-formal education methods.
Beyond ensuring quality and alignment, it makes orientations meaningful, interactive, and often some of the most fun and memorable moments of the YFU experience. They also engage host families and natural parents, fostering shared learning and a sense of belonging to a global community. We are convinced that this thorough and aligned approach to education differentiates YFU from other exchange organizations and provides for a learning that is particularly profound and lasting.