Educators STL Toolkit Consultant

About the project

International Alert is a leading peacebuilding NGO, with 30 years of experience in preventing violence. We have been working in Lebanon since 2008. Our thematic focus areas include peace education and non-violence education, youth participation, gender equality and addressing the underlying causes of conflict related to human rights abuses, gender inequality, social and economic exclusion, and insecurity. Alert is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and consultants to share this commitment.

The Ending Violence Against Children project aims to increase the capacity of schools and learning centres to reduce violence against children and generate evidence of the effectiveness of various approaches. It is implemented primarily in the Bekaa and Tripoli where partner organizations operate centres that offer non-formal education and psycho-social support activities. The project will generate evidence through action research on effectiveness of approaches to addressing violence against children, including school-based, learning center-based and community-based approaches. Prevention and response to violence against children is further strengthened through supporting partner organisations and their learning centres to improve their existing capacities, update, and fully adhere to child safeguarding policies.

As part of the project, the Safe to Learn PVAC Toolkit Consultant will work closely with the Safe to Learn project staff at International Alert and its partners Basmeh & Zeitooneh, the Centre for Lebanese Studies, Damma Organization and Sawa for Development and Aid.

Objective of the consultancy

The overall objective of the consultancy is to lead on the development of the Safe to Learn PVAC toolkit for educators in coordination with the Sate to learn Project Manager, the M&E Manager, and the Senior Advisor at International Alert in addition to all partners involved in the project.

The consultant will produce a PVAC toolkit as outlined in the scope of work. This toolkit will be focused on reducing bullying and violence in and around schools and learning centres.

Scope of work

The toolkit is envisioned as a module-based manual to be used by educators including an assessment tool educators can use and a set of activities to be used by educators in the classroom, in meetings with parents and in activities involving students, parents and other members of the community. It is anticipated that at least 30% of the activities will be suitable for online use.

To inform the content of the toolkit, the Consultant is expected to identify and review the available teaching and learning resources of the different partners within the STL project, and if relevant, build upon existing tools. Liaise with learning centres staff and partners staff and other relevant stakeholders to assess the most appropriate approach for the development of the toolkit in terms of topics, modalities, focus, methodology and time available.

The Consultant will develop the outputs specified below, using, if relevant and possible, existing materials. He/ she should ensure that materials are appropriate to the context. The documents should be reasonably formatted: the assessment tool should be user friendly as much as possible and contain relevant visual illustrations; and the lesson plans and activities for children should be formatted in word ensuring their child friendly nature.

Following the completion and approval of the toolkit, the Consultant will provide a 2-day training (in person or online, tbc) to IA and key partners staff on the toolkit.

IA will support the consultant in terms of providing access to partners and learning centres, data collection, needs assessments, facilitation of workshops and focus group discussions with educators if required.

Outputs and level of effort

Output 1 –Available resources reviewed – 2 days in April- May

In coordination with Alert and its partners the Consultant will map out and review available teaching and learning resources, and the extent to which they address VAC and if relevant, build upon activities and tools. The Consultant will hold an inception meeting with Alert and may hold meetings with education and child protection staff of the partner organisations.

Output 2 – Outline of the PVAC Toolkit – 2 days In April- May

Develop a brief outline/ table of content of the toolkit and a description of the content with suggested objective for each module, methodology, reference to existing materials (lesson plans, activity plans based on the mapping under Output 1), time required, , and suggested process of developing the content.

Output 3 – PVAC Assessment Tool – 4 days In April-May

Designing an asessment tool that can be used by educators in learning centres and via online platforms with the aim of assessing the situation of bullying, violence prevention and social cohesion in the learning centres, looking at 5 main themes: A- Children’s rights, B- Leadership & culture, C- Policies, procedures & mechanisms, D- Attitudes & behaviours, E- Learning and classroom environment.

Output 4 – PVAC activities to be used by educators – 10 days In April-May

Develop a manual of 30 – 45 activities to be conducted with children in NFE centers in addition to 5 activities to be conducted with parents in caregivers sessions and other 5 activities that can be conducted with children, parents and community members together. For children activities, they will be divides in 10-15 learning activities and online activities for 3 different age groups (6-9 years , 10-13 year , 14- 17 years) . The objective is turning learning centres into a more child-friendly learning environment, a centre without bullying and violence and providing a parental and community support for preventing violence against children.

Output 5 – Presentation of the Toolkit and TOT for key staff– 2 days at the end of May - early June 2021  

Presentation and TOT for 2 to 3 key staff from each partner (IA, CLS, B&Z, Sawa, Damma) involved in the safe to learn project with the aim of cascading the training for educators of the different organizations.

Relationships

The Consultant will work closely with the Safe to Learn project manager and other representatives of IA and all partner organizations involved in the STL project. The primary point of contact will be the Safe to Learn Project Manager.

Consultant profile

• Previous experience in developing education and child protection related tools and materials with a focus on violence prevention against children
• Advanced degree - A minimum of master’s degree in education/Sociology or related field
• In-depth knowledge of the Lebanese context with regards to children and young people, parenting, non-formal education, psycho-social support, and work with refugee children
• Excellent English writing skills
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Demonstrated ability to handle sensitive information with discretion and professionalism, including following data protection guidelines
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
• Commitment to safeguarding and child protection.

Education degree: Master’s degree

Experience required:

• 5-10 years

Languages - English: Excellent. Arabic: Excellent.

Period: All deliverables must be completed by 10 June 2021.

Compensation: Competitive price offers