Senior Educational Expert

Terms of Reference (TOR)

About Adyan:

Adyan is a foundation for managing diversity, promoting solidarity and safeguarding human dignity. We are a group of individuals who want a world that embraces diversity, in which we live together in peace. We work locally, regionally and globally to achieve Inclusive Citizenship, develop Education on Living Together, activate Religious Social Responsibility, and promote Spiritual Solidarity. We also seek to contribute to Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and advancing Freedom of Religion and Belief. We work through homegrown solutions in Education, Research, Policy Making, Media, and Community Engagement Networks.

About the project:

The Alwan Debate project is inspired by “Alwan”: Educational Program on Living Together, which has been running since 2007 at Adyan Foundation. However, this project in particular, has a focus on debating around controversial topics, since it is vital to bring youth together to share ideas about science, faith, identity, religious diversity, media literacy, civic values and other big questions. It aims to cultivate curiosity, to embrace diversity and debate positively, hoping to achieve by that an impact on their communities through public engagement and collaboration. It will be implemented in 30 schools diversely distributed all over Lebanon during the 2024-2025 school year. The age groups range between 15 & 17, distributed in groups of 15 to 20 students per institution.

The Senior educational expert accepts to work according to the terms of this TOR

Scope of Work/Assignment

The Senior educational expert will work in direct collaboration with the head of the Education Unit and in coordination with the debate & data analyst experts to:

• Review and update Alwan’s initial program modules to ensure that they clearly address the newly developed debate questions, including issues related to Freedom of Religion and Belief, Faith and Science and Freedom of expression, while considering relevant learning outcomes, assessments, tools and methodologies. This manual will serve as a basic guide for teachers during the program implementation.

• Train 30 teachers on the updated modules and all other related content. Teachers will also be trained on the teaching methodologies and approaches to promote inclusivity and dialogue while discussing controversial topics.

• Prepare the interschool debate activity which will gather 30 young debaters to talk about faith & science.

• Consolidate the students' exchanges and responses from the data analyst and debate expert and co-edit the booklet entitled "Big questions answered by Alwan Lebanon Students".

• Present the project findings and results in the closing ceremony which will mainly consist of a panel discussion by students who will share their experiences.

Key outcomes:

• 30 teachers are capacitated in teaching the updated modules
• An updated manual including learning objectives, approaches, updated activities and guidelines is developed and customized based on the topics presented in the “About the project” section.
• Booklet entitled "Big questions answered by Alwan Lebanon Students”, a compilation of conclusions and analytical results.

Expertise Deliverables

The senior educational expert for Alwan debate will be required to work individually and collaboratively to deliver the below:

Deliverable

1- Updated training manual in Arabic

Workload - 10 working days

Deliverable    

2- Provide 1.5 training days for 30 teachers (includes development of training program and delivery) in Arabic

Workload – 1.5 working day

Deliverable

3- Lead the interschool debate with the master of ceremony 

Workload - 1 working days

Deliverable

4- Finalize the Booklet by compiling and analyzing the captured conclusions from the discussions, as well as the answers and interactions of the students in the school and inter-school debate (AR or EN

Workload - 9 working days

Deliverable

5- Present the project findings and results at the ceremony    

Workload – 0.5 working days

Educational Background and Professional Qualifications

• Master’s or Doctorate in Education or related fields, with more than 10 years of experience in curriculum and activity design for formal and non-formal educational projects, with expertise in topics such as citizenship, religious diversity, solidarity, and nonviolent communication.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in Arabic and English with previous experience in co-editing training manuals.
• Strong ability to coordinate with different experts with the capacity to lead and guide discussions with confidence and flexibility, inspiring engagement and commitment.
• Ability to analyze educational data and students’ feedback in order to assess the areas of improvement with proficiency that meet evolving needs and preferences.
• Skilled in training teachers on outlining the teaching methods and approaches to be used.
• Understanding of educational needs with an in-depth knowledge of the cognitive, emotional, and social development stages of youth, ensuring age-appropriate curriculum and activities.
• Familiarity with various learning styles and the ability to tailor educational experiences to accommodate diverse students.

Term and workload

The senior educational expert term will start on July 10^th, 2024 and will end on September 30^th, 2025.  The expert is expected to work as per the agreed upon workplan during this period for the project.

Copyrights and confidentiality

All the data and information shared or produced in the framework of this ToR are exclusively the property of Adyan Foundation. The expert has to commit to full confidentiality related to this project, besides what Adyan makes public from its results. 

Code of conduct

The expert agrees to fully respect Adyan’s ethos and code of conduct that is considered an integral part of this contract and added to it in Annex.

Application

Interested experts should submit the following documents:

• Curriculum Vitae (CV) detailing relevant qualifications, experience, and achievements.
• Brief description of similar consultancy/projects (not more than one page)
• Brief suggested outline of their plan of action (not more than one page)

Evaluation Criteria: Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Relevance and clarity of suggested plan of action
• Demonstrated experience and achievements in similar projects.
• Qualifications and expertise of the individual consultant.

All CVs and proposals must be submitted no longer than July 5^th , 2024.

Please submit your CV/Proposal electronically to [email protected] with the subject line: "Senior educational expert – Alwan debate - [Your Name]