Teaching Peace 101: Official TPI Handbook for Regional Executive Directors

1st EditionAugust 2013 Authored by: Fish Stark, Executive Director

1

Table of Contents Welcome!.................................................5 TPI BasicsQuick Facts About Who We Are and What We Do.6
What is TPI? How did TPI start? Who founded it? What are the core beliefs of TPI? Why is TPI necessary? What makes TPI unique? Whos in charge of TPI? Is it really only students, or are adults involved? Who can be a part of TPI? Where does TPI get its money? Does TPI have 501c3 (tax free non-profit) status? How was TPIs curriculum developed? What does it teach?

Your RoleBeing a Regional Executive Director..10

So, whats my job? What will my time commitment be? Who is my boss? Where do I go with questions? What resources and support are available to me? Do I have to do everything the way most people are doing it, or can I be creative? Where do I find the curriculum and powerpoints you want me to use? Are there certain goals I have to meet? What information do I need to provide about my work? Am I required to fundraise or take on other projects?

Getting StartedHow to Get Your TPI Club Up & Running..14

Where do I start? Do I have to start a TPI club at my school? Can my honor society, civic club or community service group take on TPI as a project, while still doing other club activities? Can I run TPI with a partner?

 Where do I find a faculty advisor? What if I cant find a faculty advisor? How do I get in touch with elementary and middle schools? What if I cant find times to teach in the schools? What if there are transportation conflicts?

OrganizingGetting a Team of Volunteers Together....16

How large of a group should I organize? How do I convince people to join my TPI group? How can I spread the word about TPI so that people know to join? Should I recruit students at a certain grade level or with a certain GPA? Once I have a group of volunteers, how do I keep them interested and involved? Do I need to have regular weekly meetings? What should our meetings cover?

TrainingHow to Get Your Volunteers Ready to Teach.19

Whats the purpose of training? What should I be looking to get out of the training sessions? How much time should I dedicate to training? What are the most important things for my volunteers to know? What is the best way to go about doing the training? Should I train my volunteers specifically on how to talk to younger students? What if one of my volunteers misses some of the training?

TeachingBringing the Curriculum to Life ...............................................................22

Is there anything we should do ahead of time, before going to teach? When we go to teach, how many volunteers should there be in each classroom? How should I divide my volunteers up into groups to teach the curriculum? Should the teacher stay in the room while we teach? What are tips that we should we keep in mind while we teach? What happens if the class is rowdy? How do we keep and hold their attention?

Beyond the Classroom25

3

 What kinds of things, other than teaching the peace curriculum, can my volunteers and I do as part of our work with TPI? How can I get involved? What is TPIs advocacy program? How do I get involved? How would I reach out to my local elected leaders? What would I say to them if given a meeting? What policies does TPI support and oppose? Whats the best way to raise money to cover the cost of our programs? How can I help the national organization with fundraising? How can I recruit new student leaders for TPI? What things can I do to increase peace and tolerance in my high school? How would I bring peace education to my community? How could I share my experiences with TPI? How could I help TPI with research?

Welcome!
Were glad to have you on board. By joining the Teaching Peace Initiative as a student leader, youve shown your passion for peace and tolerance, your dedication to keeping your community safe, and your commitment to service. Were proud to have such a team of dedicated, compassionate, and energetic studentsits what makes us great. We are able to do the incredible work that we do because of your hard work and your firm belief that we can shape a future where everyone is tolerant, accepting, and peaceful. This handbook was developed as a tool to help you turn your passion into action. Youll find tips to help you organize volunteers, train them effectively, teach your students, and maximize the good your TPI affiliate can do. We want to support you in every way we can to help you be the best leader you can be, and to help your group achieve as much success as possible. Your leadership and service with TPI is important, probably more than you realize. If you organize effectively, youll be able to teach peace to hundreds of kids every school year. Thats hundreds of kids who youll help develop a conception of respect, tolerance, and the dignity of every human being. Thats dozens of classrooms that you will help transform into safer, more accepting spaces. Intolerance, hatred, and bullying arent inherent in kidstheyre learned behaviors that stem from growing up in a society that can often send messages that violence and aggression are good ways to get what you want. You get to flip the script. You get to teach kids how to embrace selflessness over self-interest, acceptance over intolerance, and respect and love over everything. These are powerful skills that will stay with them for life. You are teaching them to care for one another, strengthen our community, and make our world safer and stronger. You are helping to cultivate a generation of peacemakers. Never underestimate the impact you are having. Youll notice that in this guide, we dont tell you that there is one way you must carry out your responsibilities. We provide a lot of tips and guidance, but very few bureaucratic requirements. This is because we know that you know your school best, your volunteers best, and your community best. We can always provide guidelines and suggest procedures, but we trust that you know what works best for your community. The Regional Executive Director position is a big responsibility, and will require a lot of leadership and hard work on your part. You may have to step out of your comfort zone. But you arent going at it alone. Our job, as the leaders of TPI, is to provide you with all the support you need. If you have a question or challenge that this handbook cant answer, you can always reach out to us, and well be happy to help you.

TPI BasicsQuick Facts About Who We Are and What We Do

What is TPI? The Teaching Peace Initiative (TPI) is a student-led, student-run educational nonprofit, founded to teach the values of peace, tolerance, and nonviolence to young children. We work with high school students to help them become leaders in their schools, organize their peers, and teach our peace curriculum to kids in their community. How did TPI start? Who founded it? TPI got its start in September of 2011, and was founded by five students from Annapolis, Maryland: Jack Anthony, Patrik Kast, Kate Kirby, Klay Roberts, and Fish Stark. We attended a speech made by Colman McCarthy, a famous peace activist and author, who convinced us that the reason we found ourselves in a world and culture without peace is because we werent making enough of an effort to teach kids how to behave peacefully. (You can watch one of his speeches here.) His message really spoke to us, and we wanted to figure out the best way to address his problem head-onby reaching kids with peace education that really worked. What are the core beliefs of TPI? We believe that children are born with a natural tendency for love, tolerance, compassion, and peace, and believe that it is essential to keep them that way. We believe that bullying, bigotry, and violence are not inevitable, and we need to wage serious efforts to protect children from lapsing into those habits. We believe that the best way to do this is through education that teaches them about the values of peace and tolerance, challenges them, engages them, allows them to master and practice conflict resolution skills, inspires them to make a difference in their community, and helps them understand the gravity of their actions. We believe that every child deserves such peace education, because it is the best way to help combat bullying and raise a generation of students who are committed to tolerance and peace. We believe that for such an effort to be successful, it needs to come not from teachers, but from students, and be powered by peer-to-peer conversations. Why is TPI necessary?

 Our work is necessary because, unfortunately, we arent currently doing enough to teach kids about compassion and tolerance. Anyone who looks at current bullying statistics or recognizes the climate of intolerance and the world knows that somewhere along the line, we are doing something wrong. The simple fact of the matter is that were not making enough of an effort to invest in kids natural peacemaking skills and teach them these values from an early age. One reason for this is an over-reliance on trite techniques, like clichd posters and canned assemblies, which have the right message but fail to engage kids. And, sadly, there are people who feel that bullying and conflict are just a part of growing up, that kids will be kids, and send implicit or even explicit messages to children (especially young boys) that peace and tolerance are sissy or weak. We need to stand up to that kind of thinking, reverse the trend of bullying and intolerance, and empower kids to practice the compassion and peacemaking skills they were born with. If we do so, well cut down on the rate of bullying, which will have a domino effect, making schools safer, reducing discipline issues, increasing attendance, and raising student performance. It will also decrease child and teen mental health issues and suicide rates. Engendering kids with compassion and respect for the dignity of every human being means they are more likely to actively practice tolerance. And challenging them to make their communities better means that they will have the skills to be active, positive leaders as they grow up. But to do that, we need a solution thats more than just posters. When the founders were first brainstorming TPI, we reflected on the anti-bullying curricula that had been presented to us as children. It was boring, childish, and almost felt condescending. We knew that if we wanted children to buy into these values, we needed to engage and challenge them so that they could truly feel mastery and ownership of the concepts. We also knew that if this lesson came from a teacher or other adult, it would likely go in one ear and out the other. So we took a new patha peace curriculum that challenged kids to understand complex concepts, gave them the tools to be problemsolvers and leaders, allowed them to practice those skills, treated them as intelligent and mature, and was structured as a peer-to-peer conversation led by older students. When we first piloted TPIs curriculum with students ages 8 through 12, we saw that they responded well to our technique. A solution to bullying is desperately needed, and we have one that works, getting students involved and addressing the problem at its roots. Thats why our work is necessary. What makes TPI unique? There are a lot of organizations out there that teach peace and anti-bullying curriculum, but TPI is one of the few that is entirely student-run, trains high

 school students to act as teachers, and is active all over the country (and even internationally), instead of just a few specific localities. Our approach to youth organizing is simple and noveltreat high school students as adults and, instead of encouraging them to circulate petitions or wear bracelets, give them meaningful and realistic that allow them to do substantive work and produce a measurable difference. The youth-centric structure of our organization, our pioneering approach to youth organizing, and our nation- and world-wide grassroots network are just some of the things that set TPI apart. Whos in charge of TPI? Is it really only students, or are adults involved? TPIs Executive Director is Fish Stark (thats methe one writing the guide). However, TPI isnt an organization that likes hierarchies, and the leadership team of college students works to share responsibilities and make decisions together. We believe that working collaboratively as a team and hearing all suggestions, rather than a traditional boss-employee structure, is not only more fun, but more productive. Yes, TPI is purely student-run. Thats not to say there arent adults involved weve consulted experienced people from every step of the way, and are happy to have received wisdom and advice from politicians, educators, activists, nonprofit leaders, lawyers, accountants, and more. Adult finance professionals help us oversee our funds, and many others provide constant guidance. But the decision-making in TPIboth long-term and day-to-dayis done by the college students who make up TPIs staff. Who can be a part of TPI? TPI is open to anyone, regardless of gender, race, age, sexual orientation, political and religious beliefs, nationality, or any other factor. Indeed, our staff and student leaders come from many different races, backgrounds, and faiths. We believe that peace curriculum can and should be taught anywhere and everywhere, which is why we invite our leaders to teach it at local community centers and houses of worship, and seek to be active in public, private, and parochial schools alike. We take our commitment to diversity and accessibility very seriouslyeveryone should be treated equally within TPI, and our goal is that every child should have access to peace education. If you can think of ways we can better honor these values, please let us know. Where does TPI get its money? So far, our money has come from a variety of different sourceslarge checks from foundations and small donations from a grassroots donor bases. Any person or organization can donate to TPI, including businesses and faith groups.

 Does TPI have 501c3 (tax free non-profit) status? Currently, TPI is in a fiscal sponsor relationship with The Key School, a registered 501c3. This means that TPIs funds are held in an account within The Key Schools financial structure, with TPI being able to deposit and withdraw funds from that account. We were very lucky to find a fiscal sponsor that does not deduct a management feemeaning that 100% of the money raised goes directly to TPI. Because The Key School is a 501c3, funds donated to TPI through them are tax-deductible. We are currently drawing up the necessary paperwork to file with the IRS as a registered nonprofit, or a 501c3. How was TPIs curriculum developed? What does it teach? TPIs curriculum was written by students, in consultation with middle and elementary school teachers and learning development professionals. It was tested in a fifth grade classroom, and refined based on those results. Our Research Director has produced a report proving that our curriculum is effective in teaching peace to young childrenread it on our website. The first session focuses on the essential question, What is peace?, presenting an accessible definition to the complex concept, exploring the values behind it, and recognizing the importance of celebrating and caring for humanity. Students learn about our differences and the importance of being accepting. By engaging the students in a conversation and challenging them to think critically about these complex concepts, students internalize the values and gain strategies for practicing them on a personal level. The second session focuses on peace-making and problem-solving. Students learn what it takes to be a peacemaker, what it means to have a peaceful attitude, and the three necessary elements of problem-solvingtruth, compassion, and observation. Students are energized by the idea of becoming a peacemaker, and are able to put the skills they have learned into action in a roleplay activity at the end of the session. The third session examines conflict on multiple levels, and allows the students to relate the lessons of the first two sessions to problems with which they can identify. Students explore the different factors that play into conflict and the different theatres (personal, local, national, international, etc) in which it plays out. Presenting students with examples of real-world conflict and helping relate it back to the lessons about peace, tolerance, and bullying that were previously taught helps them learn the meaning and gravity of their actions. The fourth session takes the form of a simulation in which the students synthesize the skills they have learned to find a peaceful solution to a problem that is global and significant, yet accessible and relatable. 9

Your RoleBeing a Regional Executive Director

So, whats my job? Being a TPI Regional Executive Director a 5-step process: 1. Go through the standard process at your school for starting a club. I know at most schools, this means filling out a form and getting a faculty advisor. I'm not sure if it'd be any different at your school. 2. Organize a group of committed students who are passionate about community service and social justice. The group can be as small as four or as big as four hundred--there is no pressure on you to assemble a large group. 3. Make connections through your school with local elementary and middle schools, and schedule times where you can go to them and teach our curriculum (have you checked it out on our website? I recommend you do). 4. Spend a couple sessions training your volunteers on how to effectively teach the curriculum, so that they're familiar with the lesson and feel at ease when in the classroom with students. 5. TEACH! Hopefully you can be done with the first four steps by October or November at the latest and spend the next month in the classroom, teaching peace and tolerance to young kids, and knowing that you're making a difference. There's also an optional sixth step--there will be a lot of projects we're doing at the national level, from research to advocacy to fundraising, and you and your group are welcome to get involved if you want--but you're also welcome to decline and just teach. We don't want to put any pressure on you. What will my time commitment be? Your time commitment will vary based on a couple things: How much you want to take on, whether you split your duties with other friends, and what tasks are on your plate. Some weeksfor instance, when youre meeting with administrators and setting up times to teach at elementary schools, or recruiting new membersyou may have to set aside a few hours. Other weeks, you may be doing little more than leading a meeting (or teaching). Of course, if you want to take on more projects (research, advocacy, etc), youll be spending more time working, but thats always an optional choice.

10

 Who is my boss? Where do I go with questions? As we said earlier, we work as a team at TPI, not as bosses and employees. However, when you sign up on our website to become a leader with TPI, youll be assigned to a Senior Organizer, a college student and TPI staff member. Your Senior Organizer will keep in touch with you by email, and maybe the occasional phone call, to see how you are doing. They will do regular check-ins with you on a weekly basis to see how your progress is going and to let you know about projects you can help with. If you have questions, concerns, or need help, your Senior Organizer is the first person you can go to. However, you can feel free to ask questions of anyone in the organization. If you have a question about wanting to be reimbursed for an expense, you might want to contact the Director of Finance; if you had a question about reaching out to your local paper, you might want to contact the Director of Communications, if you had a question about visiting local politicians to talk about TPI, you might want to contact the Director of Advocacy & Policy. Were always happy to help and eager to support you, so feel free to get in touch with us anytime. You can either find us on facebook through the Teaching Peace Initiative Executive Council Group, or email us our emails are almost always our first name, followed by @teachingpeaceinitiative.com. What resources and support are available to me? First of all, you have this handbook, which should give you valuable advice to help you set up a club, recruit members, train them, and teach. You can also ask questions of your Senior Organizerthey are there to help you when you get stuck, and can assist you in reaching out to your school administration, talk you through strategies to recruit members, or anything you need. Its also totally okay to ask other Regional Executive Directors about what works best for them. The Teaching Peace Initiative Executive Councilthe facebook group for all Regional Executive Directors and senior staffis there so you guys can share experiences and tips. Finally, TPI has money set aside in case you need help with expenses transportation costs or suppliesand cant cover them on your own. If youd like TPI to send you some money to cover expenses, email your Senior Organizer and copy the Director of Finance (klay@teachingpeaceinitiative.com). Do I have to do everything the way most people are doing it, or can I be creative? As you know, we have a pretty defined structure and a set curriculum. However, if you think you have a way of doing things that would work better for youfor instance, if youd like to teach the curriculum at your place of 11

 worship instead of local schools, or if youd like to make some adjustments to the lesson plan, just tell your Senior Organizer what youre thinking. At TPI, we assume that you know your community best, and we welcome innovative thinking and new solutions. As long as you let us know what youre doing, feel free to try something new! Where do I find the curriculum and powerpoints you want me to use? Theyre available on our website. You can bookmark them, or email the link to yourself. Are there certain goals I have to meet? We know that sometimes things dont go as planned, or that its hard to work something out, and that every situation is differentso we dont ask you to meet quotas or specific goals. As long as youre making an effort, were happy. What information do I need to provide about my work? We will ask you to provide your Senior Organizer with certain information that helps us to show TPIs impact and evaluate our program. Heres what well need you to give us: -The number of people that are in your group, including names -The number of classrooms you have taught in, and the number of students that were in each class -Results of the pre- and post-test evaluations you administered at the beginning and end of the session (to determine students growth) -Well ask you to contact teachers a month or two after your visits and ask if your curriculum made a difference, and send their praise and suggestions along to us In addition, if youd like to provide us with other updatesfor instance, stories from the field, photos and videos, or testimonials from your volunteerswe definitely welcome that. We appreciate anything that helps us show our supporters the good work TPI is doing. Am I required to fundraise or take on other projects? We dont require you to fundraise at all, because we dont want TPI to be a program thats only available to students who live in affluent areas. However, we ask that you try to raise enough money to cover the cost of supplies and transportation, if you can. (Well cover fundraising strategies later in the guide.) If you cant raise enough money to cover your own expenses, though,

12

 thats totally OKwe have money and can give you a grant to help you out. Just contact your Senior Organizer. We dont require you to do anything other than teach the curriculum, but wed certainly encourage you to take on any other projects you would like! There are tons of other things you can do as part of your work with the Initiative, including advocacy, organizing community events, etc. These will be discussed later in the guide.

13

Getting StartedHow to Get Your TPI Club Up & Running

Where do I start? To get your TPI club up and running, youre going to want to start with a few meetings. -You should meet with an administrator in your school to tell them your plansthey will likely be excited about TPI and offer support. -Then, youd want to meet with teachers and find a faculty advisor for your group. -Next, schedule a meeting or phone call with the local elementary and middle school administration to tell them about TPI and arrange times to meet. -You should also start talking to your friends about TPI, to see if any of them would be interested or know of people to recruit as volunteers. -Finally, we recommend that you talk to your parents and community leaders you know as wellthey often have good advice and can offer support. Do I have to start a TPI club at my school? Noyou can start a TPI club anywhere you want, including at your place of worship or community organization (for instance, a church or a Boys & Girls Club). Can my honor society, civic club or community service group take on TPI as a project, while still doing other club activities? Absolutely. Were happy to have existing clubs take on TPI as a project. Can I run TPI with a partner? You dont have to run TPI all by yourself. If it seems like a lot of work, you are more than welcome to find a friendor a group of friendsto run it with you. Its often easier (and more fun) that way. Where do I find a faculty advisor? Start by asking a school administrator if they can think of any teachers that might be interested, and approach those. You might also consider reaching out to teachers who already advise tutoring, service, or anti-bullying clubs (for instance, the teacher that advises the GSA), or teachers you already have a personal relationship with.

14

 What if I cant find a faculty advisor? If you cant find a faculty advisor and dont want to either start a TPI club in another venue or take on TPI as a project of an existing club, consider gathering those who are interested and meeting on your ownduring lunch or after schooluntil a faculty advisor can be found. You can discuss peace education, train them in using the curriculum, and brainstorm projectsa club can be very productive even without a faculty advisor. Keep teachers and administrators updated on your progressif they see youre serious, maybe theyll step forward. You can also ask your Senior Organizer to reach out to your school if youre having trouble finding a faculty advisor. How do I get in touch with elementary and middle schools? If you ask an administrator at your school to get you in touch with the principals of local elementary and middle schools, they will probably help otherwise, your faculty advisor can assist. If you are still in contact with any of your old teachers or principals, you can reach out to them as well. Your Senior Organizer can help you too. Many teachers will be happy to welcome older students into the class to teach about peace and anti-bullying, especially since our lessons fit in a class period (45 minutes) and last only a few weeks (four lessons). However, some teachers may not have timeif this happens, dont be discouraged, look for another class, or another school! What if I cant find times to teach in the schools? Sometimes its not possible to find times to teach during the day. If that happens, consider teaching at after-school programs or at community centers on weekends. There are also other projects your TPI club can take on that dont involve teaching in classroomswell discuss those later. What if there are transportation conflicts? If you need to travel by car or bus to get to another school, TPI can help cover the cost of transportation (bus passes, etc). Just email your Senior Organizer and copy the Director of Finance. If your school has a policy against going off campus during the school day, they will usually consider waiving it for an organization like TPI, especially if you have a faculty advisor. Ask your principal if theyd consider making an exception.

15

OrganizingGetting a Team of Volunteers Together

How large of a group should I organize? You can organize a group that is as large or small as youre comfortable with. The more people you organize, however, the more kids you can teach. We recommend sending at least three volunteers to each classroom, so if you recruit fifteen students, you can teach five classrooms at once. Alternatively, if you run into trouble, you can still teach peace effectively with as few as two of your peers. We recommend that you set a goal for yourself of at least ten students, but its okay if you fall short of thatand certainly great if you exceed it! How do I convince people to join my TPI group? Ideally, you wont have to convince anyone to joinafter hearing about it, most people are so excited about TPIs mission and the work were doing that theyll do anything they can to help. Still, good things to mention when youre talking about TPI to people are that were an organization with clear goals and procedures, so they wont just be sitting around talking about changing things, theyll be doing it, that theyll be part of a movement that is spreading across the country and the world, and that our curriculum has been designed by students with the help of teachers and tested in classrooms. You can also mention that working with TPI can often be counted as community service hours (though make sure to check with your school first to be sure!), and that not only does it feel good to make a difference, but its a lot of fun to be working with adorable younger kids. How can I spread the word about TPI so that people know to join? You know your school best, and we assume you know a lot more than we do about the best ways to reach out to students. Still, here are some tips for spreading the word about TPI: -Use social media to your advantage. Post about TPI on your wall, and include a link to a video or website where people can go to learn more. Ask a few of your close friends to post about TPI as well. Chances are, if you only get a few people to post about it, much of your school will eventually see it in their newsfeeds. -Never underestimate the power of face-to-face conversations with a small group of friends. Tell them about TPI, why its important, and why youre a 16

 part of it. With any luck, not only will they want to join, but theyll recruit other friends too. The more people you ask to help you spread the word, the more people youll bring in! -Approach students who are involved in groups that have a similar mission or undertake similar projects. For instance, you might reach out to your schools community service club, student government leaders, tutoring/mentoring program, or Gay-Straight Alliance members. If a student is taking action to promote social change in their community already, chances are they will be much more likely to help out. -Ask a few teachers you are close with to talk to their students about TPI and encourage them to join. -Some schools may have structured opportunities at the beginning of the year or semester for clubs and activities to recruit students (activity fairs, newsletters, etc). Make sure you take full advantage of these! -Your school newspaper will often print submissions about certain clubs; write a brief article about what you do and send it to them for publication. -Posters and fliers, if theyre simple, informative, and well-designed, certainly cant hurt. If you get stuck or want more ideas to recruit students, you can always ask your faculty advisor or your Senior Organizer. Should I recruit students at a certain grade level or with a certain GPA? We firmly believe that TPI be open to everyone, so, unless youre working with TPI as part of an honors club that has a GPA cutoff or something similar, its important that you give every student that wants a chance to volunteer. Its generally a good idea to recruit students from all grade levelsolder students are often more knowledgeable and calmer in a classroom setting, but younger students often have more time to commit to TPI, and will develop into future leaders to keep your TPI club sustainable well into the future. In general, we ask that you make an effort to recruit a diverse group of volunteers that represents a range of different backgrounds. Once I have a group of volunteers, how do I keep them interested and involved? The first step in keeping your volunteers engaged is communication. Establish an email list or a facebook group so that you can post announcements, remind people about meetings, and ask for volunteers for specific projects. Try to communicate with your volunteers regularly to let them know about both your clubs accomplishments and TPIs national

17

 accomplishmentsbut try not to flood peoples inboxes! A good rule of thumb is to try and contact your volunteers twice a week at most. Also, cookies help. Do I need to have regular weekly meetings? We dont require you to have weekly meetings, but its a good idea to meet on a regular basis to keep your members engaged and informed, get work done on projects, and prepare for teaching in classrooms. What should our meetings cover? You can set the agenda for each of your meetings, and decide based on your teaching schedule whether to work on training your volunteers to use the curriculum, or work on other TPI-related projects. We do recommend that you have occasional meetings that are dedicated solely or almost solely to discussion. These meetings help get everyone on the same page and further your volunteers understanding of peace and justice. Generally, its good to have a meeting or two dedicated to discussion at the beginning, so your volunteers can talk about what peace and tolerance mean to them. Giving everyone a chance to articulate their thoughts on these topics means theyll be able to explain them more coherently in a classroom setting. Its also a good idea, after you finish your first and last classroom sessions, to debrief as a group, analyzing what went well and what could have been done better.

18

TrainingHow to Get Your Volunteers Ready to Teach

Whats the purpose of training? What should I be looking to get out of the training sessions? The purpose of training is to get your volunteers ready to deliver the best classroom experience possible. To do that, they need to be comfortable, knowledgeable, and in control. First and foremost, its important that they feel confident that they know what theyre teaching, so they can be calm and relaxed as they teach it. They need to know how to explain the concepts theyre teaching in case a kid asks a question and wants to know more, and they need to understand the curriculum and the major points well enough so that if the discussion gets off track (which, with kids, it often will), they can steer it back in the right direction. The best way to achieve these goals is simply to give your volunteers a lot of experience reading, discussing, and practicing the curriculum in advance of the classroom visits. How much time should I dedicate to training? Its important that, as a group, you run through each section of the curriculum at least once, as well as take time at the beginning and end of the training period to discuss and achieve a better understanding of the overarching concepts covered in the curriculum. Six or so sessions of forty-five minutes to an hour should be sufficient, but feel free to adjust as you think is needed. Keep in mind that this does not all have to be completed prior to going to classroomsyou can train your volunteers to teach the Day One curriculum, have them teach it, and then, before going back to the classrooms next week, train them to teach the curriculum for Day Two. What are the most important things for my volunteers to know? First of all, its important that your volunteers understand the concepts of peace, tolerance, nonviolence, bullying, discrimination, stereotypes and diversity, and be able to articulate these in their own words. Its also important that they have a basic understanding of conflict resolution techniques, and know how to explain them in plain language. Most of your volunteers will likely already have a good understanding of these topics; its just important for them to practice communicating them. Its also important that you and your volunteers understand the specific skills, lessons, and values we want students to be learning from our curriculum. That 19

 way, when theyre explaining a topic or idea, discussing an activity, or giving concluding remarks for the day, they know how to tie what theyre saying back to the concepts that we want the students to learn. Heres a list of those concepts for each day: Day One: Truth is founded not on opinion, but on the basis of fact and observation. We live in a big world full of different people. There are many ways to look and act. People share the fundamentally human desire to make life better. With this in mind, we can learn to love our differences and be compassionate. We must remember that truth is founded on fact and observation and not make assumptions about people because of their appearance or what we think we know about their origins. Truth as synthesis of fact and observation. Day Two: Indifference is just as bad, Be an active peacemaker What can we do, in our roles as active peacemakers, to minimize conflict in the world? Perhaps we can start on a small scale, working to compassionate towards our family and friends. Each little action we take towards peace has an impact. We can go out and share our knowledge and understanding of the tools of peace with others. Day Three: How do countries generally deal will their problems today? What would be more effective? What can we do, in our roles as active peacemakers, to minimize conflict in the world? Day Four: As the future leaders of America and the world, we may one day have the chance to directly impact our nation and the world in a positive manner. How is working together to solve the problem the most effective? What is the best way to go about doing the training? Its important that everyone have the opportunity to rehearse the curriculum, explaining the lesson as they would in a classroom. Generally, it works well to have people do this in small groups. Letting everyone explain the lesson in their own words once or twice, and coming together before and afterwards to discuss what it means, helps them understand and internalize

20

 the flow of the lesson plan and learn to better communicate these complex concepts. A typical training session might work like this: 10 mins: Regional Executive Director leads a discussion about the days lesson plan, the topics to be covered, the flow of the lesson, and how the activity works. Questions and discussion. 25 mins: Volunteers break into groups of three or four and take turns running through the lesson in their own words (this will go a lot quicker than it would in the classroom because they wont be taking questions from kids). 10 mins: Group comes together to debrief on what was easy to talk about, what was challenging to talk about, and how they can best guide kids to understand the skills, concepts, and values associated with that particular day. Should I train my volunteers specifically on how to talk to younger students? You can talk to them about it, but you dont need to devote too much time to it. Our view is that there are only a few things to keep in mind when youre talking to kids. 1) Be enthusiastic. Kids can tell when youre excited and passionate about something, and because they look up to you, that passion is contagious. 2) Dont treat them like kids. If the students feel like theyre being talked down to, theyll turn out. Instead, talk to them as you would a peer. Dont be afraid to introduce complex concepts, as long as youre prepared to explain them. Kids are much better than youd anticipate at quickly grasping complicated ideas, especially those related to peace. One caveat, thoughmake sure to try and avoid using big words, unless you explain what they meanyou might lose their attention. They will be more engaged if you let them tackle complex ideas, and theyll be able to follow you as long as you use simple language. 3) Recognize that they dont enjoy listening. Kids want to be involved in the conversation, not just on the receiving end. Ask a lot of questions and encourage discussion. What if one of my volunteers misses some of the training? No problem. Even if a volunteer misses some of the training, that doesnt mean they wont understand the concepts or be able to be a capable teacher. Just encourage them to carefully read the lesson they missed, and make sure that when they go to teach, theyre in a group with people who really understand the material.

21

TeachingBringing the Curriculum to Life

Is there anything we should do ahead of time, before going to teach? Absolutely! Before you go to teach, you should speak with the teachers whose classrooms you are visiting, either in person, on the phone, or by email. Share the curriculum with them, explain what you are hoping to teach, and how each day will go. Make sure to ask about the following things: -See if they have a computer and projector for you to show the powerpoints. -Let them know that you will be dividing the students up into groups for activities, and ask if they have any advice for dividing them up effectively (which students work well together, etc). -Make sure that there is an area (an outside space or large open piece of floor) that will work for the resource-gathering activity on Day Four. -Ask them if they have been studying anything in class recently that you can reference in your discussions. When we go to teach, how many volunteers should there be in each classroom? You can make the call on this one, but from our experience, the sweet spot is threeenough so that volunteers can circulate effectively and offer help when the students divide into small groups for activities, but not so many that leading the discussion becomes awkward. We recommend that you not go any lower, especially since sometimes conflicts may arise and may leave you with fewer volunteers available. Its always better to have too many than too few! How should I divide my volunteers up into groups to teach the curriculum? When youre dividing your volunteers into groups to visit classrooms and teach, try as hard as you can to make sure that each group has a mixture of boys and girls, and a mixture of volunteers who are more comfortable with the curriculum and ones who are less so. Should the teacher stay in the room while we teach? Yes, absolutely. The hope is that the teacher will be a quiet observer while you guys run the show. However, sometimes it can be very useful to have a teacher aroundfor instance, if youre having trouble explaining a concept, they may be able to help put it in terms their students can understand. They can also help calm the class down if they are too unruly. What are tips that we should we keep in mind while we teach?

22

 -Make sure to ask lots of questions and open the floor for discussion. No more than a minute or two should go by without you asking the students to share their thoughts or give an example. -Be flexible. If a student asks a question that is on-topic but doesnt fit exactly in to what you planned to cover, take the time to answer it. Maybe theyll learn something new! -Be descriptive, and offer relatable examples as often as you can. -Make an effort to relate the discussion back to the overarching themes of the day. -Make sure to put extra emphasis on diversity whenever possible, and express that all ways that people are differentrace, gender, religion, political beliefs, age, weight, sexual orientation, gender identity, appearance, customs and culture, behavior, physical and mental abilityare all okay and should be accepted and celebrated. Chances are, there will be a lot of kids in the class who feel different, and hearing that message repeatedly will give them hope. However, take care not to dwell on any one measure of diversity, because then you run the risk of calling more attention to it, which goes against our goal of normalizing our differences. -When you divide the students up into groups for an activity, make sure to constantly circulate among them to keep them on task and offer suggestions. -Check in with the teacher after the first lesson or two to get his or her feedback. They will always be happy to give you feedback on what youre doing well, and how you can do better. -Dont forgetstart with the pre-test, end with the post-test!! -We know you understand this, but we need to say it anyway: Please dont advocate or promote any specific political or religious beliefs as part of TPIs curriculum. Thats not what were about. It is absolutely okay to touch on politically charged issuesthe Iraq War as an example of international conflict, sexual orientation as an example of diversity, etcbut we ask that you dont dwell on them or talk about them in an ideological way. What happens if the class is rowdy? How do we keep and hold their attention? If the class is rowdy, remind them gently and creatively to quiet down (e.g. Im going to count down from five, and when I reach one we should all be quiet or If you can hear me, put a finger to your lips and raise your other hand). Do not raise your voice or reprimand students to get them to be quietif its necessary, the teacher will intervene. As long as you make sure to involve the kids in the discussion and conduct the lesson with passion and energy, you should be able to hold their attention 23

 fairly well (with a few natural exceptionsthese are kids, after all). While you should definitely be energetic and friendly, make sure not to be silly or bounce off the wallsthe kids will get distracted easily.

24

Beyond the Classroom

What kinds of things, other than teaching the peace curriculum, can my volunteers and I do as part of our work with TPI? How can I get involved? In addition to teaching our peace curriculum to kids in your community, there are a lot of other projects that you can get involved with through TPI. Your Senior Organizer will inform you when some of these arise, or, if youd like to take something specific on, you can contact your Senior Organizer and ask them to help set you up. Some things you can do include: -Reaching out to your local elected leaders and encouraging them to support peace education as part of TPIs advocacy program -Fundraising money to cover your operational costs, and possibly helping with additional programs -Recruiting new student leaders for TPI -Working to create a tolerant & peaceful climate in your high school -Partnering with local organizations and bringing peace education to your community -Sharing your story with TPI -Undertaking research projects for TPI Again, if youd like to undertake any of these, let your Senior Organizer know. What is TPIs advocacy program? How do I get involved? Under TPIs advocacy program, student leaders work to meet with their local policymakersanywhere from school board reps to city councilors to US Representativesand talk to them about the issues of bullying, the work theyre doing, and the importance of peace education. Its a great way to educate our leaders about how to make our schools safe. How would I reach out to my local elected leaders? What would I say to them if given a meeting? Normally, your elected leaders will have a website with contact information. You can call or email their office and ask for a meeting with them. They will likely be impressed by your initiative and sympathetic to your cause, and while you may not always be able to meet with the policymaker themselves, you will almost certainly be able to meet with their staff. Dont worry about not knowing what to sayfor a few reasons. First of all, the most effective testimony will come from your personal experiences and 25

 anecdotesletting them know how these issues have affected your life and why theyre important to you. Second, though many people are nervous when meeting with leaders, know that they will be impressed by your drive and passion no matter how polished you sound. And finally, TPI will provide you with talking points, fact sheets, etcanything you might want to knowin advance of your meeting. What policies does TPI support and oppose? Our advocacy and policy team will put out a list of policies TPI supports and opposes in the near future. In general, we support policies that promote strong, fair bullying enforcement, and promote inclusion and peace education programs in schools. Whats the best way to raise money to cover the cost of our programs? As we mentioned before, we do have money available for TPI clubs that need help covering costs, but we would love it if you could raise enough money to cover those costs on your own. Sometimes, your school will have funds available for groups such as yours to usebut often this isnt the case. In that scenario, there are a few options: You can reach out to your parents, community groups, and local businesses, asking them for donations. We hope to have a How can I help the national organization with fundraising? Just as with fundraising for your specific club, you can ask your parents, adult friends, local businesses, and community organizations for donations to the national TPI group. You can also help us by researching and identifying grants and competitions that award money and recognition to worthy peacemaking and anti-bullying projects. If youre interested, just let us know, and a member of our development & finance staff will contact you with more details. How can I recruit new student leaders for TPI? There are several ways you can recruit new student leaders for TPI. First and foremost, reach out to your friends in different schools and different states. Tell them about what we do, why we do it, and how they can become a part of it. Post in the facebook groups for student organizations you are a part of or conferences youve attended. Write about TPI on online forums or your personal blog. Anything you can do to help us tell new people about the important work TPI is doing is important. What things can I do to increase peace and tolerance in my high school? 26

 In addition to teaching peace to young students, you can undertake any number of projects to help boost peace and tolerance at your high school. Every school works differently, so our recommendation would be to chat with an administrator or faculty advisor to ask them what you would be able to do. TPI clubs can help sponsor Diversity Days, lead seminar-style discussions about the meaning of peace and tolerance and how it can be cultivated in your school, educate peers about the issues of bullying and intolerance, and start conversations with teachers to discuss how they can better foster safe environments in their classrooms. How would I bring peace education to my community? If youd like to branch out from the traditional classroom approach, you can always reach out to community organizationsfor instance, faith groups or Boys and Girls Clubsand talk about events you could hold or other things you could do to increase peace in your community. An example: The Annapolis, Maryland branch of TPI was very close with the leadership of a local Quaker church. When the church wanted to plan a daylong conference for about 100 local youth that focused on peace, tolerance, and conflict-resolution, they enlisted TPI to help. TPI leaders worked to help plan the conference, delivered the keynote, taught peace and tolerance curricula, and led discussions about ways students could take action to increase peace in their communities. This day-long program helped educate and train dozens of new peacemakers. How could I share my experiences with TPI? Were always looking for content to use on our blog, facebook page, and newsletter. Wed love to hear stories from our Regional Executive Directors and volunteerspersonal stories about why you got involved with TPI and what it means to you, or stories from the field about successes youve had while teaching. If you submit something to us, wed be happy to publish it on our website or newsletter and give you credit for it. How could I help TPI with research? There are a few ways you can help TPI with research. First, you can help us by analyzing the data you collect from the pre-test post-test results to figure out how well our approach worked in the classes you taught. You can also help us by gathering data for research reports were working on currently. Contact our Research Director or your Senior Organizer for more information.

27

28