Training for Teachers and Community Based Rehabilitation Fie...

Background:

Since the late 1980s, BASR has started to establish community day-care centers in cooperation with local committees and municipal councils in the villages and refugee camps in Bethlehem district. The concept of the community centers focused essentially on serving children and youth with disabilities who are unable to access mainstream education via providing them with special educational intervention through individualized and interactive teaching approaches. The centers'’ objectives focused mainly on preparing students with disabilities for inclusion into the mainstream education system and into the community at large through promoting the rights of persons with disability by awareness raising, education, and advocacy. The centers use various integrated educational, cultural, social, drama, arts, sports, and recreational activities, which periodically carried out to enrich the educational process and empower persons with disabilities through education. The community centers offer regular educational services to preschool children in their kindergartens as well as primary school children in their primary classes, where children with disabilities are included to learn alongside their peers at an early age and participate in all activities. The community centers also offer extra care for pupils with learning difficulties from surrounding regular schools allowing them to be able to gain extra support needed to catch up with the requirement of regular exams. Currently, there are eight community centers in different areas across the southern part of the West Bank. The centers are now more focused on the inclusion of people with disabilities in education as well as having better access to social life. The centers also function as a hub for disability in the areas where they are situated, allowing more than 1000 students with and without disabilities to benefit from the different educational and recreational activities they offer.

Rationale:

As part of a five years project in partnership with the Association pour la Promotion de l'Education et de la Formation à l'Etranger (APEFE), BASR is currently seeking to improve the quality of educational intervention offered in the community centers.  This includes improving the quality of educational and pre-vocational training offered to help achieve inclusion on a larger scale in the targeted local communities.

Additionally, BASR is currently working on enhancing inclusion by expanding the work and starting new community centers in Bethlehem and Hebron area. Therefore, having a strong, unified foundation is important to improve the quality of work in these centers.

By implementing this training, BASR seeks to achieve:

Professional development of teachers and community workers in dealing and intervening with autistic children and young people.

Improving classroom management to positively influence students’ learning environment and learning outcome.

Improving the quality of home-based intervention provided for people with autism in the targeted communities.

Increasing teachers and community workers competencies, and professional knowledge.

Targeted Group: The training will be conducted for BASR’s community center’s teachers and the community workers and outreach rehabilitation team.

Training period: Five training days/ five training hours per day. (25 training hours in total).

Premise: Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation/ Beit Jala

The objective of the Proposed Consultancy:

General Objective: Building the capacities of teachers and community workers on dealing and intervening with children and adolescents with autism.

Specific Objectives:

Develop the understanding of the target group on the autism spectrum and associated characteristics.

Develop the knowledge and skills of the target group on how to deal and intervene with autism in a classroom and home-based setting.

Develop the competences of the community centers teachers to be able to set educational plans and teaching methodologies for intervention.

Develop the competences of the target group to evaluate and pursue the children progress and support the acquisition of diverse skills.

Develop the competences of the target group to implement intervention strategies and practices that help them deal directly or guide caregivers to deal with children and adolescents with autism.

Develop the understanding of the target group on the inclusion of children and adolescents in community activities and educational settings.

Expected Results: the training is expected to deliver the following results:

Trainees will have a more profound and well-rounded understanding of the autism spectrum and characteristics associated.

Community workers and outreach rehabilitation team will have better knowledge and skills on how to deal and intervene with autism in a home-based setting.

Trainees specifically teachers will be able to set educational plans and teaching methodologies for intervention

Trainees will be able to evaluate and follow up on children’s progress and acquisition of skills.

Trainees will be able to develop and implement activities required for developing diverse skills.

Trainees will be able to develop and implement intervention strategies and practices that help them deal directly or guide caregivers to deal with children and adolescents with autism.

Trainees will be able to have a better understanding of the inclusion of children and adolescents in community activities and educational settings.

Qualifications: the consultancy provided by the individual/institution should ensure the following:

At least a master’s degree in Autism, Special Educational Needs, Occupational Therapy, Child Development, or any related field.

At least 5 years of relevant working experience in the field of education, inclusion or disability.

Strong writing and conceptual skills, particularly on modalities of interventions and the different tools used for assessing children and adolescents with autism.

Knowledge of the Palestinian context.

Excellent communication & facilitation skills.

Mode of Application: Interested applicants should submit the following documents:

Curriculum Vitae (CV) of the trainer/s with two traceable references;

a cover letter;

evidence of similar prior work experience;

a technical offer highlighting the training plan, references used in drafting the training material and the topics covered in the training and;

A financial offer.

Complete applications should be submitted no later than July 1, 2019, to the Procurement Department via email at [email protected].