ace rps CEmber 

12

Information Collection and Exchange

Publication No. T0112

COMMUNITY

CONTENT-BASED

INSTRUCTION

MANUAL

COMMUNITY CONTENT

BASED INSTRUCTION MANUAL
Peace Corps I

COMMUNITY

CONTENT-BASED

INSTRUCTION

(CCBI)

MANUAL

PEACE CORPS

2004

INFORMATION COLLECTION

AND EXCHANGE

ICE #T0112
ii

Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................... iv

HOW TO USE THIS MANUAL ........................................................................................ 1

SECTION I: INTRODUCING CCBI ................................................................................ 3

CCBI in a Nutshell ............................................................................................................. 3

Applications of CCBI ......................................................................................................... 8

SECTION II: APPROACHES AND TECHNIQUES FOR COMMUNITY

DEVELOPMENT, ASSESSMENT, AND ACTION: PACA AND MORE ............... 11

Remembering the Peace Corps’ Roots ............................................................................. 11

PACA, Problem-Posing, and Asset-Based Approaches: An Overview ............................. 12

The Participatory Analysis for Community Action (PACA) Approach ............................ 13

The Problem-Posing Approach ......................................................................................... 21

The Asset-Based Approach............................................................................................... 25

Field Insights and Necdotes.............................................................................................. 28

SECTION III: PROGRAMMING .................................................................................. 29

Weaving CCBI Into Programming.................................................................................... 29

Programming Strategies ................................................................................................... 31

Insights From the Field ..................................................................................................... 32

What Peace Corps Volunteers Say About CCBI and Its Effects ....................................... 34

SECTION IV: TRAINING ................................................................................................ 36

CCBI Training Events—In a Nutshell .............................................................................. 36

Pre-Service Training ......................................................................................................... 40

Samples and Tools ............................................................................................................ 44

Training Session Plans ...................................................................................................... 63
Peace Corps III

SECTION V: COMMUNITY CONTENT-BASED

INSTRUCTION MODEL LESSONS ............................................................................ 100

Model Lessons (10 sample lessons and other examples) ............................................... 101

Creating a CCBI Unit ..................................................................................................... 162

A Model Unit on Pollution ............................................................................................. 163

A CCBI Lesson/Unit Planning Checklist ....................................................................... 169

Volunteer Voices ............................................................................................................. 171

APPENDIX 1: 4MAT—A PLAN FOR PREPARING AN ACTIVITY ................ 173

APPENDIX 2: CCBI FOR STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS......... 175

APPENDIX 3: LEVELS OF LEARNING................................................................... 178

APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT CCBI ............................ 180

APPENDIX 5: RESOURCE LIST ................................................................................ 188
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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Community Content-Based Instruction grew out of several development initiatives and field needs.

It began to take shape in a Gender and Public Health Education for Teachers Workshop and an InService Education Workshop for Volunteers and their counterparts, in the spring of 1996 in Eritrea.

Since that time, the concept has been further developed and refined through efforts in the field and

at headquarters.

The Peace Corps acknowledges the many persons worldwide who have contributed to the

development of this important development approach. This manual and accompanying Working

With CCBI Workbook (M0074) for Volunteers have had significant input from Peace Corps staff at

headquarters and at several posts during field testing. Gratitude is also expressed to Bernice McCarthy

for permission to reference ideas from her book The 4MAT System.

INFORMATION COLLECTION

AND EXCHANGE

This publication was produced by the Peace Corps Center for Field Assistance and

Applied Research. It is distributed through the Information Collection and Exchange

(ICE). For further information or additional copies, please contact ICE at the Peace

Corps and refer to the ICE Catalog number that appears on the publication.

Peace Corps

Paul D. Coverdell Peace Corps Headquarters

Center for Field Assistance and Applied Research

Information Collection and Exchange

1111 20th Street, NW – First Floor

Washington, DC 20526

Add your experience to the ICE Resource Center. Send your materials to us so

that we can share them with other development workers. Your technical insights

serve as the basis for the generation of ICE manuals, reprints, and training

materials. They also ensure that ICE is providing the most up-to-date,

innovative problem-solving techniques and information available to you and

your fellow development workers.
Peace Corps 1

HOW TO USE THIS MANUAL

This manual is a comprehensive reference on community content-based instruction (CCBI). It

provides information on the history and development of CCBI as an education developmental

approach related to corresponding approaches to development. It provides field examples including

programming insights and suggestions for staff, various training agendas and possible training

scenarios, a broad array of CCBI lessons, unit planning, and references to help in the implementation of CCBI.

I. INTRODUCING CCBI

CCBI recognizes the immense power of education as it reflects the interests, needs, and

realities of people and their communities. CCBI assists all Volunteers in their roles as

educators by integrating community issues into specific lessons and activities that meet the

needs of the community’s learners. The “In a Nutshell” section gives a general overview of

the CCBI approach, how it has been used, and how it might be used.

II. APPROACHES AND TECHNIQUES FOR

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, ASSESSMENT,

AND ACTION: PACA AND MORE

The Peace Corps’ objective always has been to achieve partnerships with local counterparts

and community partners to meet their goals and address their concerns. To that end, this

section examines the Peace Corps’ participatory analysis for community action (PACA),

the asset-based approach, Paulo Freire’s problem-posing approach, and other established

methods. A “nutshell” section presents questions and activities, which give a broad look at

viable ways to approach community development through CCBI.

III. PROGRAMMING

CCBI is a flexible, dynamic developmental approach that encourages creative program

designs at the project plan level as well as during pre-service training (PST), in-service

training (IST), training of trainers (TOT), and other types of workshops. This section provides

How to Use this Manual
2

Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

several suggestions for programming staff to incorporate into their unique country situations,

along with some strategies to consider when implementing CCBI.

IV. TRAINING

This section provides a description of training events in which CCBI may be introduced or

reinforced. It provides a review of 4MAT and sample agendas.

V. MODEL LESSONS

Ten CCBI lessons based on several academic subjects give concrete examples of CCBI,

each incorporating various community topics and issues. Many of the lessons offer two or

more activity choices and leave room for educators to adapt the lessons to their students’

levels and cultures. A process piece on unit planning also is included; it provides a step-bystep guide for designing an academic unit.

VI. APPENDIXES

References in the appendixes include short briefing papers on 4MAT and CCBI with students

and community members. Appendix 5 provides a list of CCBI-related materials and other

publications that may provide ideas for implementing CCBI.
Peace Corps 3

SECTION I:

INTRODUCING CCBI

CCBI IN A NUTSHELL

Community content-based instruction (CCBI) helps Peace Corps Volunteers and their counterparts link content-based instruction to community issues. More than a practical, communityoriented approach to teaching, CCBI recognizes the immense power of education. When an

educator makes the subject matter and learning approach as relevant as possible to the needs

and interests of the learners, the materials reflect community realities. CCBI is not just a tool

for traditional classroom teachers but is for all educators working with community groups,

whether they are students, farmers, health care workers, women’s groups, or others. Although a

number of examples in this manual are from the formal education sector, all Volunteers can

adapt the philosophy behind CCBI (see Appendix 2 for examples). CCBI also is an effective

approach in the implementation of cocurricular activities, such as clubs, sports, and field trips.

CCBI goes beyond school-related activities to inspire and inform community action at the

hands of particular group members and communities. In the context of Peace Corps’ projects,

CCBI is a fully participatory approach linking schools and other organizations and groups of

people with communities by:

using participatory techniques, such as participatory analysis for community action (PACA),

to conduct needs assessments and identify community issues;

incorporating content themes, such as health, environment, or small business skills, into

lessons based on needs assessments;

implementing actions, projects, or activities

around the identified content that link learners

with their communities; and

acting as a catalyst for community-based action,

such as making and placing posters that communicate the importance of proper hand-washing, making and installing public trash bins, or

planting trees.

Introducing CCBI
4

Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

Content-based instruction (CBI) is a term commonly used by educators to connote a themebased approach to teaching a subject matter. For example, in an English class, instead of practicing

the past tense by conjugating a verb in such standard phrases as “I threw the ball,” students

might work on a series of phrases such as, “The children washed their hands every day before

eating” or “I picked up the litter in the street and threw it into a trash bin.”

In developing the framework for CCBI, “community” has been added to CBI to emphasize the

need for the content and process of lessons to originate from the issues and needs found in the

Volunteer’s community. CCBI is a natural outgrowth of the Peace Corps’ approach to community

development and the Volunteer’s role in that process. It helps Volunteers and counterparts see

themselves as educators with a responsibility to ensure that learning encompasses the families,

neighbors, and communities of their students.

As educators and development agents, Volunteers

and counterparts can facilitate activities in the

community using participatory analysis for community action (PACA) or other participatory methods such as the asset-based approach. In partnership with community members, PACA encourages

educators to explore the perceptions of various

subgroups within the community. This exploration

reveals and identifies similar and different roles,

responsibilities, uses of time, and needs. Together,

Volunteers, counterparts, and community

members clarify needs, develop projects, carry out

tasks, and monitor and evaluate accomplishments.

Incorporating CCBI into teaching and development work also maintains the curriculum and

text requirements of a given school. CCBI encourages educators to build on preexisting course

content and school syllabus requirements with materials that have been adapted to the expressed

needs and interests of students and their communities. The goal is to build interpersonal and

curricular bridges among educators, students, and communities using traditional texts and official

requirements.

By using CCBI as a philosophical and practical base, Volunteers can gain a broader understanding of their community and, thereby, merge more fully into it. The resulting trust helps an

educator work more effectively with community members to promote solid links between

community and classroom. Eventually, the educator may act as a catalyst to spur independent

community action, such as the creation of an ongoing system for village-wide manufacturing

and distribution of trash bins for use by the public.
Peace Corps 5

Examples of Volunteers Applying CCBI In Their Communities

Teachers use community examples and problems related to a syllabus topic. A Volunteer

began to teach his students about lakes and rivers by having them collect and use information

about the uses of and problems with Lake Victoria. In chemistry class, students learned

about water purification while discussing the local issues related to unclean water. They then

shared this information with their families to increase community awareness regarding

pollution and other issues of concern related to waterways.

A women’s group learns efficient gardening techniques

and engages in income-generating projects. A Volunteer and her counterpart meet with a women’s group on a

weekly basis at a primary school. The women are interested in income-generating projects and techniques for

producing food of better quantity and quality. In collaboration with community resources, the women learn basket-making skills and organic gardening techniques such

as composting and multicropping. They work on demonstration plots and a medicinal herb garden at the school

and are able to apply the lessons in their own home gardens. They are also community environmental educators,

able to share important information concerning environmental issues with their neighbors in the community.

Students collect information about their community related to a syllabus topic. In

geography class, students gather information about the problem of soil erosion, its causes,

and the impact on their community. This information is then used by the Volunteer to introduce the syllabus topic of soil. The students then become resources for their families and

communities by creating awareness and educating others about the effects of soil erosion.

Gender-related issues are incorporated into content lessons. One Volunteer developed a

physics lesson on the action of force as related to strength. As part of the lesson, he showed

his all-female class that they could successfully accomplish traditional male tasks, such as

cutting wood and digging, if they used tools with longer handles.

Each of the preceding examples involves a participatory approach, meets the needs of the learners,

and addresses issues relevant to the community. The learners themselves become agents of

change, educators, and development workers in their communities.

Introducing CCBI
6

Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

Examples of Community Activities Linked to a CCBI Lesson

Town clean-up activity

Environmental club bus trip to regional capital

Hole digging for nursery

Project AIDS Day

Tree planting for Earth Day

Study of cultural values and the impact on

girls’ attrition in school through interviews.

Admired community women speak to the

class.

Visit to local tannery to discover the impact

of tanneries on plants and animals

Poster contests (health, gender, environmental issues) for local cafeteria

Community theater performance to raise

awareness about AIDS

Creation of an on-site tree nursery

Anti-smoking poster display by student with help from the American Cancer Society

Guest speakers from the community

Community gardens

Take Our Daughters to Work Day activities

Reports from the field indicate that CCBI’s approach promotes participatory community development skills, interdisciplinary student-centered classrooms, cooperation between teachers, and

enhanced learner motivation and participation. Despite the inevitable frustrations involved in

generating change, those Volunteers who persevere find that CCBI yields positive, practical

results and great personal rewards.
Peace Corps 7

IN THESE TINY TOWNS IN SOUTH TEXAS, pride of place and family heritage

motivate students to learn, excel—and then give back.

When The Community

Is The Classroom

B Y R O S E M A R Y Z I B A R T B Y R O S E M A R Y Z I B A R T

Reprinted from PARADE Magazine, April 28, 2002, with permission from PARADE and Rosemary Zibart, copyright © 2002.

All rights reserved.

San Juanita Lazo—better

known as “Janie”—knows

what hard work is. She has

spent 20-hour days in the

fields every summer since she was 5,

picking cabbages, leeks, cherries and

other crops from Alabama to New York

along side her Mexican-American migrant-worker family. But her future will

be different. “I’m going to the University of Michigan,” says Janie, now 16.

“That’s always been my favorite state.”

There’s little doubt that Janie will

succeed in her goals thanks to her

experience attending a high school in

the southernmost tip of Texas where

students view their backgrounds as a

source of strength rather than a liability.

Ever hear of Edcouch, Elsa, or La

Villa, Texas? In these tiny towns, 90%

of the households have incomes of less

than $10,000, and 91% of parents lack

a high school diploma. Yet, in the last

decade, Edcouch-Elsa High School has

sent 45 students to elite colleges and

universities, such as Stanford, Brown,

Yale and Princeton, while 65% of graduating students go on to some form of

higher education—well above national

norms for Hispanic students.

More remarkable, many graduates

choose to return to these towns to live,

work and encourage others to achieve

their goals. This commitment has been

nurtured by a movement called “placebased education,” which takes the history,

culture, economy and ecology of a community and uses them as both a textbook

and laboratory. Place-based education is

not new (similar techniques were used in

the ‘60s in Appalachia), but today communities across the nation are applying it

to teach a broad range of subjects, including science, history, geography, the arts

and even math (see box).

The Llano Grande Center at EdcouchElsa High School offers courses called

“Research Methods,” which qualify as

social studies electives. “The community

becomes the classroom,” explains Francisco “Frank” Guajardo, 37, a history

teacher who helped found the center. “Our

students don’t inherit yachts, stores or

stock options, but they live in a vibrant

community with a wealth of human

stories.”

For example, Delia Perez’s students

collected oral histories of World War II

and the Depression from elderly residents.

One woman described work in a juicemaking factory; another recalled stealing

a few tortillas to survive hard times. “I like

my students to see history through the

experiences of people they know,” says

Perez, 27, a Yale graduate.

Talking and writing about family and

neighborhoods generates a strong desire

to succeed, notes David Rice, 37, a writerin-residence at Llano Grande—because

they’re doing it not just for themselves

but for the whole community.

That connection is what lures graduates back home. “I always though I was

one of those people who could move

away and never look lack,” says Angelica Tello, 24, a graduate of Emerson

University who now works on the Llano Grande Journal. “But doing this has

made me realize I wanted to be closer

to the people I grew up with—and that

wasn’t such a bad thing.”

Across the Nation

Place-based programs exist in more

than 700 rural elementary and

secondary schools in 33 states. Here

are four examples:

• In Clinton and Jackson, LA,

students analyzed water samples

from creeks to determine the flow

of pollutants.

• In Mendocino, Calif., students

restored a Chinese temple.

• In Santa Fe, N.M., students

interviewed Pueblo tribal elders

about traditional growing cycles

and rural plant remedies.

• In 18 rural schools in Vermont,

students worked with community

members to solve local

problems.

Introducing CCBI
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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

APPLICATIONS OF CCBI

The CCBI approach can be applied in a number of ways, depending on the particular country,

Volunteer, counterpart, or staff programming and training situation. This manual presents CCBI’s

applications as they relate to Volunteer and counterpart teaching and training, Volunteer community projects, site assignments, and safety and security issues. The examples below provide

a snapshot of CCBI concepts and practices in action.

Incorporating some of CCBI’s concepts, Peace Corps/Thailand has integrated its health, environment, and water and

sanitation programs into a primary education project for

teachers and teacher trainers. The Volunteers are known as

education supervisors and work toward the education

project’s four goals:

1. To train teachers to use participatory and studentcentered activities

2. To develop learning and resource centers for use by the entire community

3. To design materials and school curriculum in partnership with counterparts and community

members

4. To reach out to the local community by addressing issues of interest and concern to its

members

When Thailand conducted a monitoring and evaluation workshop for Volunteers and counterparts, the associate Peace Corps director (APCD) for education observed that, for the first time

in her experience, Thai counterpart educators were truly “buying into the idea of using participatory approaches” in all facets of their work. Although not customarily referred to as CCBI,

the programming approach in Thailand reflects many of CCBI’s key themes and values.

Environment Volunteers in Tanzania have been involved in environmental education (EE)

activities in their communities. They have been particularly effective in their work with primary

schools, working with their community partners in integrating EE topics into the curriculum.

The APCD for environment has implemented CCBI trainings for the Volunteers and their

counterparts. Participants in the trainings have included school teams (Volunteer, science teacher,

and head teacher), as well as the local education officers. The primary schools and students

have been active in community projects and become resources in the community. Additionally,

the science teachers have learned how to incorporate important environmental themes into their

lessons.
Peace Corps 9

Emphasizing girls’ education, the Peace Corps/The

Gambia staff uses CCBI concepts and techniques as a

focus with math, science, and resource teachers in its

education project. Counterpart educators regularly participate in the Peace Corps’ training workshops and many

of them now appreciate the concept of CCBI enough to

implement it in their own work. CCBI allows Volunteers

not only to bring a variety of topics to their interactions

with local educators, but also to get involved in participatory community projects beyond their schools. For

example, Volunteers recruit community members to talk

about project-related topics such as how to make soap

(chemistry), the effect of hard water on soap (chemistry),

eating a balanced diet (biology), figuring out how much

electricity an appliance uses (physics), or building more

efficient cooking stoves to save wood and decrease stove

costs (math, chemistry, and environmental science).

These examples demonstrate the power of approaches like CCBI. When the core of programming at a Peace Corps post reflects the values of cross-sectoral integration and school–community

links, Volunteers, counterparts, students, and community members all benefit.

One of CCBI’s greatest strengths

resides in the set of tools and

techniques used to meet students’

needs and to empower members

of the community as they establish priorities and work toward

community action. Volunteer and

counterpart educators also have

found that participatory analysis

for community action (PACA)

techniques, although initially

designed for more traditional

community development work,

improve teaching and learning

when used by CCBI in various

ways.

Introducing CCBI
10

Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

In other words, CCBI is not a method merely to be presented during PST or IST for use by

Volunteer classroom teachers. It is a philosophical approach that includes specific, practical

participatory techniques evolved beyond participatory rural appraisal (PRA), rapid rural appraisal

(RRA), and rural systems appraisal (RSA). Volunteers working in any sector can adapt the

CCBI approach. The CCBI approach to development is useful in working with many different

community groups. Community needs and interests inform and enhance the learning of specific

content areas, and community members come together to identify issues of concern, plan

strategies for addressing those concerns, and implement sustainable community actions.

At its best, CCBI becomes part of a Peace Corps post’s programming and training vision, ensuring

that Volunteers and counterparts make the most of their education and community work. To

facilitate use of CCBI there is a Volunteer publication, Working with CCBI (ICE No. M0074).

Working with CCBI is a self-teaching tool that Volunteers can use as they slowly enter their

communities and start to become development workers. As a complement to PST and IST, it is

most useful to Volunteers directly involved in education projects as it allows incorporation of

community issues into regular class activities. It will assist Volunteers in taking responsibility

for their own learning, in working independently or with little supervision, in documenting

lessons learned, and in monitoring and evaluating the progress of projects and activities.
Peace Corps 11

SECTION II:

APPROACHES AND

TECHNIQUES FOR COMMUNITY

DEVELOPMENT, ASSESSMENT,

AND ACTION: PACA AND MORE

REMEMBERING THE PEACE CORPS’ ROOTS

The Peace Corps’ mission is outlined in its three

goals:

1. To help the people of interested countries in

meeting their need for trained men and

women.

2. To help promote a better understanding of

Americans on the part of the peoples served.

3. To help promote a better understanding of

other peoples on the part of Americans.

Implicit in these three goals is a commitment to working with local counterparts and community members to assess and prioritize their needs. The mission always has been to achieve

partnerships between Peace Corps Volunteers and counterparts and to act as facilitators and

participants in a process where community members identify priorities, analyze challenging

situations, plan and implement community activities, and evaluate their effectiveness.

Furthermore, the Peace Corps has a long-standing commitment to integrating the issues and

education of women and girls into its programs worldwide. Consequently, the Peace Corps is

constantly challenged to engage its partners in an inclusive process whereby as many voices as

possible within a given community participate in the analysis, design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of cooperative activities and projects.

Approaches and Techniques for Community Development, Assessment, and Action: PACA and More
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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

PACA, PROBLEM-POSING, AND

ASSET-BASED APPROACHES: AN OVERVIEW

After more than 40 years of promoting grass-roots projects, the Peace Corps has refined an

approach that builds on earlier participatory systems such as rapid rural appraisal (RRA) and

participatory rural appraisal (PRA). PACA was originally developed to provide a set of gendersensitive tools to facilitate the implementation of the Peace Corps’ participatory development

approach. PACA grew out of the many requests for tools or techniques useful in community

development, urban and rural appraisal, gender and socioeconomic analysis, and other participatory methodologies

PACA has emerged as a powerful approach to community

development for Volunteers, counterparts, and Peace Corps

staff. It builds on the strengths of earlier systems while

ensuring all voices are heard, and that analysis and planning remain with the community. Using a variety of techniques, PACA allows Volunteers and staff to fully participate with their students and communities as vision is translated into action.

There are other tools that complement PACA and support CCBI. One of these tools, the problem-posing approach, was developed by Brazilian educator Paolo Freire. The problem-posing

approach is based on the belief that all learners need to be encouraged to think critically about

problems of daily life in order to be able to make decisions, take action, and gain maximum

control over their lives. Through a unique approach to asking questions and working in groups,

problem posing empowers students and community members to take concrete steps toward

improving the quality of their lives. Unlike problem solving, problem posing does not focus on

finding solutions. Instead, it presents open-ended problems that can be dealt with creatively and

critically, thereby empowering students as they begin to realize that they do have a say in the

process.

Another approach compatible with CCBI is the strength-based or asset-based approach, built in

part on Freire’s work. The asset-based approach takes the spotlight off the problem and puts it

on the group’s or the community’s strengths and resources. Emphasis is on identifying and

enhancing existing assets while promoting networks among groups and community members.

It focuses on using existing activity centers (traditional times and places where activities take

place) rather than creating new ones. This helps community members, teachers, and students

feel more hopeful and motivated about their ability to address real needs.

Each approach is described in detail on the following pages.
Peace Corps 13

THE PARTICIPATORY ANALYSIS FOR

COMMUNITY ACTION (PACA) APPROACH

The Peace Corps has published several excellent documents on using PACA. This section

describes how PACA relates to fostering school and community interaction through CCBI. For

a detailed review of PACA techniques, refer to the titles in the resource section.

Why tell animals living in the water to drink?

—West African proverb

What Is “Community”?

Community is a broad term that may refer to a village or a town, a neighborhood, school, group

of students, parents, or a particular organization or group such as a bakery, hospital, women’s

group, teachers’ group, or youth group. The concept of community is not limited to a geographic

location.

What Are the Main Steps of a PACA Activity?

PACA is only meaningful when members of a community participate in discussions, strategize

plans, and implement action to deal with issues relevant to them.

1. Meaningful discussion among relevant players

The first course of action is for group

members to actively participate in the process to determine issues of importance to

the group. There is no point in starting a

campaign to improve prenatal care if most

people feel there is a greater need to do

something about the rodent-infested piles

of garbage scattered across town. And

there is no reason to spend money raised

by students or members of the community

on sports equipment for a community

youth group or books for a library if most

stakeholders would rather use the funds to

repair farm equipment.

Approaches and Techniques for Community Development, Assessment, and Action: PACA and More
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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

2. Information analysis

If reviewing typical daily routines highlights how much time mothers and daughters spend

taking care of sick children as well as how the water everyone drinks is rarely boiled, analysis

is required. Is the children’s sickness related to the water? Would the illness rate be improved

if the water were safer to drink? What impediments are there to boiling the water? Is there

a lack of knowledge about the importance of boiled water? Is there a lack of available or

affordable fuel to boil the water?

3. Action

After the group has analyzed the information, the next step can be taken toward community

action. To prepare for or support community action, teachers may begin to enhance their

teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL), math, or science units by incorporating

health terms and information.

PRA, RRA, and RSA Are Good, Viable Approaches.

Why Should a New Approach Be Learned?

Participatory rural appraisal (PRA), rapid rural appraisal (RRA), and rural systems analysis

(RSA) are participatory in the information-gathering and analysis phases. These methods have

traditionally been extractive, however. After gathering information in participatory ways, when

it comes to the steps of analysis and initiating and implementing community action are generally

left up to the development workers who determine how to proceed.

PACA, on the other hand, recognizes the importance of maintaining a participatory process all

the way through the planning and implementation phases of a community activity or project. If

PRA, RRA, or RSA is familiar, learning about PACA will come quite easily since many of the

techniques PACA uses are predicated on other systems.
Peace Corps 15

How Will PACA Help Educators?

PACA is a natural complement to

CCBI. Its philosophical approach and

specific techniques can be used to:

1. Facilitate cooperative efforts to

identify school and community

priorities by:

holding community priority

meetings with students and

members of the community to

determine high-priority issues

that need to be addressed.

asking students to interview

certain members of the community to determine their beliefs

and knowledge regarding specific issues such as hygiene and

the cause of disease.

2. Gather information about current knowledge and identify practical, meaningful material

that can be incorporated into lesson or unit planning. For example, as a result of a PACA

analysis, you might understand that a major concern for the people in the community is

cholera. Through community meetings, interviews, visits to the clinic, and discussions with

health care providers, you are able to gather information and data that can be incorporated

into a number of lessons.

English/TEFL: The lessons might include language learning activities that focus on the

theme of basic hygiene and its relationship to disease prevention.

Science: Lessons can be developed on bacteria and disease transmission.

Math: The information and statistics collected can be used to generate word problems

that include percentages, graphs, and statistical analysis.

Geography: Lessons can be developed that focus on water pollution and how it relates

to the local river.

3. Work toward community action involving Volunteers and counterparts in cooperation with

students and community members.

Approaches and Techniques for Community Development, Assessment, and Action: PACA and More
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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

4. Use PACA techniques for monitoring and evaluating activities and the changes that result

from these activities.

Example 1:

There may be occasions when a situation that appears to be an obvious need or problem

proves to be a low priority to the community or involves more than meets the eye.

In one West African village a new Volunteer who was still settling into his

site overheard some neighbors talking. He couldn’t make out everything they

were saying, but he distinctly heard them mention the need for a health center.

The Volunteer checked with several people in the community to make sure

they were interested in having a health center, and the response was that it

was a very good idea. The Volunteer then went to the Peace Corps and was

able to secure funding for the project. With community members donating

time and labor, the health center was built. Everyone agreed the building

was a success. Time went by and the center sat empty and unused. Bewildered,

the Volunteer investigated and discovered that there was no one to work in

the health center because there were no doctors or health workers in the

area.

Efforts expended on under-used projects can be avoided when community members

participate fully in all phases of project planning. In this case, a community meeting to

discuss priorities and needs before deciding on what community action to take probably

would have raised the issue of no health workers and, perhaps, steered events in a more

useful and relevant direction.
Peace Corps 17

Example 2:

A fisheries Volunteer, who had already helped local farmers build a number

of successful fishponds that provided nutritious food and a source of revenue,

was approached by the director of the region’s largest and most important

school. The director asked that a large pond be built right next to the school.

The Volunteer examined the site and reported to the director that there was

no water source near the school, so digging a pond there did not make sense.

The director insisted. The Volunteer resisted. Eventually, the director persuaded the Volunteer to go ahead and dig the pond anyway, explaining that

he would take full responsibility for finding water to put in it. So the Volunteer recruited two local farmers who spent three long weeks digging a pond

as requested. The director was very pleased with the results. Two years later

when the Volunteer left, this perfect crater was still sitting there, empty, a

symbol of great but unfulfilled and unrealistic expectations.

This is a clear example of a community project that did not reflect the interests and participation of community members. Had the Volunteer gathered people from the town together to

discuss the school director’s request, it is likely that the issue of no water source would have

arisen. More to the point, having the community conduct a PACA priorities ranking might have

revealed that there were other projects that the community felt were more important than digging

another fishpond.

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Careful, Participatory Planning Is the Key

Using an approach like PACA helps Volunteers work

with a community to identify situations they agree

need to be addressed. Too many edcators or community leaders focus first on a “noticeable” problem then

move to attack it, only to discover that the community

was not particularly interested in addressing that situation. The community might not even consider it an

issue worthy of attention.

As a result, one of PACA’s basic assumptions is: do

not jump to conclusions. Rather, allow people in the

group or community to identify the desires, needs, or

problems they find most pressing. Consequently, when

issues are addressed, motivation levels are higher,

actions are based on community resources, and implementation is easier.

Think of PACA as a philosophy with suggested techniques or activities to use as is or to adapt

to a particular community’s situation. What follows is a review of the steps or activities involved

in a PACA analysis.

Interview specific groups within the community (men and women, youth and adults, workers

and managers, etc.).

By asking pertinent questions, organize and facilitate the group’s discussion in small and

large groups without imposing your own opinions and ideas.

Help the group format and present ideas visually, using maps, daily activity schedules, or

seasonal calendars.

Help the group compare and contrast similarities and differences in perceptions.

Using the group’s analysis, have the community design an activity, select a site, and implement

the action to address the issues they have determined important.
Peace Corps 19

Keep in mind the underlying principles:

The gender-sensitive process must include the voices of various groups, such

as women and men, teachers and

students, and buyers and sellers.

Community members are viewed as full

partners.

The approach is based on group participation rather than household surveys.

The goal is the development of a partnership, not the extraction of information.

PACA is not simply about analysis; it is

about building a partnership between

development workers and community

members, be they farmers, students,

extension agents, mothers’ clubs, or

credit unions.

PACA helps identify needs, communicate

information, and lay the groundwork for

school and community-linked action.

PACA also includes specific techniques to

help identify an action that a group is willing and able to take to improve a situation.

PACA tools are adaptable to particular situations or can form a basis on which to

design new tools. PACA is also valuable

for monitoring and evaluating the outcome

of activities over time.

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At What Point Should PACA Be Used?

PACA and its tools and activities may be used in various

phases of community action. For instance, tools help identify pressing issues, analyze situations, target community

projects, identify indicators, or monitor and evaluate

projects. Volunteers and counterparts need to discuss their

particular situations with the APCD or program manager.

(See Section III: Programming.)

For Volunteers and local educators, PACA offers endless

possibilities for language, math, science, environment, or

health learning activities in addition to helping assess the

needs and interests of students and their families.

Examples:

In one rural community in Paraguay, both men’s and women’s groups gave a high ranking to

the need to complete the community’s school. They determined that they would be able to do

the project and, using seasonal calendars, agreed on the best time to begin building.

Female secondary and university teachers in urban areas of Turkmenistan drew up a list of

needs and then ranked their top needs by importance and by potential for action. Needs

ranked by potential for action allowed participants to see that some of their problems are

manageable.

Volunteers and counterparts in The Gambia

designed and conducted a priority needs assessment of girls in their schools to learn more about

their backgrounds, interests, needs, and challenges.

The educators are using this information to plan

with the girls in- and out-of-school activities.

In Guyana, Volunteers and their counterparts used

the seasonal calendar format at an in-service training (IST) to analyze curriculum options for students. Faculty at the Volunteers’ schools now use

the seasonal calendar format to explore the type

and level of education that girls and boys are

receiving.
Peace Corps 21

THE PROBLEM-POSING APPROACH

Paulo Freire, a renowned Brazilian educator, believed that

learners should be given the opportunity to think critically

about the problems they face in their lives. He proposed a

dialogue approach in which teachers and students participate

as co-learners. In this problem-posing approach to education,

learners develop their critical thinking skills in order to take

action, make decisions, and gain control of their lives.

How Does the Problem-Posing Approach Work?

Problem posing is a learning cycle in itself, empowering learners by moving from a description

of the situation to action. A problem is posed in the form of a code. This code can be a dialogue,

paragraph, word, photo, or drawing. For example, in a language class the teacher could begin by

showing the class a drawing. This drawing could depict a group of students standing together

and another student standing apart from the group. The students in the group are laughing and

pointing at the lone student. This situation can stimulate a discussion about why people are

ostracized from others (tribal differences, income, disabilities, HIV, etc.). The group then

discusses five sets of questions, using the following format:

1. Describe the situation.

2. Identify the problem.

3. Relate the problem to your

experience.

4. Identify the underlying causes

of the problem.

5. Identify constraints and

opportunities for action.

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What Are the Features of a Problem, or a Code?

A problem, or a code, should:

Be recognizable to students. The problem should be grounded in the students’ experiences,

not the teachers’ experiences. Using PACA tools to identify codes is one of the ways to find

these student-centered problems.

Present several possible solutions. Several possible solutions are needed to stimulate discussion. The classroom atmosphere is one in which students feel free to share their ideas

according to their learning styles. Treat this as a brainstorming session in which judgment is

suspended and all contributions are encouraged and considered.

Avoid providing solutions. A teacher in a problem-posing discussion is viewed as a colearner in a culture-circle, “a live and creative dialogue in which everyone knows some

things and in which all seek to know more” (Friere). Problem posing presents open-ended

problems that can be dealt with creatively and critically, empowering students by giving

them a say in the process.

Avoid overwhelming students. The

problem should not be so emotionally

charged that it prevents students from

talking about it, but rather it should be

one that they can address. Ask host

country colleagues, friends, and fellow

Volunteers for advice.

Be sensitive to local culture and

beliefs. Describing situations, not blaming, is the focus of this process. It is

not a Volunteer’s role to preach and

moralize. Check with Volunteers, host

country colleagues, friends, village

elders, and town officials to confirm

that the problems presented are valid

and acceptable for the class. These

persons also can give advice on how to

address the problems in a culturally

appropriate and sensitive manner.
Peace Corps 23

What Would Be an Example of the Problem-Posing Approach?

Below is an example of a situation using Freire’s problem-posing approach. (Several of the

sample lessons in the next section also demonstrate this approach.)

Reforestation Dialogue

Renuka: Father, what have you done?

Father: Ah . . . See how much I’ve accomplished today—five trees down.

Renuka: My gosh, such a terrible crime.

Father: A crime? This is my land. I’m building a garden. This is for you.

Renuka: What do you mean, for me?

Father: Can’t you see? These five trees are worth more than six months’ income

from my shop. And when it’s all cleared, we can get still more by leasing it to

cultivators.

Renuka: We don’t need that money, father. But we need these trees—alive.

Father: What nonsense is this?

Renuka: It’s not nonsense. Without trees we wouldn’t have clean air to breathe. And

valuable soil like this would wash away with the rains.

Father: Who’s putting these crazy ideas into your head?

Renuka: My Peace Corps teacher told me ....

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Applying the Five-Step Format

to the Reforestation Dialogue

1. Describe the situation

Where are Renuka and her father?

What is the father doing?

How does Renuka react to this?

2. Identify the problem

Do Renuka and her father both think trees

are important? Why?

3. Relate the problem to your experience

Do you live in or near a forest?

Is the forest useful to your family? How?

Are people cutting down trees in the forest?

Why?

Does your family use wood for fuel at home?

Where does it come from?

4. Analyze the underlying reasons for this problem

(Introduce or review the idea of short- and long-term needs.)

Who’s thinking about short- and long-term needs?

Which of the two is right? Might both be right?

5. Identify constraints and opportunities for action

Is there a way to balance short- and long-term needs? How? Have you seen short- and longterm needs balanced before? What can you do to protect or restore the forests in your

community? Describe the situation.
Peace Corps 25

THE ASSET-BASED APPROACH

The First Question Is Critical

Change happens the moment a question is asked, and

that change is directly related to the question.

Questions can produce personal power, vitality,

strength, health, and courage when the question takes

participants into a positive space.

Questions can produce weakness, powerlessness, and

depression when the question takes the participants into

a negative space.

One of several strength-based approaches, the asset-based approach, like the PACA approach,

encourages working in a participatory manner toward community development and action. Its

primary focus is not on problems that need to be solved. Rather, the emphasis lies in examining

existing community assets and resources, enhancing existing activity settings, and encouraging

cooperative activities through processes that support student-centered learning and communitycentered implementation.

Using the capacity inventory tools of this approach with educators and students readily helps

participants:

recognize existing teacher and student skills;

affirm schools’ roles as activity centers of learning; and

identify other activity centers where people congregate and where learning takes place, such

as tea shops, markets, and bus stops.

People are encouraged to engage in participatory, inclusive activities to enhance existing activity

centers. However, they are not told how they should manage these activities or what the process

should look like. Participants focus instead on asking themselves such questions as:

Who decides what activities should be undertaken?

How are the activity centers chosen?

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Pages 25–27 adapted with permission from Building Communities from the Inside Out, ACTA Publications 1993.
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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

How is inclusion ensured?

How do Volunteers ensure that activities being undertaken are consistent with the values,

beliefs, and rules of the host culture?

How do Volunteers know if the process is viable?

How do Volunteers know if the activities correspond to actual needs?

Introducing the asset-based approach encourages the critical thinking necessary to answer these

questions while identifying appropriate assets to meet perceived needs.

How Does the Asset-Based Approach Fit With CCBI?

The asset-based approach strengthens the CCBI framework by building on the potential of

teachers, students, and community members. With its emphasis on identifying and enhancing

existing assets and networking among community members, CCBI allows teachers and students

to realize what they can do to address real needs, thus fostering hopefulness. Strength-based

approaches facilitate CCBI actions by highlighting the multitude of assets that already exist

among individuals, associations, and institutions in a given community.

CCBI also builds on aspects of the asset-based approach to promote a level of communication

and analysis from which curricular content and school-related activities are identified at the

local level. Those lessons are then extended into the community at large and come full circle by

bringing the community back into the classroom. Using the two approaches in tandem can

benefit both schools and communities.
Peace Corps 27

Approaches and Techniques for Community Development, Assessment, and Action: PACA and More

The following chart highlights the main principles underlying the asset-based approach and the

principles behind the concept of school-centered development.

Asset-Based Approach: School-Centered

The Six Principles Development

1. Participate in and cooperatively enhance community activity • Schools as activity centers

settings (the places where people routinely conduct individual or

group activities.)

2. Examine existing community assets. These include all the • Schools

existing human, ecological, material, and economic resources a • Students, teachers,

community can identify as positive features within particular mothers, and fathers

activity settings. Begin with Individuals, identifying their skills, • Parent/teacher associations,

knowledge, and capacities, and looking for ways to link individuals student associations

in collaborative activities. Next, examine the citizen associations: • Ministry of education and

churches, youth groups, women’s groups, farmers’ or fishermen’s curricula

cooperatives, schools, etc. Finally, identify institutions present in

the community: local, regional, and international NGOs, banks,

hospitals, governmental agencies, and so on. Links can be made

within categories or across categories, beginning within the

community and proceeding outward.

3. Design or enhance existing activity settings consistent with the • Activity settings of

values, beliefs, and rules of the host culture. Even for host teachers and of students

country development workers, it is important to be aware of • Schools, school libraries,

variations in the cultural values from community to community. tea shops, bus stops

Begin with the good things going on and build from there.

4. Engage in reciprocal relationships of “assisting” and “being • Student-centered, cooperaassisted”; turn spectators into participants; learn from tive learning

leaders; turn over leadership roles. Being aware of the roles of

individuals within groups can help foster leadership development.

5. Encourage joint cooperative activity; practice inclusion. • Who decides what the

Individuals and groups working cooperatively see better results activity is and how is incluthan when working in isolation. sion practiced?

6. Engage in quality process. “How it is done?” is as important as • Quality process of critical

“What is done?” An emphasis on the process of developing thinking and learning

relationships with the members of communities builds trust and • How do we know when we

increases involvement. have been effective for

boys and girls?
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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

FIELD INSIGHTS AND ANECDOTES

Volunteer Voices—In Their Own Words

I think more than anything else, I can see the effect in terms of attitude. As parents of students

feel more comfortable, they come around more when asked to collaborate on CCBI.

Volunteers must be careful in making assumptions about community issues.

CCBI broadens the classroom experience past the perimeter of four concrete walls.

Not only does CCBI address and solve problems, but it also engenders a great sense of pride

and self-confidence in participants.

While PACA and CCBI can stand alone, they’re most effective when mixed together.

My most gratifying and successful accomplishment was an AIDS poster contest that I held

for the 11th grade. The students were placed in small groups and asked to come up with

slogans, which they put into poster form. Finally these posters were displayed throughout the

school, during a community-wide AIDS ceremony held at the school.

I have begun to understand that my community is not only my village but also my students’

village. I can use this “expanded” community to draw comparisons and exchange ideas

between students and give them tools of analysis. Working with counterparts and convincing

them of the merits of this [CCBI approach] is an important part of being a Volunteer.

It takes patience! Students were resistant at first. But it’s worth the effort to stick it out.

Persistence is the key.
Peace Corps 29

SECTION III:

PROGRAMMING

The beauty of CCBI has been the desire by Volunteers to do projects as

community development workers. CCBI has fit the need for teaching structure

at the local level and it’s possible to implement. Since a significant majority of

students do not “make the grade” vis-à-vis the passing criteria for the national

exam, Volunteers are able to achieve community awareness outcomes in

addition to satisfying curriculum requirements. CCBI also provides a base for

other forms of interventions via girls’ education emphasis and mentoring roles.

Lasting seeds of community development, educational objectives, and goals

are planted.

—Peace Corps programmer

WEAVING CCBI INTO PROGRAMMING

CCBI is an important and practical framework within which an education project is designed

and implemented. It is useful to view CCBI as a philosophical backdrop to all phases of program planning and implementation. It is not simply an isolated set of activities or techniques

for a Volunteer to master. Ideally, CCBI should be an integral part of a Volunteer’s PST. If

trainees are living with host families, the families become the communities and provide excellent opportunities to work with PACA tools. CCBI can be introduced and lesson plans that have

been developed already can be shared and used as teaching tools, connecting them to technical

sessions on learning styles, 4MAT, and lesson planning. During subsequent IST, Volunteers

will share their experiences, present sessions, and focus on more in-depth issues surrounding

CCBI development approaches (see Section V).

As programming staff learn about and understand the concept

and philosophy behind CCBI, it becomes second nature to

incorporate CCBI concepts and themes when preparing Volunteer

assignment descriptions (VADs), conducting site visits, or

developing policies concerning community or secondary projects.

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Programmers also might want to do a seasonal calendar before a project is actually put into

place. A seasonal calendar helps determine which times of the year are most busy for local

communities and which times are not so busy. Programmers can then schedule Volunteer summer

and community projects around the community’s activities.

CCBI’s approach provides Peace Corps programmers with a meaningful, yet flexible, structure

that helps Volunteers and their counterparts develop more relevant classroom lessons. This

flexible structure also supports and fosters a link between schools and communities, between

teachers and students, and between Volunteers and counterparts. Once the value of linking

schools and communities through enhanced classroom learning and community action is

appreciated, everything that follows is practical and reasonable.

CCBI helps both novice and experienced Volunteer educators enhance the learning experience

for students by drawing from individual and community interests to develop more stimulating

and relevant lessons and activities. This is the Peace Corps at its best. At the same time, Volunteers, using their personal strengths, practical skills, and life experiences, can reach beyond the

classroom into the community to organize and promote true community development actions.

The participatory process advocated by CCBI is a very effective way to analyze cause-andeffect relationships, determine resources, and realize what actions will result in the biggest

impacts. This information can become the basis for establishing new projects, revising old

projects, or implementing efficient monitoring and evaluation tools. CCBI also is helpful when

the programming staff is choosing the most sustainable activities for Volunteers. Because of the

participatory nature of CCBI, with the learners themselves becoming educators and development

workers, it also is a very effective tool in building capacities at the individual, professional,

organizational, and community level.

empowers Volunteer educators and their counterparts with the

freedom to develop innovative lessons that reflect the realities

and interests of the community

and

respects the needs of schools to fulfill their curricular

requirements and cultural expectations related to the roles of

teachers and students.
Peace Corps 31

PROGRAMMING STRATEGIES

Below are some other strategies that programmers may want to consider when implementing

CCBI.

Encourage Volunteers and counterparts to think of themselves as educators rather than

teachers. Educator is a broader, more inclusive term, naturally encompassing community

content in lesson planning, and facilitating involvement in community action.

During PST or IST, organize roundtable discussions with Volunteers, counterparts, and

community representatives to discuss CCBI and its integration into the project plan.

Reconsider the concept of secondary projects and implement a policy that encourages

Volunteer educators to make community projects or community outreach an important part

of their primary assignment work.

The term secondary project may signal to the Volunteer

that work outside the primary teaching assignment is not

terribly important. However, if fostering school and

community links is an important part of post programming, then it is fundamental to encourage Volunteers to

pursue community projects in a more deliberate, integrated manner.

The specifics of how a Volunteer begins a community project must be in accordance with the

needs in country. Some posts ask Volunteers to wait at least three to five months before beginning any community projects, thus allowing them to become settled at their sites, comfortable

with their teaching routines, and adept with the process of bringing community issues into the

classroom before getting involved in a community project.

1. Introduce the concept of CCBI during supervisors’ conferences. Talk about CCBI during

your site visits with Volunteers, counterparts, and supervisors.

2. Maintain a resource book of CCBI lessons, projects, and field trips. Provide a copy of this

book for all trainees during PST.

3. Maintain open and frequent communication with programming staff and Volunteers in all

sectors to take advantage of cross-sectoral opportunities to integrate CCBI into the post’s

projects. As with any other aspect of work, it always is helpful to keep in touch with colleagues

at post and in the region, so that ideas can be shared, challenges confronted, and enthusiasm

and inspiration maintained.

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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

4. Share programming successes and challenges with Peace Corps Headquarters so that CCBI

experiences can be passed on to other programming staff around the world. This can be

done via project status reports (PSRs), integrated planning and budget systems (IPBS),

teleconferences with the country desk unit (CDU), and correspondence with the program

specialists in the Center.

INSIGHTS FROM THE FIELD

Volunteer/Education Project Benefits

Provides Volunteers with a structure for the accomplishment of project goals and a tool for

linking the capacity-building levels of students, teachers, organizations, and communities.

Provides an excellent forum for counterpart team building.

Allows for the introduction of gender and development in an easy-to-handle, non-threatening manner.

Helps education Volunteers understand that they aren’t just teaching content, they are helping

students develop skills to become community development workers.

Volunteers can really “sink their teeth into” CCBI classroom lessons and community outreach activities.

Provides excellent avenues for Volunteers to promote girls’ education.

Provides an opportunity to promote student-centered teaching approaches, including cooperative learning and alternative forms of assessment.
Peace Corps 33

Program Benefits

Helps establish the Peace Corps’ credibility as a development agency. The Peace Corps is

seen as an agency that encourages innovative, creative, and student-centered teaching

methodologies. An approach like CCBI contributes to a quality school environment and has

been well supported and received by host country ministries.

Provides opportunities for inter-sectoral collaboration.

Provides a context for training nonformal education Volunteers in educational pedagogy and

adult education principles.

Development Benefits

Ensures that both current and future programming comes up from the community, rather

than down from the ministry of education.

Solves the slot-filling dilemma for secondary education Volunteers, reinforcing the

establishment of teachers as community development workers.

Generates additional, appropriate assistance requests and builds trust with community partners.

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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

WHAT PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS

SAY ABOUT CCBI AND ITS EFFECTS

Volunteers’ Role as Teachers in Education for Development

I really felt like I had accomplished something when I finished a CCBI lesson.

It is a really good way to get to know people in the community

and about community happenings.

Students are beginning to see that the classroom can also be

taken outside and applied to their real everyday lives.

Students have lots of individual chances to raise issues leading to activities where they work together on community

projects.

I have learned a lot about this culture through CCBI, which

helps me plan better lessons.

I have begun to understand that my community is not only my village, but also the villages

from where my students come, which allows other opportunities. I can use this “expanded”

community to draw comparisons and exchange ideas between students and give them tools

of analysis.

It’s a great motivational tool for students, but teachers must be careful about making any

assumptions about community issues. Tools like PACA must be used in the beginning to

discover these issues.

My observation is that this is exactly what we are supposed to do as Volunteers. Gradually

integrating into the community and bringing a new perspective for community members,

asking them to think and solve problems for themselves. And the key here is that we, as

Volunteers, aren’t and never will be replicas of local teachers, for example, and we’re not

supposed to be. But this approach, from day 1, allows us to establish a meaningful context to

our work. I do think that applying PACA tools in the first few months is important as well,

because you can’t start addressing problems until you’ve talked with people about their

perceptions.
Peace Corps 35

Volunteers’ Students’ Learning

Local specific information can be injected easily and makes the students far more eager to

learn.

I felt an increased awareness in the

minds of my students as well as their

willingness to share their own experiences.

Students were eager to use resources

from their environment because they

are familiar with them.

My students are more willing to devote

time outside of the classroom for

projects.

Students and teachers are becoming more aware of local resources.

Links Between Schools and Communities

Information about important topics seems to be reaching the family members and friends of

our students.

There is a noticeable increase of awareness in

our community of issues, including girls’ issues

and AIDS.

I have found already that it is impossible to

separate lessons we teach from awareness

development (i.e., communicative English

language skills from talking about real situations in our community).

It gives the Volunteer a new way of looking at

the community, and it gives the students a

different way, perhaps, of looking at the community. In addition, it brings the subjects out

of the classroom and into the world, and it can

be used together with required curriculum

material.

Programming
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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

SECTION IV:

TRAINING

CCBI TRAINING EVENTS—IN A NUTSHELL

A variety of CCBI training events can be, and have been, conducted in a range of settings.

CCBI training has included:

Trainees during pre-service training (PST)

Volunteers and counterparts as part of a training

of trainers (TOT)

Volunteers and counterparts during in-service

training (IST)

Staff development workshops

Local teachers’ meetings

Seminars

Each training event is different and reflects the amount of time trainers have to spend on the

planning, the length of the event, the financial and human resources available, and the backgrounds and experiences of the participants. The design of CCBI training, whether for Volunteers,

counterparts, or Peace Corps staff, is based on needs identified by staff in the field. In general,

training workshops focus on:

learning about participatory approaches to community entry, assessment, and action through

hands-on involvement in activities based on these approaches;

planning creative lessons and activities that incorporate a content area relevant to meeting

local needs, such as public health or environment. The lessons and activities must satisfy the

needs of the learner while respecting the parameters set by school-approved syllabi and the

required use of certain materials; and
Peace Corps 37

developing indicators to measure positive changes in knowledge, skills, attitudes, and

behaviors resulting from small actions or projects undertaken by students, their families, and

the community. These indicators also take into account gender and other cultural issues.

More specifically, each CCBI training event should be organized around the 4MAT approach

and based on the four phases in the experiential learning cycle: concrete experience, reflective

observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. The 4MAT approach has

many applications for training, some of which are demonstrated in this manual.

4MAT recognizes and targets the different learning styles of learners. A CCBI training event

should acknowledge that its participants—trainees, Volunteers, counterparts, or other Peace

Corps staff—have different learning style preferences. In other words, each CCBI training

event should target imaginative, analytical, practical, and dynamic learners. If the design and

implementation of a CCBI training event is going to model and reflect the 4MAT framework,

then it must be based on the experiential learning theory and conducted in a Volunteer/counterpart-centered, participatory, gender-sensitive manner. Specifically, a CCBI training event should

include the following four components: motivation, information, practice, and application.

1. A Motivation Component

a. Before the training

If possible, ask participating

trainees, Volunteers, or

counterparts to do some

pre-training activities before they arrive at the training site. It is best to have

them do some type of PACA

needs assessment (see Section II for sample) that will

enable them to work with

students and community

members in advance to

identify and gather information about community needs. For example, when conducting an HIV/CCBI workshop, Volunteers and counterparts should find out as much information as possible

concerning HIV/AIDS in their communities through interviews and discussions with

students, staff, community groups, NGOs, and health care workers. This information

can then be used to discuss PACA and community issues, as well as to develop

community-specific lessons and activities.

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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

b. At the beginning of the training

At the beginning of the training event, set the stage for using CCBI by addressing the

big picture or broad concept of education and the Peace Corps’ rationale for the use

of CCBI. Address such questions as:

What are the goals of education?

What is meant by development?

What is the role of education in development?

What is the role of teachers or educators in development?

What does the term community mean?

How can education and community development be linked in a meaningful way?

How are the approach and philosophy of CCBI applicable and adaptable for the

nonformal education sector?

2. An Information Component

This portion of a CCBI training teaches trainees, Volunteers, and counterparts what CCBI

is and how it is done. Whenever possible, have students, community members, Volunteers, and counterparts act as resources and presenters. It often is effective to begin this

part of the training with a model lesson. Participants enjoy playing the part of students,

and the lesson provides a practical experience to which the trainer can continue to refer.

Introduce CCBI using visuals similar to the 4MAT

pie charts, or create new, post-specific introductions.

Supplement the introduction with concrete examples

taken from this manual or from the experiences of

educators working with CCBI at post.

After a brief introduction to CCBI, increase participants’ understanding of CCBI by leading them

through the steps of a CCBI lesson plan. Provide

participants with a picture or sense of the many ways

Volunteers and counterparts can enhance classroom

lessons as they address community issues through

community actions. This step represents the

presentation part of training.

4-MAT Pie Chart

Application Motivation

Practice Information
Peace Corps 39

Depending on the background and experience of participating trainees, Volunteers, or

counterparts, plan sessions introducing:

the PACA philosophy and techniques;

gender awareness and girls’ education;

a review of experiential learning, 4MAT, student-centered techniques, problem posing;

and

any specific content area that is a normal focus of training such as environmental

conservation, nutrition, HIV/AIDS education, sanitation, or business.

3. A Practice Component

After participants have identified

community issues and learned about

CCBI and relevant content areas,

they need to practice, in pairs or

small groups, what they have learned

by actually developing some lesson

plans and activities that address the

needs of the learners.

(Note: Science, math, and geography teachers may find it helpful to

work together in subject groups first

to examine the syllabus and identify

syllabus topics that are related to

identified community issues. They

can then pair up and develop lessons

from the syllabus topics.)

Groups then share their lesson plans and activities with colleagues for discussion and

exchange of ideas. This can be done through presentations or actual teaching of lessons.

It also is important to give participants a chance to plan a community meeting, discuss

how the meeting might be conducted to reveal the community’s priorities, and finally

arrive at an initial action plan. Participants are then given the opportunity to present their

action plans to other participants.

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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

4. An Application Component

During the final component of the training, trainees, Volunteers, and counterparts work in

school or regional teams to do action planning, applying what they have learned at the

workshop. The action plan should include how trainees, Volunteers, and counterparts plan

to monitor and evaluate their activities.

Including a session on the power of change, with challenges they might encounter as they

try to use CCBI, is a good closing for this segment of CCBI training. (See sample sessions

later in this section.)

This application component offers participants an opportunity to discuss what they would

find helpful in terms of making the most of CCBI at their sites and to make plans for

future collaborations. For instance, trainees, Volunteers, and counterparts might want to

talk about planning school, local, or regional meetings, starting a newsletter, or developing

a CCBI resource bank.

PRE-SERVICE TRAINING

CCBI...in PST or IST?

CCBI can be introduced during PST or IST. If CCBI is introduced during an IST, less time will

be available, so strategies must be developed for targeting priority CCBI training objectives.

Information from an IST or PST can be built on by including CCBI information, insights, and

sample materials in a newsletter as well as during individual meetings with Volunteers, site

visits, or follow-up IST.
Peace Corps 41

The following portion of the manual concentrates on developing a CCBI PST. Trainees can be

introduced to all of the elements of CCBI in a PST, as well as have an opportunity to practice

and apply some of the skills needed to use CCBI effectively. Here are some ideas for how to

integrate CCBI into an existing PST program using the four component model.

Motivation

All PST includes sessions that focus on the concept of international development and the role

of the Volunteer in development. Provide the rationale for using CCBI by addressing the following

questions:

What does development mean? What is the

role of education in development? What is

a Volunteer’s role as a development worker?

What is a Volunteer’s role as an educator?

Do these roles overlap?

What does community mean? What is community development? Is the school part of

the larger community? How can the school

serve as a resource for the community?

Where are the links?

Can educational activities and community development activities take place side by side?

What are the advantages? Disadvantages?

Training components of PST or IST typically include activities for trainees or Volunteers to

become acquainted with local communities through school visits, trips to towns, home stays,

site visits, and so on. These activities offer excellent opportunities to learn and practice PACA

techniques. (See Section II for a detailed description of PACA tools and techniques as well as a

discussion of the asset-based approach.)

By using these techniques during training, trainees can develop relationships with community

members at the PST site or at their future sites, learn about their community(ies), and gather

information about community issues. The opportunity to practice PACA techniques will increase

the likelihood that Volunteers and counterparts will use them at their sites. Incorporating PACA

activities also will make training sessions more learner-directed, participatory, and relevant.

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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

Information

The technical component of any education PST or IST will have many sessions on educational

methodology. To prepare trainees to incorporate CCBI, the following sessions must be included:

experiential learning

learning styles

4MAT lesson planning built on communityrelated content

student-centered learning techniques

problem posing

introduction to PACA and basic techniques

gender issues and girls’ education

planning for student/community activities and community action

participatory monitoring and evaluation

By conducting PACA activities and interacting with content experts through panels and informal

discussions, trainees and Volunteers learn more about community issues. When they design

lessons they can integrate the knowledge they have of community-relevant issues with the subject

matter content.
Peace Corps 43

Practice

During lesson planning sessions, micro-teaching, and model school, ask trainees and Volunteers to develop lessons using the CCBI framework. Encourage participants to use PACA and

other techniques to learn more about the interests and needs of the community. While coaching

trainees and Volunteers about classroom teaching techniques and lesson planning, instruct them

to use their knowledge of the community to make the lessons relevant to the lives of the students,

the community, and the culture. When lessons are practical and fun, their impact is maximized.

In preparing lessons, it also is important to keep in mind the needs of the students and the

requirements of the syllabus.

Programming

Application

Using panel discussions, case studies, experienced Volunteers, and counterparts, design activities

that allow trainees to explore the advantages and potential challenges involved in using CCBI at

their schools. If possible, encourage trainees to implement a small community project with the

students from model school.

During PST and IST, have trainees and Volunteers develop a three- to six-month plan of action

that includes the first steps they will take to implement CCBI in their classrooms.

Note: Many posts institute policies that encourage or require trainees and Volunteers to devote

the first three to five months at site to settling into the community and becoming comfortable

with their basic teaching duties before getting involved in community projects or school and

community activities.
44

Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

SAMPLES AND TOOLS

Pre-service training (PST)

The PST is held the first three months a trainee is in-country. Upon successful completion of

PST, trainees are sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers. The following sample agendas are included:

Peace Corps/Mozambique, TEFL Technical Schedule

Peace Corps/Ethiopia, Supervisor’s Conference

Peace Corps/Kazakhstan, Counterpart’s Conference

In-service training (IST)

The first IST is three to six months after a Volunteer arrives at site and usually focuses on

technical training, language training, or both. IST also is held a year after a Volunteer enters

service, or at other times deemed necessary by the Peace Corps programming staff. It focuses

on technical or language areas deemed necessary to a Volunteer’s success.

Two IST sample agendas are included:

PC/The Gambia, math and science IST

PC/Tanzania, CCBI IST for science, math, and geography teachers

Volunteer Workshops

Volunteer workshops are held at various times during a Volunteer’s service; workshops are

similar to IST and focus on many different topics depending on the individual needs at post.

Three sample workshop agendas are found in this section:

PC/Kazakhstan, An Integration Workshop: Education, Youth, and the Environment

PC/Kyrgyz Republic, Environmental Education and Environmental Health CCBI Workshop

A sample agenda for an HIV/AIDS workshop for Volunteers and counterparts
Peace Corps 45

Regional Meetings

Regional meetings may be held every quarter or twice a year, depending on the individual

needs at post, for staff, Volunteers, counterparts, ministry officials, or outside agency representatives.

Staff Development Workshops

The staff development workshops are often held once a year, on a regional or sub-regional

basis. Individual posts also may hold ongoing, in-country staff development workshops. Topics

and participants may differ from year to year.

Two sample agendas are included in this section.

Southern Africa and Indian Ocean Peace Corps Regional Staff Development HIV/AIDS

Education and CCBI Workshop, Lilongwe, Malawi

Europe, Mediterranean and Asia Regional Staff Development “Education for Participation”

Workshop, Vilnius, Lithuania

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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

PST AGENDAS

Peace Corps/Mozambique, TEFL Technical Schedule

Week 1 (October 26–30): This week Peace Corps trainees have an opportunity to observe classes and

lessons in the local schools as well as interact with local students and teachers.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Interviews Interviews 8:30–10:00 a.m. School visit Process school

Learning styles visit

Observation skills

and prep for school

visit

Integration: Need to coordinate with Language and Cross-Culture for the school visit. Will coordinate with

Language for learning styles session.

Week 2 (November 2–6): This week we provide an overview of education in Mozambique, the Peace

Corps’ role in English language teaching (ELT) in Mozambique, and we continue with phase two of developing PACA skills using the video titled “These Girls are Missing.”

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Education system STEP project PACA interview Site development Interview skills

and the role of Project plan skills continued and

Volunteers in Role of Volunteer Overview of “These Girls are

English teaching in STEP project TEFL 3-5 Missing” Video

Week 3 (November 9–13): This week we provide a general overview of some of the content areas of

CCBI: girls’ education, health, and environment. Scheduling may depend on availability of speakers.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

No tech in p.m. No tech in p.m. Guest speakers on themes of health, environment, and girls’

education. Possibly visit ADPP.

Week 4 (November 15–20): This week we continue with the PACA preparation theme, having

Volunteers practice facilitation skills and learn more about PACA tools.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Facilitation skills Daily schedule Community CCBI - Putting it Lesson planning

(1.5 hr) (1 hr) mapping all together (1.5 hr)

Priority needs Yearly calendar Giving and receivassessment (1 hr) ing feedback

(1.5 hr) (1.5 hr)
Peace Corps 47

Week 5 (November 21–26): This week we begin TEFL methodology and micro-teaching, using

locally relevant content. I will need the full afternoon, each afternoon.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Micro-teaching Micro-teaching Producing materials, Thanksgiving Micro-teaching

(1.5 hr) (1.5 hr) using and adapting No sessions

textbooks (B. Webb, Getting ready for

Teaching reading/ Teaching grammar guest speaker this model school.

writing (1.5 hr) (1.5 hr) week?)

Week 6 (November 28–December 2): This week we begin model school and have mini, one-hour

sessions each afternoon in response to teaching needs.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Model school Model school Model school Model school Model school

Teaching large Visual aids, using Classroom TBA TBA

multilevel classes the blackboard management

Week 7 (December 7–11): This week we continue model school and have mini, one-hour sessions

each afternoon in response to teaching needs.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Model school Model school Model school Model school Model school

TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA

Week 8 (December 14–18): This week we continue model school and have mini, one-hour sessions

each afternoon in response to teaching needs.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Model school Model school Model school Model school Model school

TBA

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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

Peace Corps/Ethiopia, Supervisor’s Conference

Held immediately before Volunteers go to their sites.

Arrival Day

6: 30 PM Administrative arrangements (administrative officer and cashier)

Day One

8:30 AM Welcome (PC director)

8:45 Why are we here? (education APCD)

9:15 Participants’ introductions

Introduction to the Peace Corps (programming officer)

9:30 Project plan

The Peace Corps’ expectations of principals (program and training officer)

10:00 Break

10:30 Introduction to cross-cultural communication

(PST language and cross-culture coordinator)

11:00 Overview of pre-service training

What is community content-based instruction? (PST technical coordinator and trainers)

12:30 PM Lunch

2:00 Preparation of principals’ expectations of the Peace Corps and Volunteers

(principals work together)

7:30 Introduction of principals and their Volunteers

Dinner

Day Two

8:30 AM Introduction of all participants

9:30 Ministry’s expectations of principals and Volunteers (panel)

(Ministry representative, panel, facilitator)

10:30 Curriculum concerns (representative of Institute of Curriculum Development and Research)

11:30 Cross-cultural communication

PST language and cross-culture coordinator

12:30 PM Lunch

2:00 The importance of girls’ education

(representative of Women’s Affairs Office, Ministry of Education)

2:30 Activities that encourage girls’ education (panel of teachers)

3:00 Preparation of mutual expectations

Day Three

8:30 AM Presentation of mutual expectations

10:00 Break

10:30 How a Volunteer adapts to life in Ethiopia (panel of teachers)

11:30 Site visit preparation and logistics (PST training staff and health liaison)

12:30 PM Lunch

**** Afternoon free

Day Four

Departure for sites
Peace Corps 49

Peace Corps/Kazakhstan, Counterpart’s Conference

Conducted by PC/Kazakhstan as part of CCBI-based PST.

Monday

8:00 AM Welcome tea for all counterparts, trainees, and staff

Trainee committee is responsible for planning. Plan culturally appropriate reception—tea,

introduction, and small concert.

Tuesday

(counterparts and trainees work together all day)

8:30 AM Opening remarks, country director (CD)

9:00 Expectations and responsibilities

(counterparts and trainees work separately to discuss expectations, then come together to

share and clarify)

10:30 Tea break

10:45 Peace Corps policies

CD gives general info (45 mins). Break into project groups

12:30 PM Lunch; reimbursement for travel

1:30 Chain of commands at school

3:00 Tea break

4:00 Working together: trainees work with their counterparts on the first steps they will undertake within the first month

Wednesday

9:00 AM Introduction of CCBI and PACA concepts. Problem tree

Trainees and counterparts are split into four groups: one group (environment and business

counterparts) is instructed in Russian, the other three groups are instructed in English

10:30 Tea break

10:45 Introduction of PACA tools (daily activities, mapping) to the same groups. At the end of

each presentation, two groups get together to share their ideas

12:30 PM Lunch

1:30 Introduction of PACA tools (seasonal calendar, needs assessment)

3:00 Tea break

3:15 Revision: lesson format

Participants are split into six groups (one group of education trainees and counterparts, two

groups of environment trainees and counterparts, three groups of TEFL trainees and counterparts) to work on needs assessment tool. Four of the groups brainstorm what problems

and needs young people have now, and the other two groups brainstorm to determine the

main environmental concerns. Before brainstorming, trainees and counterparts work in pairs

or small groups to enable counterparts to give trainees the background on the job and to

share what they know. Hopefully, it will help partners eliminate tension and overcome the

language barrier. Then they vote what problems/needs and environmental concerns seem

the most critical and select two to three top priorities

Two groups get together, a pair-wise ranking of problems is conducted, and members are

asked to reach a consensus regarding the comparison of each pair of problems. The output

is a ranking order of problems/needs or concerns

10:30 Tea break

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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

10:45 Each group is split into three to four groups (depending on the number of people there);

each small group includes no more than four people. These small groups choose any top

problem/need or concern from the two-group discussion output and design a lesson plan on

this topic. Each group will elect a recorder, a timekeeper, and a presenter; incorporate

content support; and process support and effective teaching strategies

12:30 PM Lunch

1:30 Small groups get together and present their lesson plans. Each presentation gets feedback

Thursday

9:00 AM Intercultural communication

10:30 Tea break

10:45 Medical session

11:30 Challenges and strategies, Part 1 (counterparts will work in small groups to explore ways to

deal with possible problems with Peace Corps Volunteers)

12:30 PM Lunch

1:30 Challenges and strategies, Part 2 (small groups will share information)

2:30 Closure
Peace Corps 51

IST AGENDAS

Peace Corps/The Gambia, Math and Science Education

Although CCBI is not specifically mentioned, its philosophy and principles are woven throughout.

OBJECTIVES

1. To provide Volunteers and their counterparts with skills to effectively sensitize their

communities to enroll more girls in school and ensure that they finish school.

2. To find ways and means to encourage girls to take more interest in the traditionally maledominated subjects of mathematics and science.

3. To equip Volunteers and their counterparts with skills to incorporate women in development

(WID) issues in the curriculum.

SCHEDULE

Day One

8:30 AM Registration and announcements

8:45 Participant self-introductions

9:30 Opening ceremony (PC staff, director of schools, U.S. ambassador, director of Ghana Science

Clinic for Girls)

10:00 Break

11:00 Cultural barriers to science and mathematics education for women:

The Gambia perspective (presentation by representative of Women’s Bureau)

12:00 PM Report on participant teachers’ interviews of middle school girls, parents, and community

members

12:30 Lunch

1:30 Discussion of survey results

2:30 Global issues on gender, science, and technology (director of Ghana Science Clinic for

Girls)

3:30 Break

4:00 Video: “Botswana: Righting the Imbalance.” Discussion of video

5:00 Doing mathematics with your friends

6:00 Adjourn

Day Two

8:30 AM Organization and philosophy of Gambian science curriculum with emphasis on gender issues

(representative of Curriculum and Research Development Center, Ministry of Education)

9:00 Science activity

9:30 Group work: look at science curriculum materials and develop activities with gender-sensitive focus (director for Ghana and representative for MOE, The Gambia)

10:45 Break

11:00 Reports from groups

12:00 PM The culture of the mathematics classroom

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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

12:30 Lunch

1:30 Gambian girls and success in school mathematics: the problem and steps toward solution

1:45 Mathematics activity

2:15 Group work: look at mathematics curriculum materials and develop an activity for holistic

learners

3:45 Break

4:00 Reports from groups

5:00 Videos and discussion

6:00 Adjourn

Day Three

8:30 AM Introduction to the field trip

8:50 Field trip: Sankung Sillah’s Plastic and Soap Factory and Julbrew Factory

12:30 PM Lunch

1:30 Preparation for a successful field trip; how to use field trips to teach mathematics and

science

2:30 Group work: field trips

(Use syllabus and text to identify topics that could be taught through field trip today and

other field trips. Sketch a tentative plan for a trip)

3:45 Break

4:00 Reports from groups

5:00 Girls’ education: Perspectives from an Islamic school (teacher and two students)

6:00 Adjourn

Day Four

8:30 AM Women in development activities (representative of Women’s Bureau)

9:30 Group work: relating development activities to science and mathematics

(Develop activities related to various WID themes and plan how to initiate interaction between

women’s groups and school girls)

10:45 Summary review of objectives

11:15 Closing

11:30 Break

12:00 PM Evaluation of workshop

1:00 Lunch
Peace Corps 53

Peace Corps/Tanzania,

Science, Math, and Geography Education

The participants at these meetings were a mix of teachers who had attended an earlier CCBI workshop and

teachers who had no previous exposure to CCBI.

1. Welcome and Introductions

2. Goals for meetings: Teachers will

Have a better understanding of community content-based instruction (CCBI).

Discuss using CCBI at their schools.

Develop CCBI ideas, lessons, and activities.

Discuss other teaching matters and exchange ideas and suggestions.

3. What is CCBI?

CCBI framework: small group discussions

What is community?

What are the goals of education?

What is development? What is the role of education in development?

Definition of CCBI (Reveal Newsprints A and B)

4. Examples of how some teachers are using CCBI

5. Issues in our community—small groups by school

6. Developing CCBI ideas and lessons—small group work by subject area

7. Discussion of using CCBI at your school

The change process (Distribute Newsprint C)

Debate on possible barriers and resistance to use of CCBI

8. Other business

9. Closure and evaluation

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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

Meeting Newsprint A

CCBI can include:

1. using examples, problems, and issues from the community and school (and related to the

syllabus) during lessons, activities, laboratory practice, and assessments. One of the

community issues that CCBI focuses on is the issue of gender roles and the academic

achievement of girls.

2. having students collect information about their schools and communities and their needs

and problems.

3. having students practice and apply—using local examples and information—the facts and

knowledge they learn in preparation for their national exams.

4. having students discuss, develop, or implement actions toward solutions to problems in

their communities.

Meeting Newsprint B

Different levels of CCBI

At each of these levels, try to use teaching techniques that increase student participation in their learning,

paying particular attention to the participation of female students.

1. The teacher uses community examples and problems related to a syllabus topic during

instruction. Example: In chemistry class students learn about water purification while

discussing the problem in their community of unclean water.

2. Students do activities and exercises using community examples and problems with information provided by the teacher. Example: In math, while learning about surface areas and

volumes, students calculate the volume of water needed by the school and how much water

could be collected off of school building roofs.

3. Students collect information about their communities related to a syllabus topic. Example:

In geography, students collect information about the problem of soil erosion, its causes, and

the impact on the community. The teacher then uses this information to introduce the syllabus topic of soil and to discuss soil conservation.

4. Students use the information they collect for activities, discussion, and exercises. Example:

In biology, while studying the ecology topic of human effects on the environment, students

interview community members about this topic and prepare presentations to give to their

fellow students.
Peace Corps 55

5. Students practice and apply classroom learning by taking actions to solve community

problems. Example: Students apply what they have learned in physics about heat transfer

and energy conservation. They educate their mothers on more energy efficient ways to cook

and thus help conserve the community’s natural resources.

Meeting Newsprint C

The steps in the power of change process applied to using CCBI

Step 1. There is no problem.

“Our education system is good just as it is—we are adequately preparing our students

for their futures.”

Step 2. There may a problem but it isn’t my responsibility to try and work on the solution.

“We aren’t doing a good enough job preparing our young people for their future,

but it is the government’s problem to solve—not mine.”

Step 3. Yes, there is a problem, but I doubt that I can do anything about it.

“Nothing I will do will have any impact on the problems of education in my

community.”

Step 4. There is a problem, but I am afraid of what I will have to sacrifice to work on a

solution.

“I might be able to help improve education, but what sacrifices will I have to make

to help?”

Step 5. I see the problem and I am interested in learning more about it.

“I would like to learn about how we can better prepare our students for their futures.

How will using CCBI help?”

Step 6. I am ready to try some action.

“I would like to try to use CCBI in my class and at my school.”

Step 7. I am willing to talk with other teachers.

“I would like to tell other teachers at my school about CCBI.”Volunteer Workshop

Schedules

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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual VOLUNTEER WORKSHOP SCHEDULES Peace Corps/Kazakhstan, An Integration Workshop: Education, Youth, and the Environment TIME Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, December 5 December 6 December 7 December 8 December 9 December 10 December 11 18:00 a.m. – Arrival/check-in Welcome/ Concurrent Themes: Development Presentation Environmental 10:00 a.m. celebration of session Integration, of integrated of integrated education diverity/objectives Capacity Building activity activities TOT materials and Participation Implications for Development 10:00 – Coffee break Coffee break Coffee break Coffee break Coffee break Coffee break 10:15 a.m. 10:15 a.m. – Setting the stage: Concurrent Community Site exploration Presentation of Environmental

12:30 p.m. Kaz youth panel session content-based integrated activi- education

instruction ties (continued), TOT materials

presentation followed by (continued)

discussion

12:30 – Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch11:30 p.m.11:30 – Site exploration Sector concurrent Concurrent Environmental Site exploration Action planning Environment12:45 p.m. session session ed tools education

TOT materials(continued)

12:45 – Coffee break Coffee break Coffee break Coffee break Coffee break Coffee break13:00 p.m.13:00 – Concurrent 3:00–4:30 3:00–4:00 Open Space 3:00–4:00 3:00–5:0016:00 p.m. sessions Concurrent GLOBE panel Wrap up Wrap up

session 4:00–5:00 (Change of venue)

4:30–6:00 Integrated activity

Gallery setup assignments, Open

Space, and wrapup

(continued)
Peace Corps 57

Training

Peace Corps/Kazakhstan, An Integration Workshop:

Education, Youth, and the Environment (continued)

TIME Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,

December 5 December 6 December 7 December 8 December 9 December 10 December 11

16:00 – Welcome dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner/culture17:00 p.m. fun17:00 – Kazakhstan Best practices18 p.m. cultural gallery walk

presentation (break into groups)
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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual M O T I V A T I O N

P R A C T I C E

I N F O R M A T I O N

A P P L I C A T I O N

Peace Corps/Kyrgyz Republic,

Environmental Education and Health Workshop

OBJECTIVES

Enhance Volunteer and counterpart relations;

Help Volunteers and counterparts better understand the application of education for

development activities;

Incorporate issues of girls’ education and women in development into teaching and extracurricular activities; and

Help to infuse environmental health issues into TEFL teaching.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

Sample CCBI lesson Tools for CCBI: Experiential learning Lesson planning

participatory analysis cycle (4MAT)

for community action

 (PACA)

What is CCBI?

Hands-on practice

with tools:

1. community

mapping

2. daily schedule

3. seasonal calendar

Welcome from More practice with Lesson planning Lesson plan sharing

guest speakers tools

Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch

Working together: Even more practice FREE Next steps

norms and with tools

expectations

Successes and Content-based Evaluation and

challenges instruction: closing

environment and

environmental health

ideas for the

classroom
Peace Corps 59

A Sample Agenda for an HIV/AIDS Workshop

for Volunteers and Counterparts

Day One

PM Welcome and keynote

Welcoming counterparts, introductions, review the workshop schedule, HIV video, or a guest

speaker, perhaps someone living with AIDS

Day Two

AM Creating Awareness, sharing information

Current HIV situation in the respective country

AIDS, facts/myths game, possibly Jeopardy (an effective teaching tool for review)

Immune system game (can be incorporated into a biology lesson)

Question-and-answer session

PM Developing Life Skills

The Bridge Model to building a healthy lifestyle:

Introduction to the Malawi Life Skills Manual

Case studies and discussions

“What are some ways that we can assist our schools and communities in HIV education?”

Day Three

AM HIV Education in the Classroom, CCBI

Open Space discussions or a guest speaker to help set the tone for the day (Open Space sessions could include: HIV and You, Sexuality, Testing, etc.)

CCBI demonstration lesson that incorporates HIV topics (This lesson could be taught by a

Volunteer and his or her counterpart.) Possibilities: math—probability, statistics; science—

immune system, English (vocabulary or grammar lesson). After the lesson, the APCD could

provide feedback, using a format similar to one used during site visits.

Guide to giving feedback. This session will help Volunteers and counterparts in their communication and encourage lesson observations.

PM

4MAT and lesson planning

CCBI, a summary, including a brainstorm of ideas for CCBI/HIV lessons

Day Four

AM Designing lessons and action plans for HIV education in schools and communities

Lesson design: Volunteer and counterpart teams design a lesson(s) together. This also is a time

when they can plan next steps and future actions back at their sites.

PM

Sharing lessons and action plans. There may be a group that would like to volunteer to teach

its lesson.

Evaluation and closing

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Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual

STAFF DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP SCHEDULES

Southern Africa and Indian Ocean Peace Corps

Regional Staff Development HIV/AIDS Education

and CCBI Workshop—Lilongwe, Malawi

Monday

Theme for the day: Motivation (Who are we? What do we have to offer each other?)

8:15 AM Expectations for this workshop

8:45 Workshop agenda and goals

9:15 Story introductions—myself as a teenager

11:15 Our reactions to change

12:30 PM Lunch

2:00 Our stories and experiences with HIV/AIDS

4:00 Community meeting

Tuesday

Theme for the day: Information (What do we know about HIV/AIDS? What do we know about our education

systems?)

8:15 AM HIV/AIDS

The big picture: key statistics

The Peace Corps’ responses to HIV/AIDS

The impact of HIV/AIDS on Malawi

10:30 Constraints and opportunities in education systems

Education for development

School and the learning environment

Discussion of tools we can use

CCBI, PACA, and girls’ education

(Students do a PACA exercise to share with participants during panel)

12:30 PM Lunch

1:30 A panel of African young adults talk about themselves and their hopes for the future

3:30 Discussion: What did we learn from the panel?

4:30 Community meeting

Wednesday

Theme for the day: Information, continued (Seeing for ourselves)

8:15 AM

– 12:30 PM Field trip to the National Organization for People Living with HIV/AIDS

Thursday

Theme for the day: Practice (What tools can we use to get the job done?)

8:15 AM Tools to get the job done: revisited

Participatory analysis for community action (PACA)

CCBI

Girls’ education

10:30 More tools to get the job done: sexual health workshops

12:30 PM Lunch
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2:00 Working in subject area groups to develop lessons

4:00 Community meeting

Friday

Theme for the day: Application (Putting what we have learned into action)

8:15 AM

–12:30 PM Working in subject area groups, continued

Presentations from the groups

12:30 Lunch

2:00 Action planning

3:00 Evaluation and closure

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EMA Regional Staff Development

“Education for Participation” Workshop

—Vilnius, Lithuania

Days/Times Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.

8:00 a.m. Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast

9:00 Welcome CCBI-effective Open Space VRS

Introductions participatory Setup

Icebreaker teaching/training

10:15 Break Break Break Break

10:30 Workshop goals CCBI lesson/ Open Space A Designing,

and objectives session design Open Space B managing

projects

(SBD and TEFL)

12: 00 p.m. Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch

1:30 Community needs CCBI presentation Open Space C Next steps

assessment and feedback Open Space D action planning

3:15 Break Break Break Break

3:30 Community needs Presentations Panel: Open Space

assessment (cont’d) (cont’d) networks, Wrap-up

resources, and

materials

2:00 Cultural activity Sharing and Evaluation and

feedback closure

6:00 Dinner Dinner Dinner

7:30 Informal get Poster sessions Traditional

together and display dinner: “Ritos

Smulke”

Surprise!
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TRAINING SESSION PLANS

The following pages provide sample session designs for each of the components of a CCBI

training. Please review the materials and adapt as needed. (See the resources section for other

sources of information and training session designs.)

Motivation component

CCBI pre-workshop questionnaire

TEFL and SBD community needs assessment

Panel: Linking Youth With TEFL and the Environment

Information component

Introduction to PACA

Overview of CCBI

Practice component

Effective participatory teaching and training/using human resources

CCBI lesson/session design

Developing a CCBI lesson

Application component

Power of change (session also can be used at earlier point)

Concerns and resistance to using CCBI

Next steps action planning

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Motivation Component Sessions

Community Content-Based Instruction Pre-Workshop Questionnaire

Greetings. Your trainers are looking forward to working with you at the upcoming IST on integrating gender-related public health themes into TEFL teaching. In order to have the necessary

local community specific information for the workshop, we would appreciate it if you would

work with your counterpart to ask students, colleagues, and community members to respond to

the following questions as fully as possible. Please note differences in responses between males

and females.

Volunteer and counterpart names and genders: ____________________________________

 ___________________________________________________________________________

Site: _______________________________________________________________________

Number of people interviewed: __________________________________________________

1. What are differences in classroom achievement and participation for girls and boys? Why?

In what ways do you and other teachers (female and male) address these differences?

2. In what (if any) ways does schooling relate to girls’ and boys’ current and future life at

home and in their communities? What types of female and male role models (people,

curricular) are found in communities and schools?

3. What do mothers and fathers want and expect for the future of their educated daughters and

sons? Is that the same as for those who are not school educated? Why?

4. What cultural, social, and economic factors have (had) the greatest impact on the education

of girls and boys? In what ways and why?

5. What are important health problems in the school and surrounding community? How do

they affect men (boys) and women (girls) differently?

6. What health-related topics are (or should be) addressed in school? In what courses/activities

and why? What health problems do male and female students talk about with respect to

themselves and/or their parents and other members of the family?

7. In what ways do female and male children contribute to the health and well-being of their

family? In what (if any) ways do girls’ and boys’ knowledge and behaviors influence their

mothers’ and fathers’ knowledge and behaviors?
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Training

8. What school and community resources are available to address health issues? What traditional and modern health services centers are there? Where are they located and how often

are they open? Who staffs the centers, and how much training do they receive? In what ways

do men, women, and children use the modern facility?

9. Who is responsible for the following and why: decisions regarding health care and the

finances required to support health decisions? Educating young men and women about

sexual or private issues? What, if any, differences are there in how health resources are

shared among various family members and why?

10. Describe a typical day’s food intake for a student and his or her family. What, if anything, do

boys eat that is different from what girls eat? Which family members eat first, second, etc.?

Who is responsible for cooking? How are things cooked (i.e., outdoors, indoors: boiled,

fried, etc.)?

11. With what frequency and from whom do you hear about or see evidence of night blindness,

throat goiters, cretins, mentally retarded children, or women dying during childbirth?

12. If indoor plumbing is not available, where do men, women, girls, and boys each defecate (in

open areas, private enclosures, or both)? How and where are the feces of infants discarded?

13. Is hand-washing a common practice among both men and women and, if so, who teaches

whom to do it?

14. How is water stored in the household? What are common containers for storing, transferring, and serving water?

15. Did any other questions or comments arise during the completion of this questionnaire that

you would like to discuss at the IST?
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SAMPLE TRAINING

SESSION PLANS

TEFL AND SBD COMMUNITY

NEEDS ASSESSMENT USING

PACA PAIR-WISE RANKING

This session was conducted during the Regional Staff Development “Education for Participation” Workshop in Vilnius, Lithuania.

RATIONALE

The PACA needs assessment has direct application to Peace Corps programming. As a genderdifferentiated ranking tool, it provides opportunities for project intervention based on community

preferences as identified by all stakeholders.

GOAL

To reach consensus on identification and prioritization of business education and TEFL

programmers’ perceived community needs in the region.

OBJECTIVES

1. to identify how programmers perceive community needs based on all sources of information;

2. to practice the pair-wise ranking technique and demonstrate cross-sectoral, intra-regional

consensus reaching; and

3. to relate the community needs assessment to programming and training that incorporates

gender realities.

1
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TIME

3 hours

MATERIALS

Flip chart paper, markers, tape

PROCEDURE

Introduction and Explanation of Session (15 minutes)

This session is about identifying how we, as development workers, perceive the needs of small

business development (SBD) and TEFL beneficiaries, both men and women, in a community

context. What have you discovered about how community members perceive their needs? How

do you think community members would define their needs? Are the needs of women and men

different or the same? How do you think community members would respond to the question,

“What are your most important needs?”

For the SBD sector, the community may be

the capital city, regional cities, or a smaller

localized community such as a nongovernmental organization (NGO), high school, or

business center. How do the men and women

in these communities perceive their needs?

Consider business people, clients, customers,

entrepreneurs, economics teachers, Junior

Achievement students, and government officials.

For the TEFL APCDs, consider both the school

and the surrounding locality as the community. How do TEFL beneficiaries—the students, teachers, parents, school administers,

and townspeople—perceive their needs in

English education? Do you think the needs of

the men and women are the same or different?

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Round I: By Sector and Gender (45 minutes)

Tasks

1. Select a discussion place, facilitator, and recorder. All individuals should contribute to the

discussion so that the results reflect the group consensus and not an individual’s perspective.

2. Brainstorm a list of gender-specific needs in your sector using this question: What do your

best sources in business education or TEFL identify as the needs most often addressed by

employable women or men (ages 15–35)?

3. From the list, prioritize the three most important gender- and sector-specific needs. Record

these three needs on a flip chart.

Round II: By Sector (45 minutes)

Tasks

1. Trainer acts as a neutral facilitator.

2. Ask each group to present its list and briefly explain the categories. The groups compare

and contrast the lists differentiated by gender.

Questions for discussion:

What are the similarities and differences? Why do you think they exist?

What relationships are there between items?

Why do some items appear only on one list? Why do others appear on both lists?

3. Practice the pair-wise ranking technique with the six identified needs (three male and three

female) using the following question: Which needs can Volunteers and counterparts do the

most about? Determine the top three needs in your sector and record on a flip chart.
Peace Corps 69

Round III: Total Group (1 hour)

Tasks

1. Trainer acts as a neutral facilitator.

2. Ask each group to present its list and briefly explain the categories. The group briefly

compares and contrasts the lists differentiated by gender and sector.

3. Practice the pair-wise ranking technique with the six identified needs (three business

education and three TEFL) using the following question: Which need is more important?

Prioritize the top three needs across sectors and genders.

CLOSING (30 MINUTES)

Summarize the session outcomes and link them to the next day’s session objectives.

ADAPTATIONS AND COMMENTARY

When possible, participants should go directly into the communities after the workshop and

work with community members to identify and prioritize needs. The session plan also could be

adapted for use in supervisors’ conferences, project plan advisory groups, project plan review,

PST, TOT, or IST. It could be used with NGO partners in selecting SPA projects, counterpart

workshops, cross-cultural learnings, focusing agendas, community entry skills, and classroom

activities. The consensus on identifying needs may be useful to incorporate into a strategic plan

of action or vision for a community.

RESOURCES

Session plan adapted from Participatory Analysis for Community Action (PACA) (ICE No.

M0058).

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PANEL: LINKING YOUTH

WITH TEFL AND

THE ENVIRONMENT

This session was part of the integration workshop for education, youth, and the environment in

Kazakhstan.

SESSION TITLE

The Views of Youth in Kazakhstan

GOAL

To set the stage for thinking about the situation of youth in Kazakhstan and other countries,

including what youth can “bring to the table” in their own development.

OBJECTIVE

By the end of the session, participants will have heard and internalized youth strengths and

challenges as relate to their own development needs.

METHODS

1. Panel discussion by four youth, one youth worker, one host country national (HCN), and

two Volunteers

2. Questions and discussion with the panel

3. General discussion: How is this applicable to Peace Corps development?

TIME

1 hour 45 minutes

Note: Participants felt more time should be given to open discussion from the youth and less

time with panel questions. They also felt it was an excellent opportunity to open discussion on

the views of youth and youth developers.

2
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Youth Panel EMA Conference:

Education, Environment, and Youth

Panel Members:

Two Volunteers (one education and one environment)

One counterpart (youth organization)

Four youth (secondary school and university)

Questions to Panel:

1. What needs to happen in the lives of youth for them to be happy?

Sample answers:

Things to do together

Friends are very important

Family is supportive

Family has jobs

Educational opportunities

2. What are your dreams?

Sample answers:

Get a good education; some youth don’t care enough about it

Want opportunities

Good English skills

Get a job...they are very hard to find

Want to study abroad, travel, and meet other people

“Youth is our future”

3. What can help you achieve your goals?

Sample answers:

Love from family and friends

Family support

Open-mindedness

The desire to get ahead

Having a good education (need more content/choices of subjects)

To help others

To believe in your goal and be committed to it

Willingness to work together

A belief that things will work out for themselves in the end

Friends’ support and good advice

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4. What are challenges that keep youth from reaching their goals?

Sample answers:

Material challenges

Lack of money or opportunities to study elsewhere; few choices

Family responsibilities

Mistakes in the system

Hard to work your way up in the system

Unfair system: some just have to pay when others work very hard to pass exam;

bribery; very competitive

Self-limitation by the students because of some of the above factors

Just because you have a good education (diploma) does not mean you can get a job

5. Do youth have a voice?

Sample answers:

Society too conservative: doesn’t listen to youth; cannot force adults to pay attention

Could use more help

Could use more respect

Have no public outlets

Cannot express their opinions

Teachers can be cruel; shout; don’t listen

Adults do not want to listen

No experience speaking out

Have to take classes they do not think are important

6. How can adults help?

Sample answers:

Good, caring teachers or other adults that will counsel and listen

Can make some changes themselves, become better parents

Put themselves into the present even though they have their own experiences

Control their emotions; do not take out frustrations on their children

Listen to the words of the students

Respect the voice of youth

Allow them to make decisions and make mistakes

Be there for them

Look at alternatives

Give good advice, but don’t control youth “like in a prison”

Talk to youth about their problems
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7. How can youth help make contributions within their communities?

Sample answers:

Youth organizations

Teach children

TV projects; AIDS awareness

Youth need to be involved in all levels of the community

Dealing with change right now

Youth must ask for help; their ideas are important

Youth Environment Club (Environmental Awareness Week)

Let youth do it! Sometimes adults limit youth....

No sports centers now; no clubs now; special programs for dancing and drama, singing, etc.; can youth help?

8. What about youth who have no wealth or are not so smart? What about opportunities for girls?

Sample answers:

Some youth don’t care

Some parents limit the opportunity of their children

Some girls (depends on cultures) are expected to marry and raise families

Many end up in the market

Many have no jobs

Many just sit at home

There are few opportunities for them

9. What are opportunities for Peace Corps project development?*

Sample answers:

Community development activities with youth

Leadership skills, life skills, social skills, communication skills, etc.

Showcasing youth talents

Clubs, organizations, sports, etc.

Family/parent education

Business and vocational opportunities

Resource centers...so people can see and hear new ideas

Young women: they have children early and cannot meet their full potential

Volunteers could work with parent groups, especially when it comes to young women’s

opportunities

* Be aware of cultural implications at all levels. This is very important for the success of Peace Corps

programs and Volunteers.

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10. What are youth development opportunities from youth development experience?

Sample answers:

Family life: health and wellness, family life skills training, peer education training,

AIDS, substance and alcohol abuse, early parenting, etc.

World of work: entrepreneurial skills training, employability skills training, literacy

and numeracy, etc.

Citizenship: youth conservation corps, community service corps, community

development, leadership, etc.
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SAMPLE PACA

TRAINING SESSION

This was used during the Southern Africa and Indian Ocean Peace Corps Regional Staff

Development HIV/AIDS Education and CCBI Workshop, Lilongwe, Malawi.

SESSION TITLE

Introduction to PACA

OBJECTIVES

1. To define and describe PACA

2. To provide information about several different PACA techniques

3. To discuss the use of PACA with education Volunteers and its relation to CCBI

TIME

45 minutes

PROCEDURES

1. Use newsprint as outlined below to describe PACA.

Participatory Analysis for Community Action (PACA)

What? Tools to:

Gather and communicate information

Identify community needs

Lay groundwork for action

Get teachers and students into the community

Facilitate the development of a partnership between Volunteers, students, and communities

Ensure the inclusion, and consideration, of men and women, boys and girls

3

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Why PACA for education Volunteers?

Encourage and facilitate involvement of Volunteer teachers with students, teachers, and the

local community

Increase Volunteer understanding of community needs, desires, opportunities, and constraints

Increase likelihood that Volunteers will direct their energies to appropriate activities and

develop relevant lessons and activities

Increase likelihood that activities will be sustainable because they are community-determined

and developed in partnership

Ensure consideration of gender and inclusion of all voices (example: the youth perspective is

different)

When?

For learning

For collecting information

For making group decisions

Who?

Teachers, community members, and students in partnership

How?

With community participation

Techniques for observing and listening

Interview, survey, question

Daily activities

Community mapping

Seasonal calendars

Techniques to discuss and decide

Consensus

Voting

Rank ordering

Pair-wise ranking
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2. Discuss (and practice) several PACA techniques.

Techniques for observing and listening—daily activities (done by student panel)

This is an excellent learning tool, good for determining differences between gender constraints and opportunities. It can be very effective to invite students/community members to

the workshop to participate in a panel discussion. Who has used this? How can it be used?

Technique for discussing and deciding—needs assessment, pair-wise ranking

This is an excellent tool for prioritizing, making decisions, and examining differences in

gender perspectives. Who has used this? How can it be used?

3. Discuss the use of PACA techniques and CCBI.

What techniques are commonly used? Daily activities, seasonal calendars, community

mapping, interviewing, surveying, others?

When are the techniques used? During PST and IST, when Volunteers are doing a needs

assessments and gathering information? Also by students as part of in- or out-of-class

learning experiences.

It is the philosophy behind the techniques that is important, not what techniques are used

(i.e., work with community, pay attention to gender, include all voices).

4. Link PACA to CCBI.

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INFORMATION COMPONENT SESSION:

OVERVIEW OF COMMUNITY CONTENTBASED INSTRUCTION

Adapted from EMA Regional Staff Development “Education for Participation” Workshop in

Vilnius, Lithuania.

GOAL

Participants will understand how CCBI can be instrumental in efforts to implement education

for participation.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of the session participants will

1. Describe the concept of education for participation and the role of CCBI in its implementation.

2. Identify of the purpose, scope, components, resources and potential impacts of CCBI,

especially in business development content and learner-centered processes in TEFL and

business education.

MATERIALS

Blank flip chart

CCBI materials (drawn from the CCBI Manual (ICE #T0112) and Working With CCBI (ICE

No. M0074)

Education for participation flip chart

Problem tree flip chart

4MAT flip chart

Markers

(Other materials at post could be used as illustrations of impact or ideas relevant to CCBI. For

example, testimonial letters of educators or Volunteers, copy of New Moon magazine for girls

[May/June, 1997 edition, business education], Deborah Short’s environmental education lesson

4
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from How to Integrate Language and Content Instruction [ICE #ED196], and various books on

business TEFL.)

TIME

1 hour

PROCEDURE

1. Ask group to define participation. Write the definitions on a flip chart.

2. Show flip chart of Education for Participation as an introduction to the context for CCBI:

Education for Participation

Community (women, men) content-based (SBD) instruction (TEFL)

3. Reveal flip chart showing how CCBI promotes equity in participation and fits into the

4MAT experiential learning cycle pedagogy taught to TEFL Volunteers. Give examples

from TEFL with SBD:

using the PACA pair-wise ranking tool to determine boys’ and girls’ community-related

school needs (motivation)

if the joint priority need turned out to be better business communications skills, students

could be given creative, topically relevant (business) TEFL lessons on journalistic writing,

advertising etc. (information)

students would practice journalistic/copy writing (practice)

students would create and sell a newsletter to other students, community members, local

businesses, etc. (application/small action)

4. Explain that CCBI teaches critical thinking by using problem-posing pedagogy, which asks

learners to describe a problem; analyze the causes, context, and limitations; and take small

steps to solve it. Ask for a participant to demonstrate how to use a problem tree (see

Programming and Training Booklet 2, ICE #T0114) to get to the root of a learner- or

community-identified problem. Once problems have been identified and analyzed, the

learners’ or community’s assets may be identified to determine what strengths can be built

on in working toward a solution.

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5. Measure the impact of CCBI using the newsletter example in step 4 above by asking the

following questions: How many newsletters were sold? What roles did girls play in the

production and sale of the newsletter? How many letters to the editor were received from

male and female readers? How long was the newsletter able to remain financially viable?

(In Vilnius, the facilitator read the Eritrea Volunteer letter here for impact.)

6. Distribute CCBI materials and other resources and briefly review them. Conclude with

questions and answers.

ADAPTATIONS AND COMMENTARY

If participants have not been exposed to CCBI, make the session longer and more interactive by

having small groups define and come to consensus on terms in the education for participation

paradigm (participation, community, gender, etc.). If participants are not educators, concentrate

more on nonformal aspects of CCBI (e.g., its use in training sessions outside of the classroom

in clubs, and community activities) rather than lesson planning.

RESOURCES

People, Whole ICE Catalog materials: PACA, participatory materials, SPA, WID, business,

4MAT, etc.
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PRACTICE COMPONENT SESSION:

EFFECTIVE PARTICIPATORY TEACHING AND

TRAINING USING HUMAN RESOURCES

Adapted from the EMA Regional Staff Development “Education for Participation” Workshop in

Vilnius, Lithuania.

RATIONALE

Within each community there exist human resources that staff, Volunteers, and counterparts are

expected to use. Although these resources may be limited, identifying and strategizing how to

benefit from a community’s existing resources empowers community members and reduces

their dependence on outside sources.

GOAL

To promote participation in community networks and use of community resources and networks

to generate additional learning possibilities among TEFL and SBD programmers across the

region.

OBJECTIVE

By the end of the session, participants will identify human resources in the conference community who will be helpful when designing and presenting a community content-based session.

TIME

30 minutes

MATERIALS

Flip chart paper, markers, tape

Prepared flip chart of topics, “I can help you with ...”

5

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PROCEDURE

1. Introduction: clarify objective of session.

2. In this workshop community, there are SBD programmers and business professionals. They

are our content experts and business informants. There are also TEFL programmers and

teachers, and they are our teaching and processing experts. Both will be needed to complete

the task for the remainder of the day: designing a CCBI session or lesson plan and presenting a CCBI session outline to your peers in small groups.

Post flip chart with the following topics:

Multilevel Classes Community-Based Activities

Classroom Management Techniques Workshop/Seminar Design

Peer Coaching/Feedback Planning and Organization

Visual Aids Networking

Presentation Techniques Interactive Activities

Learner Assessment

3. Ask the group members if there are any categories they would like to add to or delete from

the list. For each category, ask at least one representative from the group to provide a few

examples. Write the person’s name on the flip chart as the peer resource.

4. Post another flip chart labeled “I can help you with ....” Ask participants to identify their

area of knowledge and interest so that conference participants will know which resources to

contact.

ADAPTATIONS AND COMMENTARY

This session formalizes the networking process that generally occurs informally at workshops.

It allows all participants to identify their areas of strength and interest and to approach one

another with questions. It may or may not be necessary. An adaptation may be to extend the

time and demonstrate (rather than explain) the categories, thus providing more concrete and

practical tools.
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PRACTICE COMPONENT SESSION:

DESIGNING A CCBI LESSON/SESSION

Adapted from a session from the EMA Regional Staff Development “Education for Participation”

Workshop in Vilnius, Lithuania.

RATIONALE

Focusing learning and training/teaching content on community needs and concerns encourages

community involvement and responsibility as well as cognitive development and knowledge

acquisition. As Volunteers are actively involved in their communities and work closely with

counterparts, the education for participation paradigm promotes the above focus.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of the session, the participants will

1. Create draft CCBI session outlines that address previously identified needs in SBD and

TEFL;

2. Demonstrate cross-sector collaboration and resource sharing; and

3. Practice effective presentation and peer feedback skills.

TIME

3 hours 15 minutes

MATERIALS

Resource table, ICE materials, peer resources, participant materials

Prepared flip charts: Task 1, Task 2, Peer Feedback Guidelines

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PROCEDURE

1. Designing a CCBI lesson/session plan (15–30 minutes)

Present the objectives as stated above on a flip chart. Explain the entire session flow. Break

into groups of three to five people. Each group must have representatives from each sector,

SBD and TEFL. In groups, select a topic for a CCBI session plan based on the prioritized

community needs as identified and agreed on the previous day. The session plan may be for

a business or TEFL class, a seminar, a PST session, a workshop, an outreach session, or an

adult business course. It may be for students, business professionals, teachers, nonprofit or

nongovernmental staff, entrepreneurs, or any community group. Use all available resources

in the workshop community. The session outline is not a detailed session plan but rather an

outline such as those in the CCBI guide.

2. Planning a 10-minute presentation of your CCBI session outline (11⁄2 hours)

The 10-minute presentation should first summarize the entire session outline and then

demonstrate, or explain in greater detail, one aspect of the outline. You may choose any

method to present your plan—visual aids, lecture, or active involvement. Each group will

have approximately 1 1⁄2 hours to complete this task.

3. Presentation of CCBI lesson outlines (1 hour)

Convene the entire group and briefly present the peer coaching guidelines. Ask participants

to illustrate each with an example. Ask if anyone would like to add another guideline.

Peer Feedback Guidelines

Make nonjudgmental statements.

Ask for explanations; assume the presenter knows the answer.

Use a supportive tone and active listening.

Comment on the effective techniques you noticed and then follow up with suggestions to

consider. Give specific examples to illustrate your point.

Recognize your personal and cultural values and beliefs when offering feedback.

Groups pair up to present to each other. Refer to the feedback guidelines. The two groups

then reverse roles.
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Based on the feedback provided by peers, the draft CCBI lesson/session plan can be revised.

Each group is responsible for producing one CCBI session outline on disk to be shared with

all participants as well as a presentation of the session outline to peers. Submit all draft

CCBI session outlines on disk for sharing.

CLOSURE (15 MINUTES)

The entire group reconvenes to discuss observations about the process and product. Links are

made to the previous sessions.

ADAPTATION AND COMMENTARY

Prior to the presentations, participants could select criteria for effective presentations. The criteria

then could be used when providing peer feedback. The size of the group will determine structure

and breakout groups.

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PRACTICE COMPONENT SESSION:

DEVELOPING A CCBI LESSON

Adapted from a CCBI IST for math, science, and geography Volunteer educators and their

counterparts, Peace Corps/Tanzania.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of the session participants will

practice integrating CCBI concepts into their lessons

work collaboratively with colleagues

develop lessons that they can use in their classrooms

MATERIALS

Flip chart paper, tape, markers, sample lesson plan, small group instructions handout, subject

area texts, copies of syllabus, materials for making visual aids

TIME

3 hours

PROCEDURE

1. Recap past sessions and state that the goal for this session is to provide an opportunity for

participants to practice what they have been learning. Together, participants will be developing simple lesson plans similar to the sample lesson described in the previous session.

These lesson plans can be taken back to your schools for use in classrooms. The lesson

plans also will be distributed to other workshop participants and other schools.

2. Briefly highlight the process. Participants will discuss the instructions in more detail in

their small groups. Ask if there are any questions.

List issues identified through the questionnaire.

Discuss the impact of these issues on girls and boys.

7
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Select issues to address through lesson planning.

Develop a lesson plan.

3. Participants will be working in subject area groups. They may work wherever they would

like. We will not rejoin in the large group today. The remainder of the afternoon is to allow

sufficient time for groups to prepare their lessons and presentations. Facilitators will be

available to assist as requested. There are materials available for those groups who would

like to prepare visual aids for their presentations.

4. Display list of small groups and facilitators. Begin work.

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PRACTICE COMPONENT SESSION:

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SMALL GROUP

WORK DURING CCBI LESSON

1. Join your subject area group. Each group member briefly describes his or her community

(urban, rural, etc.).

2. Make a list of community health, water, or sanitation issues that your group members

identified on their questionnaires.

3. Do any of these issues affect girls and boys differently? Briefly describe and discuss any

differences. What impact do these issues have on the education of boys and girls?

4. Vote on the four most important issues (or the four most feasible issues, or the four issues

you are most willing to act on, or the four issues that will have the largest impact, etc.).

5. As a group, brainstorm curriculum topics that you could use to address these issues. What

topics in your subject area have some relation to these health, water, or sanitation issues?

6. Select several curriculum topics to develop CCBI lessons. Your group will divide into pairs

or threes (these groups should be mixed genders and nationalities but in the same general

level—keep Volunteer/counterpart pairs together). Each smaller group will develop a lesson

for one of the topics selected.

7. Develop the lesson following the sample lesson discussed in the large group. This lesson

should include all of the following elements:

Title

Subject and curriculum topic

Form

Names and schools of lesson planners

Lesson objectives

Time (number of class periods)

Materials needed

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Activities:

Activities of teachers and students

Note: When developing your lesson activities, make certain that you address the following

questions.

What will you do to motivate and interest students in the topic?

What information will be learned?

How will students practice what they have learned?

What small action will students take to apply or use, in a situation outside of the classroom, what they have learned?

How will you evaluate their learning?

How will gender issues be integrated into the lesson?

What teaching techniques would be good to use?

Note: Your lessons will be collected, typed, and distributed to workshop participants and

other teachers.

8. Tomorrow morning you will be asked to present your lesson to colleagues within your

subject area. Each presentation will be 20 to 30 minutes. You will conduct only a small part

of your lesson because of time constraints. The remainder of the lesson can be explained to

your colleagues. There will then be time for your colleagues to provide you with input and

to further exchange ideas.

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APPLICATION COMPONENT SESSION:

“THE POWER OF CHANGE”

Adapted from a session conducted during the EMA Regional Staff Development “Education for

Participation” Workshop in Vilnius, Lithuania. This session was adapted from one with the

same name in Tools for Community Participation by Lyra Srinivasan, PROWWESS/UNDP,

Washington, D.C., 1993 ( ICE #WD084).

RATIONALE

Innovation generally is met with resistance from some stakeholders. Resistance should be aired

and understood so that effective steps may be taken to eliminate it.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of the session, participants will

1. Identify where resistance to TEFL/SBD collaboration might lie and what might be done

about it.

2. Begin to chart changes in participants’ feelings during the workshop with regard to such

collaboration and discuss the reasons for the changes.

3. Learn and practice a training technique that could be used in a variety of settings.

MATERIALS

“The Power of Change” continuum on a flip chart, several red markers for Round 1 (other

colors for rounds on subsequent days)

TIME

20 minutes

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Pages 90–92 adapted with permission from Tools for Participation, Prowwess/UNDP, Washington, DC.
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PROCEDURE

1. Ask group what happens when participants try to introduce a new concept, procedure, or

methodology to project stakeholders (Volunteers, counterparts, students, and community

members). Responses may be noted on a flip chart.

2. Discuss reasons why people might resist change.

3. Introduce “Power of Change” continuum flip chart and reviews various stages, asking

participants for examples from their own projects regarding stakeholders feelings about

TEFL/SBD collaboration.

4. Elicit from group what might make people more open to change. Review the idea of finding

out in whose interest the change is being proposed.

5. Elicit or make the following points:

We begin with ourselves in the process of change.

We are at different levels of resistance on different issues and sometimes get even more

resistant the more we know about something.

Well-founded resistance is positive; reasons for it need to be determined and addressed.

Change is a process. It happens in small steps with small actions.

This workshop will help us form strategies and identify resources for the small actions

we can take toward overcoming the reasons for our own and others’ resistance to change.

6. Point out that the continuum flip chart is near the door along with several markers. Ask that

participants take a few moments before they leave to consider their own feelings about

TEFL/SBD collaboration and place a check mark beside the feeling/step that best describes

their own feelings on the flipchart as they go out. Mention that this chart will be posted at

the end of each day of the workshop along with markers of a different color so that participants may chart any changes in their feelings. Note that marks will remain anonymous

unless someone chooses to reveal his or her mark.

Note: Sticky notes may be used instead of markers so that responses can be moved as desired

each day. Or, different colors of markers or slips of paper may be used to show actual or

perceived perspectives of different stakeholders (students, parents, etc.) regarding such

change. If anonymity is important to the group, participants may write their “step numbers”

on pieces of paper to put in a box. The facilitator can place the responses on the continuum

at a later time.

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2

3

4

5

6

7

1

7. Time should be taken at the beginning of each day of the workshop to ask participants what

they see on the chart and what it might mean.

Continuum (put on flip chart or handout)—TEFL/SBD Collaboration

I’M READY TO HELP

OTHERS ADDRESS

THE PROBLEM AND

ADVOCATE FOR

CHANGE.

I HAVE LEARNED SOME

THINGS ABOUT THE

PROBLEM, AND I’M

READY TO ACT.

I’D LIKE TO LEARN

WHAT I CAN DO

ABOUT THE PROBLEM.

I REALIZE THERE’S A

PROBLEM, BUT I’M

AFRAID/RELUCTANT

TO ADDRESS IT.

THERE MAY BE A

PROBLEM, BUT I

CAN’T DO ANYTHING

ABOUT IT.

IT’S NOT MY

PROBLEM.

THERE IS NO

PROBLEM (NO REASON

TO DO ANYTHING).
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APPLICATION COMPONENT SESSION:

RESISTANCE TO CCBI

RATIONALE

When Volunteers and their counterparts are implementing CCBI, their students and colleagues

may express some concerns with this new approach. It is helpful to anticipate some of these

concerns and brainstorm strategies for dealing with them.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of the session, participants will:

1. Brainstorm and discuss issues/concerns that may arise concerning CCBI as an approach.

2. Discuss strategies for dealing with these concerns.

3. Practice techniques for addressing these concerns through role-play.

MATERIALS

Scenarios for role-play

ACTIVITIES

1. Brainstorm issues and concerns about using CCBI. Discuss them and develop some potential

strategies for dealing with them. Some examples are below.

What are possible concerns about using CCBI?

Time-consuming

Takes forethought to begin

Resistance to change

Preparation for national exams

Whose initiative is this?

Loss of student control and discipline

No “space” in the syllabus

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Discouraged, overwhelmed teachers

What about my reputation?

How can concerns be addressed?

Explain rationale before using CCBI to all involved

Take small steps, act slowly

Identify people with positive attitude: find allies

Invite people to observe classes and attend trainings

Do CCBI as an extracurricular activity

Stress the idea that school is community

Start simple

2. Divide participants into four groups, giving each a scenario. As a group, participants are to

discuss their respective scenario and prepare a short role play for the rest of the participants.

After the role play, someone from the group will facilitate a discussion.

CCBI Resistance and Concern Scenarios

Scenario 1: A teacher and his or her students

A teacher is conducting a lesson using community

content-based instruction. Some students seem to

be resistant to this type of teaching. Prepare a short

play demonstrating students’ resistance/concerns

and the teacher’s response.

Scenario 2: A teacher and his or her colleagues

Teachers at a secondary school are discussing lesson planning in the staff room. One of them explains

that more community content should be included

in lessons, but other teachers do not agree. Prepare

a short play demonstrating the teachers’ different

opinions and thoughts about this way of teaching

and the first teacher’s response.
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Scenario 3: Teacher and an administrator (either the head of school, deputy head, or

academic head)

A teacher at a secondary school has been using community content-based activities in her

class regularly over the past few months. Someone in the school administration questions

her about these techniques. Prepare a short play demonstrating the concerns of the school

administration about this kind of teaching and the teacher’s response.

Scenario 4: A staff person or ministry official and a Peace Corps or host country teacher

After this CCBI/SBD workshop, you return to your post/organization excited about the

possibilities for using CCBI in education. You conduct a CCBI training for teachers, but

many of them don’t appear to share your enthusiasm. Prepare a short play illustrating the

teachers’ lack of positive response about CCBI and the staff person’s/officials’ reaction.

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APPLICATION COMPONENT SESSION:

NEXT STEPS ACTION PLANNING

Adapted from the EMA Regional Staff Development “Education for Participation” Workshop in

Vilnius, Lithuania.

RATIONALE

Action planning maximizes workshop learning and provides a mechanism for measuring the

impact of workshop learnings.

GOAL

To support intraregional and cross-sectoral collaboration among SBD and TEFL staff, Volunteers, and counterparts through staff training in, and sharing of, effective educational practices

that promote women’s and men’s participation in development related to these areas.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of the session, participants will

1. Draft an action plan for continued collaboration;

2. Share, discuss, and provide feedback on peers’ action planning; and

3. Assess progress toward meeting the conference objectives.

TIME

2 hours 30 minutes

MATERIALS

Prepared flip chart with sample action plan, action plan handout

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PROCEDURE

1. Lead facilitator opens the session by asking a representative from TEFL and SBD to

summarize the learnings from the earlier sessions.

2. Next Steps Action Planning: Facilitator explains that to maximize use of learnings gained

during the workshop, participants will design simple and practical next steps they will take

when returning to posts. They are free to work in whatever configuration desired.

Distribute the Next Steps Action Planning worksheet explaining the goal (workshop purpose

statement). Keeping the goal in mind, participants identify objective(s), assets (strengths

and opportunities), and constraints toward meeting the objectives. For each objective,

participants describe what and why, who and where, how and when, desired outcomes, and

impact indicators. Reveal a flip chart of the Next Steps Action Plan and go through the

exercise.

3. Participants illustrate their action plan and post it on the wall.

(BREAK: 20 minutes)

4. After the break, a marketplace of all draft action plans is established providing an opportunity for peer feedback. At least one member stays by the flip chart to serve as the explainer

while other members circulate to review other action plans. Peer feedback can be recorded

on the flip chart. Approximately 30 to 45 minutes will be devoted to reviewing and

commenting on the action plans.

5. In plenary, discuss the action plans.

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Next Steps Action Planning Worksheet

Objective: Identify or design PST sessions that can integrate business education and

TEFL objectives.

Strengths and opportunities:

Possible constraints:

What? Identify and design PST sessions that integrate business education and TEFL

objectives.

Why? Trainees have similar technical needs.

Who/Where? Program staff meet to compare PST competencies and technical training

design prior to TOT. At TOT, they meet with training staff to coordinate

integrated technical objectives.

How/When? Programmers continue to meet regularly during PST to continue coordination with technical trainers. Technical trainers revise or create integrated

session plans based on competencies.
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Next Steps Action Planning Worksheet (continued)

Desired outcomes: Integrated session designs for TEFL and business education.

How will you know when you’re effective?

Volunteer satisfaction; SBD and TEFL Volunteers working together at site; more girls and

women actively participating by the end of the session(s) than at the beginning.

For men?

For women?

For girls?

For boys?

Follow-up support?

Questions and comments from peer reviewers:

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SECTION V:

COMMUNITY CONTENT-BASED

INSTRUCTION MODEL LESSONS

Peace Corps Volunteers, counterparts, or staff in the field prepared the model lessons in this

section. All lessons integrate 4MAT components and combine at least two sectors. The model

lessons are followed by a model unit plan in which a CCBI topic has been developed into a

series of lessons.

Most of the lessons suggest content and sequencing information, but not necessarily information about timing,

or how long each lesson, step, or activity should take.

The specifics of timing, content, and sequencing are to

be determined by educators based on the particular group

of students involved and the particular site or teaching

situation.

As noted earlier, it is recommended that the 4MAT and

experiential learning cycle approach to lesson organization be expanded over more than one class period. Exactly

how many class periods used is up to individual educators.

These lesson plans demonstrate the application of CCBI

and 4MAT to lesson or unit planning. The lessons can be

revised to fit a specific teaching situation or can be used

to inspire new lessons or extended unit plans.

Each lesson also includes a community issue or topic. Volunteers need to be sensitive to community issues and creative about how to get to the essence of community issues. Remember the

importance of gleaning community issues from the entire community through a participatory

approach. Depending on the Volunteer’s situation at site, some lessons may not be appropriate

for use immediately upon arrival at site. Volunteers are encouraged to take their time and use

lessons that incorporate community issues only when they feel those issues have been identified and discussed through interactions with all stakeholders in the community. All voices need

to be heard.