Parenting Ed Consultant At Right To Play

Right To Play

Terms of reference

Content development and training for “Play to Grow” Caregiver Education Resource Package

Type of Contract: Independent Consultancy

Language: English

Department: Global Program Development Unit

1. BACKGROUND

Right To Play is a global organisation that protects, educates and empowers children to rise above adversity using play. By harnessing play, one of the most powerful and fundamental forces in a child’s life, we helped 2.3 million children last year to stay in school and out of work, to prevent life-threatening diseases like HIV and malaria and to stay safe from exploitation and abuse. We are the only global development organization focused exclusively on using play to transform the lives of children and youth impacted by poverty, war, disease and inequality.

Established in 2000, Right To Play reaches children through experiential programming in 15 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and North America. These programs are supported by our headquarters in Toronto, Canada; London, UK and eight national offices across Europe (Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, UK) and North America (Canada, US).

Since as early as 2006, Right To Play has delivered play-based programming to improve access, quality and systems for early childhood care and education. Programs operate in both development and humanitarian settings, in formal pre-primary/kindergarten settings, community-based centers and homes across many of its operating countries. Activities have focused mainly on training of pre-primary teachers, school leadership, higher education tutors and government officials, as well as on providing technical assistance to education ministry partners for the integration of play-based learning into early learning policy, national curriculum frameworks, training plans and teacher subject guides.

Research has established that play is integral to healthy child development. Play is how children naturally learn, develop and have wellbeing. Through play, young children develop social emotional skills and early literacy and numeracy, that prepare them for healthy development and functioning in adulthood, and are the building blocks for success in school. Our programs are grounded in our holistic child development framework which includes four domains of child development: (i) physical well-being, (ii) cognitive functioning, (iii) social and emotional learning, and (iv) language, literacy and numeracy. Our approach to play-based learning is underpinned by the continuum of play, and holistic and developmentally appropriate, child-centered pedagogy.

Collaboration with families and caregiver communities is critical for supporting child development and learning. We aim to promote caregiver’s engagement in school, strengthen their understanding of the value of play in pre-primary education and at home, and support them to confidently use play at home strengthen relationships with their children, to promote early learning and social emotional development. This aim of this consultancy is to further this component of our work, as part of a pilot program.

2. OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THE CONSULTANCY

2.1. To develop an evidence-based, user-friendly resource package aimed at education and support for caregivers to foster social emotional skills and early literacy and numeracy in pre-primary school aged children through responsive parenting and play. The package includes:

· Parent Educator Resource (PE) – Inclusive of content to support a Parent Educator to Facilitate bi-weekly sessions with parents (and children) for approximately six months

· Home Visit Guide (HV) – For the Parent Educator to lead home visits with parents/caregivers in the program. Home visits will likely occur on a bi-weekly basis.

· Parent Support Group Guidance (PS) – Content to support a Parent Educator who will facilitate bi-weekly Parent Support Groups, to parents a supportive space for Xxx their PSS wellbeing and promote self-care

· Radio Content (RC) – Consultant to propose topics/framework/objectives for the content of approximately 12 radio scripts complementing the above, reinforcing the key messaging of parent educator themes. Script development and production will be undertaken by Country Office teams

2.2. To develop training content and lead a training of trainers on the resource pack in two Right To Play partner countries, Tanzania and Uganda, as part of a pilot.

2.3 To make general recommendations on contextualization and adaptation and refine package based on pilot results.

3. METHODOLOGY

3.1 The development of the resource package will be informed by Right To Play’s approach to instructional design and our play-based methodology, by best practices in parenting education and by needs at the country level as articulated by country teams/beneficiaries The final products should be fully referenced, with content clearly linked to evidence.

3.2 All material shall be produced in English and should be simple in expression (jargon free) for it to be later translated. The consultant will submit an electronic version of the “Play to Grow” resource package in Word format, by the agreed deadline to enable copy editing and graphic design work.

3.3 The consultant will support piloting of the resource pack with one week of travel to each pilot country to deliver the training to Right To Play country office staff, as COVID-19 safety and security allows.

3.4 Right To Play will be responsible for coordinating and supporting the exercise, in partnership with relevant Right To Play country offices. The consultant will keep the organisation up to date throughout the project delivery and agree on changes to the methodology where appropriate.

3.5 The consultant is requested to propose their own methodology and/or approach for how they will complete all the key outputs with Right To Play.

All material developed for this consultancy must be gender, age and ability sensitive, and child participatory through play-based methods.

4. ANTICIPATED ACTIVITIES

4.3 Develop a detailed inception report with a work plan, outlining the methodology for each deliverable. The work plan must include estimated timeframe for each deliverable. The methodology and timeframe will be shared and agreed upon with Right To Play before the commencement of work.

4.4 Participate in the initial briefings with Right To Play to ensure that the consultant is clear on the expectations of the project deliverables.

4.5 Orientation to Right To Play methodology and programmatic approach including a review of relevant training resources and documents.

4.6 Conduct a needs assessment via Country Office staff in both Uganda and Tanzania to ensure applicability and relevance of resource package content.

4.7 Timely submission of draft components to Right To Play for review and integrating discussion and input from the team through debrief before final completion.

4.8 Delivery of training in Tanzania and Uganda and refining of resource package based on pilot results.

5. DELIVERABLES

The consultant will submit the following deliverables as part of the consultancy:

5.1 Inception report detailing work plan and methodology.

5.2 Draft of “Play to Grow” resource package suitable for piloting (see details in above objectives), including:

· Parent Educator Resource (PE)

· Home Visit Guide (HV)

· Parent Support Group Guidance (PS)

· Radio Content (RC)

5.3 Training material (e.g frameworks, slides, sessions plans) for the training of trainers.

5.4 Lead one week of training in Uganda and one week of training in Tanzania with Right To Play country office staff

5.5 Final version of the “Play to Grow” resource package integrating pilot results.

6. TIME FRAME

The consultant is expected to start as soon as possible following the completion of recruitment. Deliverables 5.1 and 5.2 to be completed by 30^th April 2022, and 5.3, 5.4 and 5.5 by 30^th July 2022.

7. REPORTING LINE AND LOGISTICS

7.1 The consultant shall work under the supervision of the Right To Play Education Specialist.

7.2 Members of the Global Program Development team will have an advisory role in finalising the project resources.

7.3 The consultant(s) and the relevant Right to Play project team will meet as per agreed timings at various stages of the project.

8. SKILLS AND EXPERIENCES

Required experience of the consultant(s) are:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in a specialization related to early childhood development and studies or research on parenting education
• Background developing training materials, tool kits and guidance on parenting education
• Practical experience leading staff capacity-building efforts in international settings, east Africa preferred

Required competencies of the consultant are:

• Strong knowledge of play-based methodologies for children and adults and experience working with children and youths in development and humanitarian settings
• Excellent spoken and written communication skills in English.
• High level of inter-personal and cross-cultural skills.
• Excellent planning, organization and time management skills.

9. HOW TO APPLY

Interested consultants are requested to submit:

· A CV.

· Cover letter that clearly articulates why you are well positioned to undertake this scope of work, proposed methodology, work schedule and timeframe.

· Sample of work that is relevant to the consultancy, including training material, resources or tool kits completed within the last 3 years (to be treated as confidential and only used for the purposes of quality assurance).

· Proposed budget that includes the daily rate and the total number of anticipated days, as well as all taxes liable to be paid.

· Two references, including one from your last client/employer.

10. APPLICATION PROCEDURE

· Please submit your application electronically to adiaz-varela@righttoplay.com. Any questions can also be directed to this e-mail.

· The closing date applications is 28 January 2022 with an estimated start date of 15 February 2022.

· The shortlisted 3-4 candidates may be invited to submit modifications.

· We are committed to ensuring diversity and gender equality within our organization. All underrepresented qualified groups are highly recommended to apply.

11. CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION

12.1. All documents and data collected will be treated as confidential and used solely to facilitate analysis.

12.2. Where necessary, the respondents will not be quoted in the reports without their permission.

12.3 All those contracted by Right To Play must agree to sign and abide by the Child Protection Policy and Code of conduct as well as property rights policies.