Contact: Annie Bertrand - abertrand@nyc.mercycorps.org
Terms of References (ToR) – Curriculum designer
Consultant (Four months)
DRAFT
Background
Over the past 25 years, Mercy Corps has developed strong expertise organically and through partnerships and mergers
with organizations specialized in areas directly aligned with its mission to help people build secure, productive and just
communities. As such, it possesses powerful curricula and training materials that are used to teach young people and
adults including:
1. Negotiation: The “Young Negotiator” and “Getting to Yes” was designed in collaboration with Harvard professors
and the Conflict Management Group (CMG). Young Negotiator was developed for the US market and Getting to
yes has been implemented in developing countries.
2. Global Citizenship: The Global Citizenship curriculum was designed by the NY office with graduates from the
Harvard graduate school of education and experts in development. Developed for US market
3. Psychosocial: The Comfort for Kids was designed by a group of apparently reputable experts in psychology and
sociology. Developed for US market and some components piloted in developing countries. Includes facilitator
and ToT guidebooks
4. Life Skills: The life skills curriculum is currently being tested in China
5. About 30 curricula and training material used in the field are available on Clearspace under “Curriculum and skills
training”
Although these curricula were developed by experts in their respective field and contain theory and fundamentals that
represent Mercy Corps’s comparative advantage, they have been designed in silos, lack consistency and most
importantly, are not effectively adapted for efficient use in the field. Therefore, Mercy Corps wants to integrate these
curricula into a curriculum toolkit that contains flexible and standardized modules which can be easily refined based on
local context and implemented across the world.
Scope of work
The consultant will:
1. Travel to the Middle-East and to a country where sports programming is in place to optimize relevancy of curricula
with field programs at the beginning of the contract
2. Adapt the four technical curricula for international use in developing countries.
3. Integrate the four modules into a Mercy Corps curriculum toolkit which will support modular integration in various
programs (mainly out or after school) including sports programming and the connectivity program between youth
in America and the Middle-East. The curriculum toolkit will cover 10-29 years old depending on lesson
4. Integrate civic engagement and market development activities such as a social business plan contest and a
youth-friendly market assessment tool, including templates and process. This will be developed in collaboration
with the Youth Development Advisor.
Deliverables – the curriculum toolkit
1. Curricula: Five subjects with 5-10 lessons each (5-10 modules) based on clearly defined learning objectives
discussed with collaborators. The theory will be clearly described for each learning objectives which are common
across program types. Examples and activities will be provided for one culture only: Middle East. Each lesson or
module will include certification requirements and stand on its own for individual implementation based on field
needs.
a. Global Citizenship and civic engagement (collaborator: Adriana Fernandez, Jana Potter and field team)
Example of learning objective: Students will develop project management skills through civic
engagement in their community
b. Negotiation and conflict management (collaborator: Arthur Martirosyan and Rebecca Wolfe)
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Example of learning objective: Students will develop an understanding of BATNA (Best
Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement)
c. Life skills and peace education (collaborator: Kate Janis and team)
d. Psychosocial support (collaborator: Griff Samples, Matt Streng, Diane Johnson)
e. Market development (collaborator Annie Bertrand)
2. Facilitator guidebook which includes:
Description of target group for each lesson or module (literacy level, age range, any minimum
skills/knowledge requirements)
Simple assessment template for evaluation of understanding of learning objectives by students by facilitator.
This may include observations, written or oral tests. Templates will include reporting sheet for aggregated
results.
Activities and examples for each lesson with clear highlights for cultural adaptation with simple guidance on
how to modify the example and activities based on local context. The activities will build on those
implemented in existing programs (Why Not connectivity program and sports programming in particular)
Template and process for certification of students (eg: minimum number of hours, active participation during
the program, contribution to the learning of others, etc.)
Any tools or templates for implementation of lessons
Tips for effective delivery
3. Training of Trainer (ToT) guidebook will include:
a. Facilitator guidelines
b. Curriculum implementation
c. Reporting mechanism (each facilitator will be asked to report student performance to Master Trainer who
will report overall performance to HQ)
Timeline
The consultant will start in May and complete the deliverables four months later (September). Each deliverable will be
reviewed by Mercy Corps staff for approval.
Period
Activity
Deliverable
May (2-3
Familiarization with Mercy Corps curriculum and two main youth
Structure of the curriculum toolkit
weeks)
programs (Why Not connectivity and sports programming)
(templates with section titles including
outlines of learning objectives)
June (2
Travel to the Middle-East to design the Global Citizenship
First draft of Global Citizenship
weeks)
curriculum with field staff
curriculum completed by end of June
July or
Travel to a country where sports programming is implemented to
First draft of Psychosocial, Life skills
August (2
design the other curriculum and refine the Global Citizenship as
and Negotiation curricula completed
weeks)
needed
by end of August
September Refinement of curricula and preparation of facilitator and TOT
All deliverables completed
guidebooks. Integration of market development curriculum
Qualification
Master degree in education
5 years of experience in developing countries
Experience in designing curriculum
Understanding of cutting-edge educational approach such as teaching for understanding, ongoing assessment,
use of multiple intelligences
Interest in traveling to the middle-east and Africa
Strong management and leadership skills to foster alignment among multiple stakeholders
Rate
$TBD/day for four months (+/- 80 days)
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