Consultant – Search for Common Ground عودة إلى الفرص

Search for Common Ground (Search) is seeking a consultant to lead the development of a package of M&E Tools to be used to monitor and evaluate the impact of a peace education curriculum within Tunisian primary schools. Following this 24-month program, we are primarily interested in Tunisian youth’s resilience to violence, activity in their communities, and resistance to risk factors for isolation and radicalization. We want to analyze the tools’ impact across gender, age cohort, and regional demographics.  Candidates’ teams should have experience in research and programs related to child psychology, preventing violent extremism, peace education, and interactive pedagogy.

1. Context

Search for Common Ground

Search is an international conflict transformation NGO that aims to transform the way individuals, groups, governments and companies deal with conflict, away from adversarial approaches and towards collaborative solutions. Headquartered in Washington DC, USA, and Brussels, Belgium, with 52 field offices in 29 countries, Search designs and implements multifaceted, culturally appropriate and conflict-sensitive programs using a diverse range of tools, including media and training, to promote dialogue, increase knowledge and determine a positive shift in behaviors.

The Project 

Search has launched an 18-month project called “National Peace Education Curriculum Initiative in Tunisia”  with the goal of increasing resilience and positive normative values of Tunisian children and youth in their local, national and global environment. 

The overall goal is supported by two specific objectives: 

1) Enable key stakeholders in the Ministry of Education (MoE) to develop a new Tunisian national peace education curriculum and pilot testing of sample curriculum materials; 

2) Increase student engagement with civil society and local municipalities in target delegations.

This  project’s theory of change is as follows :

IF Tunisian MoE experts have increased capacities and skills to develop an evidence-based curriculum responsive to communities’ needs, and tested through an inclusive and participatory process, THEN the inclusion of a National Peace Education curriculum into the national educational reform system is guaranteed.

The National Peace Education Curriculum Initiative builds on Search’s two-year implementation of a pilot peace education program. The pilot aimed at fostering the resilience of Tunisian children and youth vis-à-vis violent and extremist narratives. This project seeks to develop a national peace education curriculum with the support of national and international experts in the fields of curriculum development, child psychology, M&E, pedagogy, etc. The consultant(s) will come together to conduct the needed research for the development of the methodologies and the corresponding M&E tools to properly measure impact. They will also accompany the MoE and Search in implementing a pilot phase during which the designed curriculum and M&E materials will be tested. The final curriculum version will ultimately be implemented as an MoE program in all Tunisian primary schools.    

2. Goal and Objectives of Consultancy

In the first stage of the project, Search will develop an Arabic-language peace education curriculum that will guide primary school teachers and administrators across different Tunisian governorates in the delivery of weekly extra-curricular peace education classes to students. 

Search-Tunisia seeks to procure the services of one or a group of independent consultant(s) who will: 

i- Lead the development of a package of M&E Tools to be used to monitor and evaluate the impact of the developed  peace education curriculum.

ii- Support the pedagogical committee during the design of the curriculum by providing guidance on child psychological aspects and development of children-centered materials.

The M&E Package will be a multiplatform set to be used in the monitoring and evaluation of the impact of the peace education curriculum that will be rolled out in schools. Employing interactive discussion, innovative tools respecting child psychology norms in order to make children  more resilient to extremist narratives, the curriculum aims to promote democracy, human rights, the rule of law, civic values, accepting differences and empathy while engaging both children and their parents/teachers. 

The Consultant(s) will work  in close collaboration with the Peace Education Curriculum Development Expert, with support and input from Project Team, DM&E Team, Institutional Learning Team and the Regional Gender Advisor as well as the Technical Committee from the Ministry of Education.

Search is looking for a highly motivated psychologist who will be responsible for the following tasks:

1. M&E tools for the peace education curriculum

• Identification of the relevant monitoring and evaluation strategy and approach that would be used throughout the project.
• Development of the M&E package (tools, templates, etc.) to measure the internalisation and understanding of values embedded in  the newly designed “Peace Education curriculum” on pupils in primary schools (aged from 8-12)..
• All the M&E tools should be adapted to the Tunisian context and the newly developed curriculum. They must meet the needs of the targeted beneficiaries.
• All the tools and M&E activities will be designed in accordance with the Do No Harm approach, gender mainstreaming, and human rights.
• A testing phase should be conducted following the development of the tools to measure their relevance and effectiveness.
• Development of a coherent strategy for data analysis and guidelines to use the M&E instruments.

1. Psychological support and development of children-centered materials

• Participate in workshops with the pedagogical committee during the development of the curriculum.
• Provide guidance to the pedagogical committee on how to incorporate psychological aspects into their work.
• Revise the content of the developed curriculum and ensure that this content responds to the norms and standards of child psychology. 
• Develop children-centered materials that respect child psychology standards.

3. Geographic Locations

The Consultant will conduct work in 10 Tunisian governorates that will be selected by the Ministry of Education.  

4. Methodology and Sequencing

The Consultant will develop a set of M&E tools to assess the impact of a peace education curriculum which will be created by the pedagogical committee in the first phase of the project. The following description shows the consultant’s tasks at different stages in the project.

Stage 1-Curriculum design

While Search develops the curriculum, the hired M&E/Psychology consultant(s), with the support of Search’s technical experts and the MoE technical committee, will collaborate on the development of an M&E package that will accompany the sample materials to measure learning and impact. The consultant (s) will also ensure that the developed curriculum is aligned with child psychology standards and norms.

This will include the following activities:

1. Assist as observer in the consultation  phase. The consultation  will be based on conducting  focus group discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with key stakeholders who participated in the pilot project to provide lessons learned about ways and approaches to be adopted during the curriculum development stage. Observation of these FGDs and KIIs will inform the consultant on the details of curriculum development and  identify the appropriate and relevant M&E approach to respond to the needs of the target beneficiaries. (October 2020).
2. Participate in the three validation workshops that will take place at the end of each phase: (1) the methodology phase, (2) the curriculum materials design phase and (3) the testing Phase results validation workshop. These workshops will be the opportunities for the Consultant to present the M&E deliverables for discussion and adaptation .
3. Ensure the integration of a children-centered pedagogy that foresees interactive activities and supports a safe and learner-friendly educational environment. (Throughout curriculum development process)
4. Provide guidance to the pedagogical committee and develop children-centered materials. Potential associated resource materials (lesson handouts, library of associated media resources, etc.) must be developed with respect to child psychology standards . (Throughout development of M&E package process)
5. Finalize a draft of the M&E package and all related materials based on feedback received to be tested, submitting to the Search team one electronic copy (Word format) and one hard copy. (December 2020).

Stage 2-Testing phase: 

A two-day pilot training will be held to train the teachers and directors of the ten selected schools for pilot testing on how to use the developed curriculum and M&E package. 

The hired consultant(s) will be responsible for the following activities:

1. Train the teachers and school directors on how to use the M&E tools:

1.1- Develop agenda and module content for a one day training on the use of the M&E package and related materials (December 2020-January 2021).

1.2- Deliver one-day training on the approaches and techniques to use the M&E tools. 

Stage 3- Final testing validation workshop 

A final workshop will be held to discuss the relevance of the curriculum and M&E tools and identify best practices and lessons learned to be incorporated in the final version of the curriculum and M&E package. 

The consultant will be responsible for the following activities: 

1. Integrate feedback and comments gathered during the validation workshop to ensure that the M&E tools respond to the needs of the relevant stakeholders.
2. Provide a final copy of the M&E package to be used officially. 

Deliverables

The following deliverables and payment structure are expected from this consultancy:

Logistical Support

The consultant(s) will be responsible for organizing their own logistics (vehicles, fuel, and drivers), and this must be budgeted into the study. Search can provide support in arranging logistics as agreed upon based on the consultant’s proposal. At least one Search staff member may be available to support data collection and logistics.

The consultant will report directly to the Search Senior Project Manager and work closely with the MoE-Search Technical Committee, the Search-Tunisia DM&E team, and the Search Regional Gender  Advisor. S/he will be also required to liaise closely with Search’s Children’s & Youth department.

In addition, Search and partners will share the following elements with the external consultant(s): background materials including the project proposal and logframe, M&E plan, etc.

5. Ethical Considerations

SFCG places a high priority on ensuring that all activities are conducted in an ethical manner. Participation in all the related activities to this assignment is always voluntary, does not result in monetary gain and, where appropriate, the identity of participants must be protected (for example, if information is provided in confidence, the consultant will not divulge this information in connection with the names and will limit the access of audience). If the consultant is going to conduct  interviews, consent must be collected and participants must understand what the information provided will be used for and  who will have access to it. All the approaches that will be used in this assignment should adhere to the  Do No Harm principles and COVID-19 precautionary measures (respecting social distancing, using face masks, having hand sanitizers, etc.).

6. Timeline

The estimated number of working days will be around 70 days for all the contract period starting from October 30th, 2020 until June 30th, 2020

7. Budget

A detailed budget should be provided, including an estimate of work days needed per consultant team members, travel and logistical costs..

Selection Criteria

Consultant proposals will be selected for:

1. Relevance of proposed methodology
2. Quality of proposed methods and quality control measures.
3. Qualifications of the candidate(s).
4. Proposed budget in relation to proposed methodology, deliverables and team.
5. Timeline for proposed activities.