The Training of Trainers Manual is a curriculum tool to prepare master-level peer education trainers. The manual uses participatory techniques based on a variety of theoretical frameworks to ensure that future trainers are skilled and confident in their abilities to train peer educators and serve as informed resources for their peers. The manual resulted from a collaboration between the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and FHI 360. It was produced for the Youth Peer Education Network (Y-PEER), a project coordinated by UNFPA.
The Y-PEER Programme has worked since 2001 with country partners to build the capacity of national non-governmental organizations and governments to implement, supervise, monitor, and evaluate peer education programmes to prevent HIV/AIDS and improve reproductive health. The Y-PEER initiative has been spearheaded by UNFPA in partnership with FHI/YouthNet, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and others. Y-PEER, launched in 27 countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, is now spreading to other regions of the world, including the Arab states, Africa, and Latin America.
Peer education is important for youth reproductive health and HIV prevention programmes for many reasons, including:
- Peers are traditional providers of information to their peers. Young people tend to talk with their peers about most subjects, including sensitive issues such as reproductive health and HIV/AIDS.
- Peer education programmes are community-based. Peer education programmes tend to be quite flexible, rooted in the realities of individual communities, and they can be used in a variety of settings and in combination with other activities and programmes.
- Peer education programmes can provide strong benefits to peer educators Peer education programmes allow for direct participation of young people in programmes designed to affect them, thereby promoting positive life skills such as leadership and communication and creating opportunities for mentoring and future job contacts.
- Peer education programmes can be economical. Although the costs of peer programmes are often underestimated, these activities can be implemented economically, especially as part of a larger system with management, supervisory, and monitoring systems already in place.
Sections
The manual is composed of four main sections:
- Section 1. From Theory to Practice in Peer Education reviews the definition of peer education and its rationale and value in the context of different behaviour change theories and models.
- Section 2. Guidelines for Training of Trainers: A Curriculum provides the outline of a suggested six-day training of trainers (TOT) workshop. For each of the training topics, the curriculum provides appropriate training exercises and notes. The exercises are described in detail so that they can be reproduced easily in future trainings.
- Section 3. A Sample Peer Education Session on HIV/AIDS presents an example of a peer education activity for use in the field. It describes a three- to four-hour
- HIV/AIDS education session that can be presented to a group of adolescents.
- Section 4. Participant Handouts includes 20 handouts that are used in the six-day training.
This manual can be used by anyone seeking to provide higher level training to experienced peer educators on issues related to the design, implementation, and evaluation of peer education programmes. It is important to note that while this manual was created for the Y-PEER Initiative, it can easily be used and adapted by any experienced peer educators. Also, although the scope of Y-PEER’s work is in sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS prevention, the methodology described in detail in this publication can be adapted to fit any health-related topic where education, awareness, or change of behaviour is desired, such as programmes on violence, dietary habits, and so on. Although the primary audience of Y-PEER is young people (ages 10 to 24), the methodology of peer education can be used with any age group in almost any cultural setting.
Within the Y-PEER Initiative, the manual is intended to be used by experienced trainers of peer educators, sometimes called ‘master’ or advanced trainers. In general, these are current or former peer education trainers who have demonstrated commitment and excellence in their work. They have conducted trainings and would benefit from more detailed knowledge about peer education, training skills, and management of peer educators. Some portions of this manual may also be used by peer educators themselves.
Y-PEER uses a pyramid training model, which empowers youth to pass on knowledge, skills, and practical expertise as new young people join a peer education programme. This model also provides a system for continuous training and recognizes commitment and excellence of individuals. Training of peer educators provides the foundation of the initiative. Trainings take place locally and often begin by introducing new information and skills necessary to conduct outreach to peers in their community. Although it may start with a workshop, this training is not a one-time event. The ultimate purpose of ongoing training and supervision is to improve the ability of peer educators to provide accurate information and confidently influence their peers in a positive way.