Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and Psychosocial Social Support (PSS) Training At Adventist Development and Relief Agency International

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is a global humanitarian organization with a mission to work with people in poverty and distress to create just and positive change. ADRA Norway belongs to the worldwide network, comprised of more than 130 supporting and implementing country offices. ADRA Norway is seeking to recruit a Consultant to conduct a training on social and emotional learning and psychosocial social support training for teachers in Somalia under TOFI and SEAQE2 Programmes

Background Information

There is a growing consensus that to be successful, students not only need to master core academic subjects but also need to demonstrate competency in a wide variety of cognitive, affective, and behavioural domains. Schools will be most successful in their educational mission when they integrate efforts to promote children’s academic, social, and emotional learning. Although social and emotional learning (SEL) plays important roles in influencing these non-academic outcomes, SEL also has a critical role in improving children’s academic performance and lifelong learning. Intrinsically, schools are social places and learning is a social process. Students do not learn alone but rather in collaboration with their teachers, in the company of their peers, and with the support of their families. Emotions can facilitate or hamper their learning and their ultimate success in school.

On the other hand, emergency situations create circumstances in which threat and loss are common. However, people and communities often have capacities to cope with the distress caused by emergencies. What is always needed is assistance to reinforce such existing capacities as protective factors and promote resilience. The COVID-19 pandemic as a global health crisis has resulted in great disruption to education worldwide. In Somalia, it has affected learning and forced the closure of learning institutions and to respond to the disruptions to learning, a harmonized and coordinated approach to children’s wellbeing and learning is needed. This therefore means that SEL and psychosocial support (PSS) interventions are needed to strengthen the protective factors, minimize risks and promote the holistic well-being of learners.

Purpose and Objective of the Consultancy

Schools are hubs of social activity and human interaction and therefore, schooling provides essential learning. When schooling is disrupted, learners do not only miss out of on social contact that is essential to learning but are also deprived opportunities for growth and development. Disruption of learning carry high social and economic costs and affect everyone across the communities. The impact is however severe for disadvantaged boys and girls and their families. The disadvantages are disproportionate for under-privileged learners who tend to have fewer educational opportunities beyond school. When schools close, parents are often asked to facilitate the learning of children at home and can struggle to perform this task because both the children and parents/guardians are unprepared for distance and home schooling This is especially true for parents with limited education and resources. There is also a bigger challenge to ensure that children and youth return and stay in school when schools reopen after protracted closures.

The objectives of the sought psychosocial support training are:

i. Promote students’ self-awareness, self- management, social-awareness, relationship and responsible decision-making skills

ii. To improve students’ attitudes and beliefs about self, others, school, and community.

iii. To promote a social environment that protects all children from exposure to situations that have harmful effects on their psychosocial well-being;

iv. To ensure the protection, recovery and reintegration of children who have been exposed to situations harmful to their psychosocial development during emergencies that also occasion schools’ closure.

In the medium-term, the social and emotional skills should benefit learners in terms of:

• More positive attitudes toward oneself, others, and tasks including enhanced self-efficacy, confidence, persistence, empathy, connection and commitment to school, and a sense of purpose;
• More positive social behaviours and relationships with peers and adults;
• Reduced conduct problems and risk-taking behaviours;
• Decreased emotional distress;
• Improved test scores, grades, and school attendance;

Scope of Work and Timeline of Activities

The consultancy is expected commence on 2^nd August 2021. A detailed workplan and timelines will be proposed by the consultant, to be discussed prior to the commencement of the assignment. The consultant will be required to submit a technical proposal indicating the number of days and rate for the consultancy work with a realistic action plan. As a guideline, the breakdown should consist of inception phase, pre-training workshop preparation (training needs assessment, training manual), training workshop and reporting phase (training workshop report and final training manual).

Methodology

Participation will be critical to the methodology chosen. The consultant is expected to propose least cost but the most effective approach to undertake assessments and deliver trainings. The viability of the proposed approaches and methodologies will be evaluated by the project team prior to commencement of the activities.

Expected Deliverables

All deliverables will be completed with guidance, input and feedback from the Project Manager or designate. The following outputs are expected:

i. Detailed work plan for undertaking the assessment and delivery of the trainings.

ii. Debrief session with ADRA programme team/staff on the findings.

iii. Draft and Final Training Report including the training manual(s).

Further Information:

• Logistics: The consultant’s travel from base to the field and back after the end of the contract will be covered by ADRA.
• Professional fee: The consultant will propose the professional fee as part of their financial proposal. (Daily rate X number of days = Total professional fee).
• Tax and insurance: The consultants shall be responsible for their income tax and/or insurance during the assignment.
• Code of conduct: The consultant is bound by the principles and conditions of ADRA’s Code of Conduct.

A contract will be signed by the consultant upon commencement of the assignment which will detail additional terms and conditions of service, aspects on inputs and deliverables.

Qualifications of the Consultant

i. Professional or graduate studies in either Clinical Psychology, Education or Social Sciences

ii. Good technical knowledge on child protection and child rights issues in line with INEE standards.

iii. At least 3 years of experience in psychological and psychotherapeutic interventions, specifically working on SEL or MHPSS system development.

iv. At least 3 years of previous experience in providing services to displaced populations, migrants, refugees, or conflict affected populations.

v. Demonstrated experience in the development of training curricula and solid understanding of adult learning principles.

vi. Fluency in Somali language is a mandatory requirement for this assignment.