by Daniel Hunter and George Lakey, Training for Change 2004

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Hundreds of training activities in detail, over 60 handouts with the content of how to defend human rights against violence, an integrated 23-day curriculum, many tips for trainers, and mini-essays on pedagogical theory -- all of this is included in the 634-page book newly available from Training for Change (TfC).

Field-tested in Southeast Asia and extensively revised, the curriculum draws from the experience of dozens of non-governmental organizations which have confronted terror and repression in the field while trying to do their work. Some of these groups go into the field with the mission of nonviolently opening space for democracy, groups like Peace Brigades International, Guatamalan Accompaniment Project, Christian Peace Teams. Other groups focus on humanitarian missions, like Doctors Beyond Borders or the International Committee for the Red Cross, and yet their workers find themselves in harm's way in the turbulent world of civil conflict. In addition, the authors consulted with military peacekeepers and academic specialists in conflict resolution.

Over a year's research, plus previous Training for Change experience in training volunteers to go into hazardous conditions, went into this book.

The field of Third Party Nonviolent Intervention is so new that the authors found themselves needing to do more work in defining four of the techniques which civilian peacekeepers use: protective accompaniment, monitoring/observing, presence, and interposition. The authors' conceptual work is explained in the book along with hand-outs and activities that clarify the concepts for the training participants. In fact, each of these four techniques has its own module, which means that an organization that practices only one or two of the techniques needs to use only the relevant modules in their trainings.

Trainers who do not specialize in third party nonviolent intervention will nevertheless find value in the book: tested ideas and exercises for cross-cultural training, how to build safety in a group, tips for evaluation of training, a variety of new activities that might be adapted, and the design concept of "threads" which weave a training into an organic whole.

Hunter and Lakey realize that trainers and organizations will selectively adopt and adapt different parts of the curriculum, so they include a chapter "How to steal from the manual." The hundreds of activities and their placement are contextualized throughout the curriculum, with transparency about pedagogical assumptions, so the trainer wanting to borrow from the curriculum can do it thoughtfully and not undermine their work by inappropriate timing or sequencing.

The curriculum includes activities that will be familiar to an experienced trainer, such as roleplays and small group discussions, but those are often given a new twist or have fresh content. Many other tools were invented specifically for this field and curriculum; even these new ones have been field-tested before inclusion in the book.

All the tools are within the approach often called "popular education," or "experiential education" -- highly participative, dynamic, and structured to elicit the knowledge and wisdom of the participants rather than to impose the expertise of the trainer. The knowledge previously generated in this field is shared with participants through a careful weaving together of information following a personal and group experience.

The dynamics of group development are explicitly used to support the learning in the curriculum. There are structured ways to assist individuals to learn to handle stress (including exploring practices from various spiritual traditions) and increase their stamina.

The authors invented three new simulations and give a full description of how to use each simulation to maximize the integration of learning. One reason integration is so important is that much of the time in training is spent enhancing various peacekeeping skills. (The choice of skills resulted from research in which a variety of organizations were asked for the core proficiencies that they look for in placing workers in hazardous field conditions.) Day after training day the participant is developing her or his security skills, their team skills, their conflict skills, and so on, and the periodic simulation gives them a chance to put these skills together and test their effectiveness in an uncertain and stressful situation.

The authors chose a multicultural approach to creating the curriculum. A criterion for inclusion in the curriculum was that an activity or exercise had worked in a variety of cultures. The educational approach is rooted in Brazilian educator Paolo Freire's liberation pedagogy, tested and developed by Training for Change in dozens of cultures. The advisory panel for the curriculum was the international training committee of Nonviolent Peaceforce, a new nongovernmental organization which collaborated closely with Training for Change in the development of the curriculum. Even the design of the curriculum itself balances the linearity often preferred in the Global North with the cyclical and spontaneous values often preferred in the Global South.

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HARDCOPY:

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	ON CD VERSION: (with complete curriculum and manual suitable for Mac and PC)
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	ON THE WEB: Part of the book is available on the website of Training for Change (see the top).