What is the Population Education Trainers’ Network?
Members of our volunteer Trainers’ Network lead Population Education workshops for K-12 teachers, pre-service teachers, and nonformal educators in their communities and reach thousands of educators every year around the U.S. and abroad. Our trainers make an invaluable contribution to our program, leading two-thirds of our annual workshops!
In a workshop, trainers demonstrate a series of hands-on Population Education activities that are tailored to the subject area and grade level (K-12) of their audience. The demonstrated activities encourage participants to make connections between our human population and the related environmental and social issues, while also serving as a model for hands-on, cross-curricular, and highly effective teaching strategies.
Population Education Trainers lead workshops for:
- Their own university teacher prep and education classes
- Pre-service education classes in their community
- Teacher conferences in their area
- In-service programs in local school districts
- Nonformal education groups (zoos, nature centers, science centers, museums)
For more information on Population Education workshops, click here.
Who Is In the Trainers’ Network?
All Population Education trainers are involved in relevant fields of education, either as current or former K-12 teachers, university education faculty, administrators, or nonformal educators. Our Network consists of over 700 experienced educators from the U.S., Canada, and several countries abroad. Many of our trainers are highly respected among their peers as being experts in their field.
In 2023, 55 Population Education trainers were members of our Leader’s Circle for presenting multiple workshops within the year.
What’s Involved?
The level of involvement is very flexible. There is no “minimum requirement” for the number of workshops a Trainer must facilitate and most of our Trainers lead between one and five workshops a year.
As a trainer, you may be asked to present workshops in your area when we receive requests. For a workshop we ask you to lead, we will work very closely with you to coordinate all of the details (time, location, suggested agendas, parking permits if needed, etc.) and will mail you presentation materials well in advance. Included in your materials will be facilitator scripts, lesson plans, select props, hand-outs for participants, and more. We really try to make it easy!
Many Trainers also arrange workshops on their own. This is often the case for university faculty who lead Population Education workshops for their own pre-service teachers. Trainers also set up workshops through their local contacts or professional organizations. We provide all the needed materials for these workshops as well, and just ask that you let us know your plans well in advance.
Upon joining the Network, we will mail you a Population Education Trainer’s Handbook that includes all the information you need to start leading workshops. It can also be helpful to refer back to the Handbook for an occasional refresher. Additional preparation is provided through annual “train the trainer” Leadership Institutes and webinars.
Responsibilities of a Trainer
Before the workshop, trainers are responsible for organizing the workshop materials sent by our office, familiarizing themselves with the lessons they will be presenting, and preparing any additional materials needed for their lessons.
During the workshop, trainers provide an overview of the curriculum and engage participants in hands-on activities, modeling how the participants will lead the activities in their own classrooms. Participants love to be involved in the learning process and often comment that the best part of Population Education workshops is being able to do the activities, rather than just hear about them. The high level of interaction makes workshops easy and enjoyable to facilitate!
After the workshop, we ask trainers to return the provided follow-up materials to our office for our record keeping. And that’s it – it’s that simple!
