Do Population Education Trainers offer workshops for anyone besides educators?
No. If you’re interested in making presentations to general audiences (student groups, civic organizations, and faith-based or community groups) about population issues, contact Population Connection’s Grassroots Outreach Program for more information.
I live outside of the United States or Canada. Can I be a Trainer in the Network?
We welcome Trainers who live outside of the United States. However, because our program is set up to support Trainers in the U.S. and Canada, there will be a few differences in the workshop experience:
- The Trainer will be responsible to find opportunities to present for educators in their community.
- No materials will be shipped but we’ll send as much as we can electronically (including lesson plan PDFs)
- Our materials are printed primarily in English (some in Spanish), so the Trainer may have to translate what he/she plans to use in the workshop.
- On a case by case basis, we can reimburse workshop related expenses – supplies for activities, worksheet copies, gas/mileage to and from the event. Our budget does not allow us to cover rental facility fees, food, event marketing, or other related costs.
I’m a classroom teacher looking for new resources to share with my students. Is the Trainer’s Network for me?
The Network is for educators who want to train other teachers and future teachers. If you’re looking for new materials to use with your K-12 students, browse our Curriculum and Resources or use this map to find a conference workshop near you.
How effective are Population Education workshops?
Our annual evaluations say it all – 4 out of 5 respondents rate Population Education workshops superior to other professional development they’ve attended. Most of the participants subsequently use the activities in their K-12 classrooms and report that they effectively engaged their students and even increased their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. In short, our workshops make a difference for both teachers and their students.
Are there opportunities to get paid for being a Trainer?
Trainers serve on a strictly voluntary basis. While we can cover workshop-related expenses, there are no opportunities to get paid for being a Trainer.
How do you communicate with Trainers?
Our staff works hard to stay in touch with Trainers. Leading up to and following a workshop, we are in steady email/phone contact to be sure that everything runs smoothly and that our trainers have all the materials they need. Every other month Trainers also receive The Gazette, our electronic Trainer newsletter that contains updates on the program (new curriculum, projects, etc.) and links to population issues in the news. The Gazette is a great way to stay up to date on the program and population issues.
Do you provide resources and reference materials for Trainers?
Trainers have access to Population Education materials and curricula, including our award-winning “dot” video World Population. Each trainer will also receive a Population Education Trainer’s Handbook. The handbook contains all the information you will need to start leading workshops – a brief history of our program, copies of the most common lesson plans, scripts and suggested agendas, and general advice for facilitating workshops. It also contains detailed information on how to set up and run a workshop. The Handbook is a great reference guide for both new and seasoned trainers.
