Location: Toronto, Ontario
The Paradigm Shift Project (PSP) is an innovative non-profit changing the way we see and support the developing majority world though documentary media. PSP is a registered Canadian charity connecting people around the world to grassroots projects in underprivileged countries, while also providing these organizations with tools that enable them to reach out for support. We focus our documentary work on contemporary and pressing issues in sustainable development. Through our films, we show that even with the world’s toughest issues, there is indeed hope. Grassroots organizations all around the world are finding and implementing solutions to the world’s toughest problems, and it’s easy for each of us to help and get involved — but only if we know about them! PSP is a facilitator, building important relationships to bridge socioeconomic and geopolitical divisions in our world. PSP is also an educator, informing us on the issues, and more importantly, how we can be part of the solutions.
Position Type: Part-Time Summer Internship, Volunteer
Job Region: The Greater Toronto Area
Application Deadline: Wednesday, May 11th 2011 at 5PM.
Position Description:
We are seeking two Youth Engagement Facilitators to coordinate and deliver social justice and global issues-based workshops to students at both elementary and secondary school levels within the GTA. The facilitators will work closely with PSP’s Education Outreach Coordinator to develop and adapt our Educator’s Toolkits in order to deliver participatory workshops in classrooms. Please see background section below for more details on PSP’s Global Education Program.
Responsibilities include:
• Work closely as a team to develop and deliver workshops on food security & urban agriculture, children’s rights, as well as rainforest conservation & land rights
• Facilitate group debriefs and discussions with students to reinforce learning experience
• Recruit educators, schools, libraries ,and institutions to use the Paradigm Shift Project’s films and Educator’s Toolkit
• Communicate with teachers and educators to book and deliver workshops, and assist in registering program applicants
• Compile a database of educators within the GTA
• Collaborate with the Education Outreach Coordinator, coordinating workshop scheduling, debriefing on workshop delivery, and providing feedback
• Act as a spokesperson for PSP’s Global Education Program in the community, within schools, and with the broader public
Qualifications and Skills:
• Possess or be working towards a post-secondary degree (college or university)
• Extensive experience and comfort working with youth doing experiential education programming and community development
• Background in social and environmental justice
• Experience working with diverse communities
• Excellent organizational, time management and strategic problem solving skills
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Be able to work independently with minimal supervision as well as effectively in a team/group setting
• Experience keeping detailed records
• Ability to speak multiple languages is an asset
• Holding a valid Ontario Drivers License is an asset
• Police check clearance necessary (to be able to work with students)
Submission guidelines:
• Deadline: Wednesday, May 11th 2011 at 5PM
• Submit a cover letter (no more than 1 page) and résumé as one .pdf document
• Application filename should read: firstname lastname — Facilitator.pdf
• Submit electronically only by the deadline to Natasha Nancekivell, Education Outreach Coordinator: nnancekivell@theparadigmshiftproject.org
We thank all candidates for their interest, however, only those selected for interviews will be contacted.
Duration: Mid-May until end of August.
Backgrounder on The Paradigm Shift Project’s Global Education Program:
PSP’s education programs help students connect with social justice and environmental issues happening around the world. Through hands-on activities — with direct curriculum connections — students engage with global issues by learning about grassroots projects directly from local change agents, actively evaluating and making their own connections to global contexts, and taking action.
Case-study oriented programs centre around the social and environmental themes of our documentaries, including:
• Rainforest conservation & land rights — agroforestry & pal oil plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia
• Urban agriculture & food security — women’s community gardens in Lima, Peru
• Children’s rights — street, stateless & refugee children in Malaysia
Through these programs, students discover connections to their own lives, and how they can become global change agents!
PSP’s education programs foster global awareness and proactive thinking among students. Our activities inspire critical discussions about social responsibility by engaging youth in learning about the impact of community, the power of creativity, and the possibility of social change.
