Review 1 The Rwandan Youth Work Readiness Curriculum is a well-designed, attractive, user-friendly workforce readiness curriculum for out-of-school youth and adults. Although made for Rwanda, it would not be difficult to adapt it for other sub-Saharan African countries, and perhaps countries in other parts of the world. One of its strengths is that it does not require a high level of literacy and numeracy. It is clearly and simply written, includes lots of very helpful tools for teachers, and employs activities that are engaging but easily implemented with relatively little teacher training. The curriculum is basic and does not attempt to deal with career planning, the more sophisticated and difficult parts of the entrepreneurship process such as micro-loans, or with hard training skills. It provides opportunities, however, to reinforce basic skills in reading and writing as well as to learn new so-called soft skills needed for work.

Review 1

The Entrepreneurship: Owning Your Future textbook covers a wide array of topics related to entrepreneurship, from the big picture (what is entrepreneurship?) to the very detailed (tax implications and government regulations). The curriculum is comprehensive, covering essential knowledge that a young person interested in starting a business will need to know. Throughout the course, learners are asked to develop their own personal business plan. They can fill in the information either using a student workbook (paper) or by using the BizTech software (electronic). The textbook includes prompts for the learners when and what they should fill in based on where they are in the textbook.Another useful feature of the curriculum is a case study of a young woman that follows her challenges and successes starting, growing, and eventually leaving a catering business she started in high school. The case studies help tie together the chapters and provide learners of real examples of how a young person applies the topics included in the text to her professional life. The curriculum was updated in 2010 and the material is up-to-date and it makes use of recent examples. The format will be familiar to the learners and teachers, as the curriculum is a traditional textbook used in the U.S.A weakness of the curriculum is that it covers such a wide range of topics that it might be overwhelming to the learner. While NFTE uses textboxes, graphics, reading checkpoints, and mini-assessments throughout, it is still quite text heavy. To make the most of the curricular material, the learners need to have strong reading skills and relatively strong math skills in order to fully grasp it. If the learners are at-risk or coming from low income communities and do not have a strong academic background, they may find the material to be too complex. Also, the fact that the curriculum is in a textbook may be a deterrent to learners who have not been successful in a traditional, school environment and may be turned off thinking this is just another class.These challenges can be overcome based on the strength of the facilitator. It is imperative that the lesson plans used in conjunction with the text help engage learners, especially those with different learning needs and learning styles. The teacher guide was not submitted for this review, but it would likely provide guidance on how to address these issues.The version of the textbook reviewed is written for a U.S. audience. All of the examples are based in the U.S. and some of the topics, such as taxes and government regulations are particular to the U.S. It would need significant adaptation to be used with different audiences, especially for developing countries where the examples and activities may not be relevant to their specific contexts.

Review 1                  

The strengths of the Microenterprise Training Guide are that it is written for a generalist who may be new to micro-enterprise development and that the curriculum can be used by an individual at a distance as well as by groups of trainees. It is participatory and engaging with lots of hands-on assignments. It draws on and references many good activities and resources developed by others. In addition, the curriculum has content that might be used by microenterprise trainers in other contexts, but these modules or activities would need to be carefully re-purposed, not just lightly adapted. One weakness is that there is not much content in the module on nonfinancial business development services, an area where self-employed people and entrepreneurs often need very specific help. For example, someone using this guide would not learn how to help someone do a market analysis, set a price point for a product.This guide is not intended as training materials for entrepreneurs or for others engaged in small business or self employment; rather, it is a training manual for Peace Corps Volunteers who will be helping them. While this is a good introduction, and there are many useful materials for Peace Corps Volunteers who offer business services in their communities, someone who had no other training might not find this sufficient. With a fair amount of additional work, this could be adapted for orientation/initial training for others who provide these business services.

Review 1

The strengths of the Peace Corps Life Skills Manual include its availability in multiple languages including Spanish, French and Swahili as well as English. In addition, every lesson offers specific, behaviorally-stated learning objectives although these are not always directly measured in the evaluation section of the lesson. The manual is designed to build on facilitators’ existing knowledge and skills, for example through brainstorming; role plays; scenarios; paired, small group and large group discussion; low-stakes initial assessments of knowledge; games and simulations; and reflection. The format is also clear and useful. The photographs are very attractive, the writing is clear and straightforward. And there are lots of materials included for activities.Weaknesses of the curriculum are that although originally developed in Africa, this manual has been re–edited for global distribution, but without updates since 2001 so there may be a need for review of content, especially in health-related topics such as HIV/AIDS. There is also a heavy reliance in a majority of the topics on health and sexuality decision making. These are, of course, important life skills areas, but this is not a comprehensive life skills curriculum, does not for example, include money management, work readiness, family living and parenting skills, knowledge of good environmental practices, worker rights and responsibilities and other important life skills topics.This Manual would be especially useful for an intensive Training of Trainers whose focus was on enabling youth behavior change in the areas of STDs and decisions around sexuality and relationships.

Review 1

The Market Opportunities course would seem to be appropriate for motivated youth who have some experience with microenterprises and/or local livelihoods, want to strengthen their skills and understanding of business processes, and develop skills in market assessments and value chain analysis. The materials and activities are interesting, useful, and on target. The methodology supports (indeed, is dependent on) the active participation of youth trainees and provides opportunities for direct application of new skills and knowledge. 

The Facilitator's Guide provides background information on the concepts and processes associated with market assessments and value chain analyses, but gives little guidance for inexperienced facilitators and group leaders.  While not stated, it is assumed that facilitators undergo orientation and training, as there is minimal background on facilitating self-directed, guided learning groups. In the hands of a traditional teacher or inexperienced practitioner, the materials could be turned into facilitator-centered instruction.

Facilitation tips, guidance on how to set up and manage the course, suggestions for follow-up and next steps for participants may be provided by the local sponsoring organization or during a training of facilitators session.

The course materials are up to date, accessible and easily followed. Concepts are explained and unfamiliar words defined, and the writing is fairly simple and straightforward. For participants whose literacy and numeracy skills may not be strong, facilitators are given some guidance on ways to encourage readers to help non-readers, or helping non-writers remember interview questions and answers, etc. For beginning or inexperienced readers, the small font used in the Activity Cards may be a barrier to reading. Indeed, all materials would benefit from a larger font size, and the text in the Facilitators' Guide needs more space between the instructions and suggestions in the Activity Notes.  The cards and other resource materials are attractive and "built to last" with heavy-duty lamination. 

Depending on the experience and skill levels of participants, during the more complex Activities in Module 3 (Value Chain Analysis), facilitators may need to take a more active role in explaining the instructions and facilitating discussions. Overall, the course promotes development of engaged and self-reliant young people who are informed about markets and market opportunities.

Review 1
Annex Section B: Developing Curricula for the World of Work presents what basically is “standard” career and awareness information that has been available through various sources for over 30 years. What makes these instructional modules different is that they are prepared specifically for the employment environment in the Turkish Cypriot Community. Also what sets these materials off from more conventional materials is that they are “project” or “activity-based.” Student learning takes place through interaction with the employment community and students actively engage in investigating and completing various assignments, either individually or in groups. A modularized, self-paced, project-based approach is used throughout the material.
A good treatment of career awareness and employment skills development is provided. The material is a good source of ideas for the creative teacher. The modules offer many ideas on how to engage students in the active investigation of careers and employment and it can be adapted and supplemented to fit different student groups and employment contexts. The material probably can be most effectively used prior to specific skill development.
The instructional delivery format basically relies on “paper and pencil” assignments. While this is a low-cost option, students may not get an adequate exposure to the IT applications that are sweeping through the work world. Moreover, greater variety in the kinds of project activities may work to enhance students’ interest and learning. However, there is enough flexibility in how the instructional material can be used that the creative teacher can easily build on the instructional foundation that is already built. This is useful training material and a source of good ideas. Good reading and writing skills among students are needed to most effectively use the material. Teacher instruction and oversight is required.
 

For an individual charged with developing a training program for out-of-school, marginalized girls and women, this set of modules offers a framework of basic, conventional program elements. The focus is on how to use the tools of community analysis, needs analysis, individual experience and group participation to help women find employment in their communities. Additional information is given on the design of instruction and evaluating outcomes. The material is basically designed to prepare trainers, and assumes that local, qualified individuals can be engaged to help design and conduct local programs. Full use of the material requires a person familar with training program design. One of the strengths of the materials is the variety of activities designed to engage individuals with the information provided in the text of each module. The material is well-organized, clear, easy to use and easy to understand. It should also be noted that one of the specificities of the program under which this material was developed relates to the idea of expanding the role of formal technical and vocational schools to include shorter-term, non-formal vocational and technical skills development for out-of-school girls. Much of the material, however, is in a very abbreviated form. This requires considerable supplementing both through informed experience and sources material. Perhaps the greatest shortcoming is that the material is developed through the perspective of the formal economic sector, when the intended use of training is for females destined for the informal economic sector. Similarly, the approach to the design of instruction is from the vantage point of formal education. Teaching and learning from the perspective of uneducated, marginalized girls and young women is largely missing. Finally, the user must be sensitive to potential "cultural" issues.