As part of the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) team’s training plan, a series of training sessions on human rights, child rights, child development, child behavior, and classroom management were conducted in the month of May.  Training recipients included nursery school teachers, teacher trainers, parents, and members of the school’s management.  WEAVE utilizes the Training-of-Trainers (TOT) approach, which is considered to be one of the most important components of WEAVE’s education and training styles.  While the TOT builds the workshop implementation skills of the trainers, it also enhances their knowledge about child development and other teaching tools.  Additionally, it also allows them to learn together with their peers in an experiential manner.  WEAVE adapted the use of TOT since it recognizes indigenous knowledge,  the skills of local participants, and the importance of utilizing the local language as a medium of instruction during the training.  WEAVE’s training approach is highly participatory and it uses local exercises and games for participants to better understand the context and topics that are covered in the training sessions.

During the 1^st and 2^nd weeks of May, a series of two-day long training sessions on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)  were conducted in Ban Mae Surin, Karenni Site 2 and in Ban Mai Naisoi, Karenni Site 1. The WEAVE ECCD Team Training participants included newly hired nursery school personnel such as the capacity building training’s (CBT) Teacher Trainers, Teachers, and some school management staff.  Training topics were as follows: the history of the international human rights development, child’s rights, the differences between children and adults, child growth, and child protection to mention a few.  According to the new teachers, they particularly liked the games and songs during the training and were very happy to receive some practical ideas about early childhood development.

During the week of May 17-21, there were five-days of training for the teachers of nursery and primary schools under the partronage of the Marist Mission Center in Ranong, from Southern Thailand.  The link between WEAVE and the Marist Mission was established during the Save the Children UK sponsored Child Protection Training earlier this year.  WEAVE was requested to provide basic teacher training with special attention on child development and behavior, classroom management, and how to use visual aids such as a big book, dice, matching pictures, and a stick puppet.  Twenty-one active teachers participated in the training workshop and they related how much they had enjoyed the inter-active sessions and how they learned to create and effectively use visual aids.  Others commented that this training allowed them to understand child behavior and development more.  As one teacher put it, “This training has made me understand why certain children react the way they do.  I have observed that some children are very hyperactive and have difficulty managing their behavior.  This training helped me to think of many ideas on ways to handle children who are always fighting with each other. I might not be successful but I will try my best. I realized that every child has its own way of reacting to the stimulus around him/her. They should be handled differently as they are unique.”