Training-of-Trainers Pilot Programme on BE VOCAL


be vocal

Banish and eliminate violence on children and their lives

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In June 2007, SAWO, in collaboration with teachers from Sri Insan Secondary School in Kota Kinabalu, successfully launched this pioneering training-of-trainers pilot programme with Module 1: Gender and You. Known by the acronym be vocal, this innovative training programme is designed to complement the secondary school curriculum with a series of activities to engage students in an exploration of gender issues in a safe, creative and enjoyable learning environment. The first of its kind in Sabah, be vocal is premised upon the notion that adolescence is a crucial period when perceptions about gender roles and gender-based power form a strong basis for the social development of our future leaders.

From June to August 2007, SAWO and Sri Insan teachers conducted weekly sessions with Form 1 students. The sessions emphasized creativity and fun using interactive approaches such as games, drawing, debate and discussion. Crucially, activities were not aimed at providing the right or wrong answers to gender issues, but were designed to elucidate the opinions and perceptions of students about gender issues and to stimulate peer-to-peer discussion. The idea is that, over time, students would be encouraged to adopt the role of facilitators and peer-trainers to reach out to the wider student body on gender issues, contribute substantively towards enhancing gender-balanced school activities, and eventually step up as the new leaders of our community.

The pilot testing of Module 1 represents the first tentative steps in a five-year programme towards building young leaders with a gender-balanced sense of society. With each year of training, subsequent modules advance in complexity while simultaneously enabling a higher level of student-driven activities. Over five years, and implemented in a number of secondary schools across Sabah, we hope that be vocal will be able to stimulate the emergence of a generation of young leaders who incorporate their awareness of gender issues in their personal and professional lives.