Category Archives: Education/Training

Workshop on Citizen Journalism and Civil Resistance

Posted on March 24, 2011 | Leave a comment

For the last six days I was in Madrid, Spain to help facilitate a workshop that married the two fields of citizen journalism and civil resistance.  The goal of the workshop was to prepare journalists, bloggers, and communicators from around the world to better understand the strategic dynamics of nonviolent social movements so they can more effectively report on these struggles in ways that will help them to succeed.  26 citizen journalists participated in the workshop coming from the following countries: Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, UK, Phillipines, Mexico, Spain, Israel/Palestine, Brazil, Yemen, Bahrain, Egypt, Macedonia, Ukraine, India, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Serbia, France, and Finland.

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Training for Change Workshop – How to Teach Theory

Posted on March 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

From Thursday, Feb 24 – Sunday, Feb 27, I attended the Training for Change workshop, How to Teach Theory.  This is the second TfC workshop in which I have participated.  The first was their Training for Social Action Trainers (TSAT), which I found to be a highly effective, engaging workshop that helped me develop new skills as a trainer and educator in ways that made it more likely that I would actually use these skills in my professional work.  One of the TSAT trainers recommended that I take the How to Teach Theory workshop, considering both my work for ICNC and at AU – two teaching and training settings that require exploring theories and abstract ideas.  The goals of the workshops were: (1) increase your skills at presenting theory and concepts without lecturing, (2) gain confidence and experience in moving a group from stage 2 (reflection) to stage 3 (generalization) to stage 4 (application) in the direct education model/experiential learning cycle, (3) Identify key teaching concepts and theories in your teaching area, and (4) have fun!  Below I have outlined what was covered in the workshop and some thoughts on why I think they are important.

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2011 Democracy Matters Summit

Posted on February 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

This past weekend I returned to Albany, NY to participate in my fifth consecutive Democracy Matters summit and it never ceases to be an educational and inspiring experience.  A special part of this year’s summit was that DM’s president and founder, Adonal Foyle, was able to attend and give the keynote address.

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Spring 2011 Semester Begins at AU

Posted on January 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

The spring 2011 semester at American University has begin and my dad and I continue to teach EDU285 – Education for International Development.  This semester marks the fourth time we’ve taught this course and we are continuing to find new ways to make the class better – introducing appropriate amounts of content, incorporating a diverse set of activities and exercises, and utilizing new online tools to enhance student learning.  This semester there are three main changes from previous semesters: (1) a Twitter feed (@AUedu285) to follow stories related to education and international development, (2) a website redesign, and (3) more guest speakers.

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Key Insights from George Lakey’s book, “Facilitating Group Learning”

Posted on December 17, 2010 | 1 comment

I recently finished reading George Lakey’s new book, Facilitating Group Learning: Strategies for Success with Diverse Adult Learners.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book because it provides a clear description and examples of what experiential education, or what Lakey calls direct education, is and entails.  Having been an experiential educator for several years now, Lakey and his colleagues at Training for Change, have become a real source of learning for me and my work.  Below are several key insights from the book:

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Civil Resistance and the Dynamics of Nonviolent Conflict

Posted on December 10, 2010 | Leave a comment

This week I finished facilitating ICNC’s  eight-week course, Civil Resistance and the Dynamics of Nonviolent, which is offered in partnership with the United States Institute of Peace.  This is the second iteration of this course – by far the most popular fall 2010 course offered through USIP’s academy – and we’ve made some significant improvements from last time.

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Gandhi-King Conference on Peacemaking

Posted on October 25, 2010 | Leave a comment

This past weekend, I attended the Gandhi-King Conference on Peacemaking in Memphis, TN.  This was the second time I have attended and presented at the conference and definitely plan on attending again next year.  The conference brings together a great group of educators, activists, and organizers interested in various topics related to peace, conflict resolution, community organizing, and social justice.  Download the full conference program here.  This year I had a lot more time to meet and learn from all the other amazing participants since I was there for the whole event, as opposed to three years ago, when I missed half the conference because I got lost and ended up roaming the streets of Memphis for five hours.

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The Digital Duel: Resistance and Repression in an Online World (Webinar)

Posted on October 16, 2010 | Leave a comment

This past Thursday I presented my very first webinar, The Digital Duel: Resistance and Repression in an Online World, which looked at the emerging role of digital tools, new media, and the Internet in waging nonviolent struggle across the world.  It also looked at how repressive regimes are also using these same tools to censor and clamp down on dissent and civic mobilization.

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Learn-Serve International Workshop

Posted on October 3, 2010 | Leave a comment

Learn-Serve students at the end of their weekend retreat

This weekend, three of my training colleagues and I went out to the For the Love of Children’s Outdoor Education Center in Harper’s Ferry, VA to facilitate a workshop on cross-cultural learning with students in the Learn-Serve International program.  Learn-Serve brings together high school students from all over the Washington, DC area to work in teams throughout the year, developing and implementing a social entrepreneurship project that addresses a need in their community.

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International Day of Peace at Baltimore’s Friendship Academy

Posted on September 22, 2010 | Leave a comment

Friendship Academy students working on their peace mural

Today I spent the day at the Friendship Academy Charter School in Baltimore, MD, where the faculty and staff had organized a series of workshops in recognition of the International Day of Peace.

My colleague, Jake Fitzpatrick, and I facilitated a series of workshops for about 150 high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors (3 sessions of 40-50 students each).  Our workshop had students first think about some of their own experiences where they felt they contributed to creating a more peaceful environment – whether it be cooking dinner for a loved one, breaking up a fight in school, lobbying for a social justice cause, or stepping away from a potentially combative situation and taking a deep breath to prevent one’s anger from lashing out.  We then talked a bit about the history and mission of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict and how its an organization that actually educates and teaches people how to fight in order to stand up for one’s rights, resist oppression, and bring forth a more just and free society.

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Posted in Education/Training, Presentations