Peer Education Training Package

The training package has been designed and developed over three years. Each year the package has been modified and extended as we learned through experience with peer educators and students.

Many of the activities used in the training package have been developed by trained peer educators as they work with Keep Safe Stay Cool. The processes for exploring topics in training are utilised in peer educator led class sessions and continue to be refined as Peer Educators and health workers work together.

The Keep Safe Stay Cool training package is designed to be interactive and creative, utilising adult learning principles and group work processes. Issues of domestic violence, gender role stereotyping, healthy relationships and human rights are explored. Skill development is the focus of final sessions. Training consists of twelve four-hour sessions.

A maximum of four morning/afternoon or evening sessions per week are recommended or the peer educators may feel overloaded.  A minimum of one per week will ensure you sustain involvement. We found that a whole day session was too much for peer educators and we would not recommend this.

Training Sessions cover:

Outcomes

After training the Peer Educators are able to:

• Describe the role of human rights in relationships

• Identify components which comprise healthy relationships

• Promote healthy relationships based on human rights

• Perceive domestic violence as an issue of power and control

• Understand the relationship between gender role stereotyping and domestic violence

• Identify resources available in the community

• Understand that no-one deserves abuse, physical or mental

• Recognise the pervasiveness of domestic violence and its negative effects

• Recognise that we all have choices with what to do with anger

• Identify that every individual has the human right to live free from abuse and fear.

• Plan and deliver quality interactive sessions with students.

The Keep Safe Stay Cool curriculum trains young people to be Peer Educators – it does not train young people to be domestic violence counsellors.  It is important that Peer Educators are clear about the difference from the beginning.  Domestic violence intervention can be dangerous for victims and those who assist them. Safety is of prime importance for the young people who train.  Local resources which offer counselling and support are discussed in training and the young people are encouraged to pass on relevant information to people who may approach them for help.

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