1. Warming up: circle of social need: 10 minutes

Material

None

Aim

1. Students get acquainted with the method of ‘warming up’, used in every WSWM lesson
2. Students become aware of the magnitude of the sexual and reproductive health issues among young people in Malawi.
3. Students reflect on their own experiences with people affected by sexual and reproductive health issues.
4. Students discover the social need for a curriculum of Comprehensive Sexuality Education

How

1. All of the students and teacher form one big circle in the classroom.
2. Form a circle with all students. Ask them to make a step into the circle when they know a young person in their own community that…..:
   1. Likes to dance
   2. Has children
   3. Is unmarried and sexually active?
   4. Is pregnant or is a teenage parent
   5. Is pregnant or is a teenage parent and dropped out of school?
   6. Is forced to have sex against their will or has been sexually abused
   7. Is or has been infected with a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI)
   8. Is HIV positive
   9. Is forced to get married, or is married at a very young age.
   10. Is involved in commercial sex
   11. Is in a relationship with a much older partner where sex is exchanges for services, goods or money.
   12. A girl that has died as a result of unsafe abortion?
3. Ask the students: what did you discover by doing this exercise?

Wrap Up

This exercise showed you how much serious health issues there are in Malawi that concern sexual and reproductive health. This calls for the need of a curriculum of sexuality education for young people. In such a curriculum students are taught how to prevent themselves from pregnancy, STI’s and sexual harassment. Also they discover how they can plan and postpone being sexually active and take care of themselves and others.

Teachers play a pivotal role in facilitating this curriculum. This is the reason why we want to introduce you to the curriculum ‘The World Starts With Me’ and the role you have as a teacher.

Read: 10 golden rules of facilitating The World Starts With Me- presentation (20 min)

Material

Presentation: The fundamentals of facilitating The World Starts With Me

Aim

1. Students know what the curriculum ‘The World Starts With Me’ (WSWM) entails, and what it’s origin is;
2. Students know the 10 important principles of facilitating WSWM and what that implies for them as a teacher;
3. Students know the difference between facilitating and teaching.

How

1. Ask students to form groups (3-4 persons) behind a computer and tell them to open the presentation ‘The 10 golden rules of facilitating WSWM’.
   It prepares them for their role as a WSWM teacher. It also asks several reflective questions they can discuss within their group.
2. The topics that are covered in the presentation are:
   - Origin and aim of the curriculum The World Starts With Me (WSWM)
   - The meaning and importance of comprehensive sexuality education
   - Facilitation (vs teaching)

3. Do: 10 golden rules of facilitating The World Starts With Me- prepare and present (45 minutes)

Material

Factsheet: The 10 golden rules of facilitating The World Starts With Me

Aim

1. Students know the 10 important principles of facilitating WSWM and what that implies for them as a teacher.

How

Preparation: 20 minutes in total

1. Divide the class in 5 groups, appoint the principles to the groups (note: some are long, other short, so some groups will get 1 principle, others 2)
2. Ask students to prepare 1 or 2 of the golden principles within their group. Ask them to read the information on the factsheet and answer these questions:
   1. What is the principle?
   2. Why do you think is it important for the program? What is the benefit?
   3. What are the conditions for a teacher to master this principle? Present: 5 minutes per group, 25 minutes in total
   4. Ask every group forward and have them present their principle very short, using the answers of question 2. The class can ask some questions for clarification. As a tutor you can add or when needed correct.

4. Prepare: checklist participative methods and weekly homework (10 min)

Material

Overview participative methods
Tip Top Peer Book (+ pen) for each student

Aim

1. Students know what the weekly homework entails and what is expected of them.
2. Students know how to use the checklist with participative methods
3. Students receive their Top Tip Peer Book

How

1. Tell students that in order to train their facilitating-skills in WSWM, they will have an extra weekly homework assignment about participative methods. So this will be extra to the regular homework assignments already in each lesson.
2. Show them the checklist and overview of participative methods they can use for answering these questions.
3. Ask them how these questions will contribute to their teaching/facilitating skills
4. This will also be their homework assignment for this week.
5. Hand out a Top Tip Peer Book to every student, and tell them they will need it to write down their homework.

Top tip peer book

In the school curriculum the Top Tip Peer Book his is a very important tool for a student to document their personal lessons learned: their Top Tips for themselves and for peers. It is also used for doing exercises, write down homework assignments and other things you don’t want to forget.

The book is an essential part of the course, so they should be really careful with it and bring it to every WSWM lesson. Tell them to write their name in the notebook.

If they don’t have a pen or pencil, hand them out and also remind them they should keep it with them they entire course.

5. Homework: personal vs professional values as a teacher

Material

Worksheet: Interview with teacher

Aim

1. Students learn to distinguish between personal beliefs about sexuality education and professional values about their role as a teacher.
2. Students become aware of the importance of providing young people with factual and complete information on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) without sharing their own personal values.

Teacher tip

While teaching comprehensive sexuality education many teachers experience a conflict between their personal beliefs about sexuality and their professional values as a teacher to provide complete and factual information to empower young people to make their own informed decision. During the plenary discussion, keep reminding students about the following:

1. It is a young person’s human right to receive complete and factual information on SRHR to empower them to make their own informed decision.
2. Evidence shows that factual and comprehensive information on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) encourages young people to postpone their first sexual experience and once ready for sex to do it safely.
3. Postponing first sexual experiences and safe sex have a positive effect on teenage pregnancy- and HIV rates which in turn contributes positively to academic performances of students.
4. Skills acquired contribute to respectful, equal and caring relationships with peers, family, teachers and others which encourages gender equality and non-violent relationships.

How

1. Students read the interview at home and answer the questions
2. The next lesson you take some time to discuss the outcomes.

Wrap Up

Conclude with the following message:
‘Even though it might feel challenging at times not to share your personal beliefs with students. Being an effective teacher in comprehensive sexuality education requires you to give complete and only factual information. This information will enable young people to make their own informed decision about their sexuality. It is their human right and evidence shows that this way of teaching has a positive impact on their sexual behaviour with a decrease in teenage pregnancy – and HIV rates’.

6. Lesson Wrap Up

This lesson was a teacher introduction in the World Starts With Me. From next week on we will go through the 11 lessons of the regular curriculum that is targeted at people from 12-20 years. This way you will experience the impact of the lessons directly. And with the homework-questions you can also reflect on it from a professional point of view.