Early Childhood Development Consultant - Beirut
Provide technical support for national ECD policy framework development
Overview
Provide technical support for national ECD policy framework development
You have:
- PhD in education, special education, or related field focused on early childhood development.
- At least 10 years of professional experience in early childhood development and curriculum design.
- Fluency in written and spoken Arabic, English, and French.
- Proficiency in assessing and designing curriculum for early childhood education.
- Experience with donor-funded projects is strongly preferred.
- Solid knowledge and experience with the Nurturing Care Framework and care for child development approach.
- Experience in facilitating consultative processes with diverse stakeholders.
- Strong analytical and communication skills.
- Understanding of qualitative and quantitative approaches in educational research.
- Ability to design, implement and evaluate educational projects.
Job Description
The purpose of this consultancy is to provide technical support to the ECD committee in the development of a national ECD policy framework, implementation plan, and monitoring and evaluation plan.
The ECD consultant will specifically engage on the early childhood development committee and will:
- Review existing ECD policies, strategies, and plans in the country and internationally, and identify best practices that can inform the development of a national ECD policy framework. - Facilitate a consultative process with relevant stakeholders to develop a national ECD policy framework, implementation plan, and monitoring and evaluation plan. - Provide technical assistance to the ECD committee in the development of a communication strategy for the dissemination of the national ECD policy framework. - Actively guide, supervise and steer the ECD content with the committee members to ensure material developed respond to the different areas for development for a child. - Develop the ECD component within the curriculum with the committee with the support of partners. - Provide technical input on ECD content based on best practices and evidence. - Actively read all relevant Nurturing Care Framework material (handbook and practice guide) to familiarize herself/himself with the NCF approach; and ensure the components included on ECD are in-line with the Nurturing Care Framework. - Actively engage in the curriculum review process and provide technical input. - Coordinate with the Curriculum Development Experts and Curriculum Development Coordinators in securing the optimal conditions for the ECD/ECE curriculum revision kick-off, namely from content relevant and content design perspectives. - Develop and implement coordinated and integrated Early Childhood Development/Early Childhood Education Structure and Policy. - Define Early Childhood Development/Early Childhood Education quality standards. - Develop Early Childhood Development/Early Childhood Education monitoring framework and system. - Draw on the latest trends in instructional methods, educational technology in the Early Childhood Development/Early Childhood Education. - Provide technical support for the development of Early Childhood Development/Early Childhood Education’s staff motivation mechanisms, system and processes.
Expected Deliverables:
The consultant will be expected to produce the following deliverables:
- An inception report outlining the proposed methodology and work plan for the consultancy. - A review report documenting the findings of the review of existing ECD policies, strategies, and plans. - A draft of national ECD policy framework, implementation plan, and monitoring and evaluation plan. - A final national ECD policy framework, implementation plan, and monitoring and evaluation plan incorporating feedback from stakeholders. - A monitoring and evaluation framework for the implementation of the national ECD policy framework. - A capacity building plan for the ECD committee and other relevant stakeholders. - Developing the piloting materials for ECD program and a monitoring framework to monitor the piloting process.
Key Working Relationships:
CERD President and IRC ECD Senior Technical Quality Manager.
Qualifications
- PHD in education, special education, or other social paramedical field with special focus on early childhood development, early childhood education and curriculum design. - Project Management degree or certification is preferred.
Previous Experience
- At least 10 years of « professional » and / or « higher education » experience in early childhood development, early childhood education and curriculum design. - Proficiency assessing and designing curriculum for early childhood education. - Published work in academic journals. - Proven experience with donor-funded projects is strongly preferred. - Solid Knowledge and experience ECD, including nurturing care framework and care for child development approach. - Solid knowledge and experience in Preschool Learning Foundations, and Curriculum Frameworks. - Solid Experience of ECD/ECE programs in national and international context. - Proven experience with public sector is a plus. - Proven experience in facilitating consultative processes with diverse stakeholders. - Excellent analytical, writing, and communication skills. - Familiarity with the political and institutional context of the country. - Experience in capacity building and training.
Languages
Fluency in written and spoken Arabic, English and French.
Behavioral Skills
- Timeliness and ability to deliver under tight deadlines. - Ability to cope with pressure and mitigate challenges. - Ability to convey complex information in a structured manner. - Proven ability to work with a working team of diversified backgrounds. - Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment. - Strong analytical and presentation skills. - Strong interpersonal, teamwork and communication skills.
Technical and computer skills
- Understanding of qualitative and quantitative approaches in educational research. - Ability to design, implement and evaluate educational projects. - Digitally savvy with advanced knowledge of MS Office.
Potential interview questions
| Describe your experience with early childhood development policy frameworks. | The interviewer wants to know about your direct experience in similar roles. | Share specific examples of your contributions to policy development. |
| How have you engaged stakeholders in previous projects? | The interviewer is assessing your stakeholder engagement strategies. | Pro members can see the explanation. |
| What best practices in early childhood education do you think are most applicable to this consultancy? | Pro members can see the explanation. | Pro members can see the explanation. |
| Can you provide an example of a challenging project you managed and how you overcame obstacles? | Pro members can see the explanation. | Pro members can see the explanation. |
| How do you stay updated with trends in early childhood education? | Pro members can see the explanation. | Pro members can see the explanation. |