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Training
The Heritage Method® for Abstinence Education is a process model that is followed when the program is replicated at various sites. Prior to teaching students, new Heritage Educators are required to complete the basic training modules summarized below. Training modules are presented at our annual training and via DVDs, available through the Heritage Corporate Office. Educators must pass a knowledge-based test at the conclusion of training. Included in the basic training is the program rationale, the importance of program delivery, foundational program concepts, school-based and community-based curricula, all curricula, and program policies and procedures. The program methodology is based on positively impacting adolescent cognition and affect for the purpose of increasing abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage among adolescents. In addition, Heritage representatives engage the system in which the adolescents live by providing related programs for parents, community leaders and the media. Training is clearly paramount in The Heritage Method® for Abstinence Education. In addition to completing the required training modules, Heritage Educators observe an experienced Heritage Educator teaching students, and they mock teach in front of their Regional Director and fellow Educators before teaching in the classroom. Their peers provide feedback relevant to the Educator’s program knowledge and presentation skills. Most adolescent program participants are evaluated for the purpose of determining program effect for 1) Educator improvement, 2) program improvement, and 3) analysis and reporting for the program funding agency. Heritage Educators are required to participate in mandatory Continuing Education sessions provided by the Corporate Office. Training modules that become outdated are archived, and where opportunities for improvement are present, modules are updated or new ones are developed. As research related to the theory and methodology of the Heritage program becomes available, additional modules are developed for continuing education modules, which are then integrated into the Heritage training program. Furthermore, monitoring and evaluation are of great importance in the effective replication of The Heritage Method® for Abstinence Education. Finally, we are aware of the importance of dosage and have created a mechanism for monitoring dosage for every student in every class at every site. |
The foundational theoretical basis for the program is a psycho/physio/sociological approach to teaching abstinence education, which is integrated throughout program development, training, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, feedback and improvement processes. LowerContent |
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