Voices UnBroken Is Hiring Part-Time Teaching Artists/Workshop Facilitators!!!
Voices UnBroken is a Bronx-based non-profit organization that is dedicated to providing under-heard members of the community – primarily youth, ages 14-21 – with the tools and opportunity for creative self-expression. Through high quality creative writing workshops in group homes, residential treatment facilities, jails, and various other transitional and alternative settings, Voices UnBroken nurtures the inherent need in all people to tell their stories and be heard. It is our belief that this telling of stories and sharing of dreams leads to individual and community growth.
This is a part-time position (approximately 4-8 hrs per week)
Compensation based on experience.
Facilitator Responsibilities:
- Facilitate poetry workshops for young people (14-21) in restrictive residential settings, including group homes and juvenile detention centers (ALL Voices UnBroken workshops take place in non-school settings)
- Distribute and collect pre-and-post surveys to/from all workshop participants
- Provide regular reports and all necessary documentation to Voices UnBroken’s Program Director
- Assist in reviewing and analyzing data from surveys
- Develop lesson plans for each workshop session
- Other duties, as necessary
Job Requirements:
- Must be able to attend seasonal paid trainings (fall, spring, summer) as well as monthly meetings at the Voices UnBroken office in The Bronx
- Must be able to commit to teaching weekly workshops, for a 10-12 week residency
- Must have experience working in non-school settings
Qualifications:
- Experience teaching poetry/ creative writing to adolescents who are excited about it and to adolescents who have the potential to be excited about it, with the help of a great facilitator
- Must view teaching writing from a youth development perspective and understand that teaching writing and creative expression is powerful beyond the particular skills involved, because the process can help young people gain the means to relate to themselves and others in healthier and more fulfilling ways
- Experience working with youth in challenging, non-traditional settings
- Fully committed to bringing the best, high quality arts programming possible to the young people we work with
- Has read the Facilitator Guiding Principles (see below) and believes in them
Facilitator Guiding Principles:
- Voices UnBroken facilitators open the door for creative expression.
- Voices UnBroken facilitators are committed to documenting, evaluating and improving Voices UnBroken workshops. We are committed to the cyclical process of documenting, evaluating and improving our programs to make sure that we are always offering the best workshops possible to our participants.
- Voices UnBroken facilitators teach to their strengths and work within the dynamics at the workshop site to make the greatest impact on the young people we work with.
- Voices UnBroken facilitators create a workshop community by working with participants to establish a common ground based on respect. In a Voices UnBroken workshop, everyone has something to teach and everyone has something to learn.
- Voices UnBroken facilitators are adaptable and don’t take things personally. Because there is no formula for what participants will connect to, we use different kinds of teaching methods and ask our facilitators to be creative in their approach.
- Voices UnBroken facilitators view writing both as a tool in and of itself and as a means of empowerment.
- Voices UnBroken is a non-judgmental organization and we expect that our facilitators will embody this. We value every person’s right to self-identify, do not ask unnecessary questions about young people’s experiences, and we do our best to work with people’s judgments about the work we do and the people we serve. This non-judgmental stance has helped us to achieve and maintain organizational integrity.
- Voices UnBroken expects greatness.
To apply:
If you are interested in applying, send your resume and cover letter to mimi@voicesunbroken.org. Please answer the following questions in your cover letter:
- Why do you think arts education is important for the population we work with?
- Tell us about an experience or belief of yours that makes one of the Facilitator Guiding Principles important to you.
Voices UnBroken employs without regard to race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, age, disability, or any other attribute not related to superior performance.
