Legacy’s Curriculums Emphasize Practical Application

Founded 1979 as the Institute for Practical Idealism, the Global Youth Village has been the “laboratory” for designing and testing curriculum which have later been utilized in Legacy International’s projects around the globe. Legacy has completed projects with partners on five continents; worked with non-profit, government, and civic leaders; and with youths from more than 110 nations.

Legacy works effectively with multi-cultural groups, working groups of professionals from various sectors, and people from areas of inter-ethnic and inter-religious turmoil.  We have in-depth experience with Israelis, Palestinians, and other Middle Easterners; Northern Irish Protestants and Catholics;  Lebanese Christians and Muslims;  representatives from various Nigerian tribes; as well as people displaced from ancestral homes-Cambodians, Vietnamese, Indian and Pakistani Muslims and Hindus;  and Croats, Muslims and Serbs from Bosnia-Herzegovina.  This breadth of experience has given us a strong understanding of socio/cultural/religious differences, and the ability to adapt program models to various cultural contexts.

Two specific curricula developed and continuously refined at GYV are:

Training of Trainers for Inter-Ethnic and Inter-Religious Tolerance – This project was created at GYV and then adapted in 2003 to benefit the multi-ethnic, multi-religious Perm Oblast in Russia. Legacy’s training technologies, developed over a quarter-century of programming, were compiled into a written curriculum. They were then adapted to a Russian cultural context and translated into Russian. A “Training of Trainers” program equipped 28 youth-serving professionals to use the curriculum with teens in various settings (classroom, youth development programs, weekend seminars).  More than 100 teens were involved in the first year of activities. A parallel public relations campaign on inter-ethnic tolerance reached the broader community through the training of media specialists.

Leadership Development Initiative(LDI) — methods used at GYV during the Action Teams and all campus activities were utlized to create LDI. This school-based program serves both rising youth leaders, the teachers who support them, school administrators and community. Legacy collaborated with the Center for Educational Programs to create LDI, initially serving private schools affiliated with the Archdiocese of New York City, and later serving public schools. The resulting program comprises teacher training activities, student leadership projects, and institutional capacity-building for principals and development staff. More than 50 schools witnessed measurable results: reduced school budget deficits; student-organized projects that re-opened libraries, started after-school programs, and revitalized school spirit. Legacy’s two-volume curriculum supports the program.