Consultant - Educator Needs Assessment and Educator Module Development

Summary

The Power Within is Plan International Canada’s flagship body confidence and self-esteem initiative designed to address the root causes of gender inequality and support youth, especially girls and gender-diverse youth in reaching their full potential. The project was developed in response to growing evidence demonstrating the significant impact that low body confidence and self-esteem have on young people’s well-being, participation, leadership, and future opportunities. 

It is a public-private partnership between Plan International Canada, Women and Gender Equality Canada and Unilever Canada. The Centre of Excellence on Gender Equality, Youth Leadership & Body Confidence (CoE) is a national initiative under The Power Within designed to support educators and youth-serving organizations through responsive, research-informed programming that addresses some of the most pressing issues facing young people today. By serving as a hub for knowledge exchange and professional development, the CoE creates spaces for dialogue, learning, and collaboration that strengthen practitioners’ capacity to foster inclusive environments, nurture youth leadership, and engage young people in meaningful, rights-based programming through in-person and virtual forums.

The Position

Plan International Canada is seeking a consultant to conduct a national needs assessment with Canadian educators to better understand how educators navigate issues of self-esteem and body confidence in their classrooms as it relates to youth leadership and preparation for life beyond school including post-secondary school and career readiness. Following this, the consultant will then develop career readiness materials including a lesson plan, classroom supplement and a digital download based on the findings from the needs assessment.

What success looks like?

Design and deliver an educator needs assessment that gathers qualitative and quantitative insights from educators across Canada and provides practical recommendations to inform future TPW programming, resources and partnerships.

Develop career readiness materials including a lesson plan, classroom supplement and a digital download based on the findings from the needs assessment.

Scope of Work (SoW)

Phase One – Educator Needs Assessment

• Develop a detailed methodology, work plan and timeline.
• Submit a participant recruitment strategy. Applicants should demonstrate existing access to educator networks or present a clear plan to recruit a diverse sample of educators across Canada.
• Develop consultation tools (e.g., focus group discussion guide and/or interview guide) for Plan International Canada review.
• Recruit participants representing different regions/provinces, school types, grade levels and educator roles.
• Facilitate virtual focus groups and/or interviews while ensuring confidentiality and ethical research practices.
• Conduct qualitative and quantitative analysis and identify key themes, challenges, opportunities and recommendations.
• Prepare a final report summarizing methodology, participant profile, key findings and actionable recommendations.
• Present findings to the Plan International Canada project team in a virtual meeting.
• Timeline for the completion of Phase One: August 28, 2026

Phase Two – Curriculum Development

• Develop a curriculum outline based on findings from the needs assessment
• Lesson plan (V1) with text and any graphical mock ups
• Lesson plan (V2) formatted and designed (and on brand) integrating feedback provided on the draft version (V1).
• Final Lesson Plan (v3) with final feedback integrated. V3 should be formatted and designed (and on brand) provided in 3 formats: InDesign file, PDF, and print version.
• Development of the Lesson Plan should be based on pre-existing research and resources developed by The Power Within. It is expected that the resources will use a(n):
  • intersectional and anti-racism, anti-oppression framework 
  • experiential learning methodology; and,
  • adhere to Plan International Canada’s Safeguarding Standards for Children and Youth
• Final designed products must meet Plan International Canada’s brand standards and the logo recognition of funders. Plan International Canada will provide the branding standards and logo recognition guidance. All outputs must be provided in editable versions (InDesign).
• Timeline for the completion of Phase Two: September 30, 2026

As our ideal candidate you will have:

Proposal Requirements

• Understanding of the assignment.
• Proposed methodology and work plan.
• Recruitment strategy and evidence of access to educator networks.
• Relevant experience conducting qualitative/quantitative research or needs assessments.
• Timeline and financial proposal.
• Examples of any past educator resources created

Budget

The total budget for this contract is CAD $15,000

Evaluation Criteria

Relevant experience (25%), methodology (30%), recruitment strategy and educator network (25%), project approach and timeline (10%), budget/value for money (10%).