On Earth Peace will sponsor a Kingian Nonviolence “Level 1 Certification” Training of Trainers this fall. The application process will open in the coming days.  Email to receive a detailed description of the program as soon as final details are ready.  

Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation is a curriculum codified by Bernard LaFayette, Jr., and David Jehnsen, offering lessons from Martin Luther King, Jr., and leaders of the Civil Rights Movement era into a toolbelt and toolbox to help people address conflict and community concerns.

OEP’s Level One program is unique in three ways: 

1. We strive to fully prepare people to teach the 16-hour or two-day core workshop on their own through the training process. 
2. We seek to foster an ongoing community of practice by welcoming people into an ongoing and actively-cultivated KNV community 
3. We aim to bridge participants toward organizing and mobilizing work including Level Two Certification in Organizing and Mobilizing (to be offered Spring 2025) 

Course Objectives 

• Prepare participants to teach specific segments of the Kingian Nonviolence curriculum, focused on a modules from the two-day or 16-hour core workshop
  • Provide deep engagement with content 
  • Review and practice traditional teaching plans for core modules
  • Practice adapting modules as a facilitator; generating alternative activities 
  • See core modules in the context of the broader KNV curriculum
• Ground participants in historical, philosophical, and strategic aspects of the KNV legacy 
• Explore layers of identity and impact while preparing to teach KNV 
• Engage key concepts & skills for group facilitation & pedagogy 

Organizational Objectives as OEP 

• A BIGGER OEP NETWORK - Develop specifically On Earth Peace-formed KNV trainers, in more parts of the country and world, to help fulfill organizational training and organizing needs
• MORE RESOURCE PEOPLE FOR MOVEMENTS - Deepen the bench of KNV trainers, organizers, and resource people, to help communities and faith traditions rise to the challenge of the present moment and support social movement organizing efforts
• MORE VISIBILITY FOR NONVIOLENCE - Infuse contemporary social movements with the richness of the KNV legacy in order to make nonviolence come alive as a grounding-point, resource and tool

Is there a prerequisite for this course? 

• The pre-requisite is to participate in a 16-hour or “Two Day” Core Training in Kingian Nonviolence. 
• OEP will offer an online 16-hour core in September 2024 before the Level 1 starts, if you haven’t taken one. 

What is the schedule? 

Dates: The training takes place every Thursday over nine weeks in a three-month period.

• October 3 
• October 10
• October 17
• October 24
• October 31
• November 7 
• November 14 
• November 21 
• December 5

Click here to find the start time in your time zone!

Times for each training day: 9am-1pm Pacific / 10am-2pm Mountain / 11am-3pm Central / 12pm-4pm Eastern

• Anticipated significant homework of 4-5 hrs per week in addition to class. 
  • Background and historical reading 
  • Create teaching plans 
  • Meeting with learning groups to discuss content or practice teaching  
  • Participate in conversations on learning platform or listserv 

• Graduation/Certification 

• Level 1 Certification will require 
  • Full participation in the course (within the absence policy)
  • Successful completion of an exam about core material 
  • Demonstration of knowledge and ability to teach core modules, through 
    • Active participation in class activities (including teaching practice)
    • Successful completion of a 16-hour core teaching course with a small team of other participants, to be completed by April 2025. 
• Some MAY choose to participate in this course only for the content and not continue through to Certification through practice teaching. Priority in registration/selection for the course will be given to those pursuing the complete certification. 

Practice Teaching 

• OEP will schedule 3-4 online trainings for practice teaching in late 2024 or early 2025. The schedule isn’t final, but the following are provided as examples: 
  • Late November-December (four-hour blocks, done by December 20)
  • January 10-13 (four hours each day) - MLK weekend
  • February 14-17 or February weekly weekday for four hours for four weeks
  • March 5-April 16 (7 weeks - 2.5 hours each week) - Lenten series - spiritual dimension, Christian-focused 

Full course description

A full course description can be found by clicking here. 

Application to participate

We are using an application process to help form a cohort with a blend of personal backgrounds, forms of community involvement, and the cultural and ethnic diversity of the learning cohort. The organizing team will review applications meet the week of August 26 and respond to each applicant promptly thereafter. 

After reading the full course description, you may apply by clicking here.