This is an open, welcoming program. If being an open, visible member of the community is a barrier, or you have difficulty keeping your commitments, this place might not feel right for you. Providing your information, though, doesn’t mean that we will abuse it. We will not sell or otherwise release your information to anyone who is not also registered or partnered with us.
Some of our participants may have unclear documentation to be in the US and we work hard to balance our needs for demonstrating program success with the inherent risks present whenever adults and children gather in public space. We never publicly reveal the full names of the learners in our programs, or their contact information without their explicit written knowledge and permission. We will track learner information internally, and provide first and last names, and address and other contact information to our site partners.
Note: More guidelines about working with people whose documentation status is unclear, as well as personal safety in community-based settings is here.
P-P-T Owners will have access to learner/participant information, but most Apprentices and Shadowers will only know the names of the people in the classes they attend. We will
- Talk about each other’s behavior in a caring, supportive, transparent way, especially when the behavior is less effective than it could be
- Give our contact information to others who may attend classes
- Keep your address information internally. We do not give this information to anyone who is not staff of P-P-T without your permission.
- Attempt to meet your reasonable needs to have your information protected further – let us know if you have a concern
If you are a Member (Apprentice or Facilitator) in our program, you will be asked to provide a photo and connect that to your first name your email address on our website, in recognition of your increased responsibility and visibility. We will give your last name and phone number to our partners and other practitioners (teachers, assistants, etc) if they specifically ask, but we will never give out your address. We will not give your last name or phone number to learners. You may, of course, give your information to anyone you want.
You will be liable for your own actions or behaviors at all times. Departing significantly from our very flexible and reasonable guidelines for good behavior could expose you to legal action if anyone is hurt or insulted. We find that mean people self-select out of this program pretty quickly. If you’re mean or dishonest, you may leave, or agree to change. Things are hard enough, ok?
Coming to a location one time is at the discretion of P-P-T, the Site Coordinator, and any policies that govern the site. We may ask you to leave at any time for any reason or no reason at all. Coming to a site multiple times may require a state and/or federal background check. Having a criminal record will not itself disqualify you from participating. We choose reasonable safety precautions, and we train our facilitators to create a structured, safe learning environment for all.
Photo & Video Policy
Taking photos or video of any person, place, or thing is carefully controlled.
- Our site partners’ policy is the first stop regarding video and photos. If the program is paying P-P-T or one of our Members and requires that we document people and activities, then we’ll do that, and the responsibility lies with our partner organization. P-P-T and its affiliated personnel may keep such images for personal or internal use. Sharing or using images in marketing materials requires written permission from both partners.
- Anyone may take a photo of P-P-T staff, apprentices, community members – anyone who is not considered a “language learner” in the space and may share and use them for personal ends. Using them for commercial purposes without written permission from the person and P-P-T may expose the documentarian to legal action.
- Anyone may take photos of classroom locations & materials and may share and use them for personal or internal ends. Using them for commercial purposes without written permission from the site administrators and P-P-T may expose the documentarian to legal action.
- Anyone may take photos or video of a P-P-T event in which they are a participant, but are officially required to receive verbal permission from any participant whose face is visible, and written permission to share or use the images for commercial purposes. It must also be demonstrated that permission was fully understood by the visible party. Failure to do so may expose the documentarian to legal action.
- P-P-T has the right to take photos and video of any person who is registered with the program or attends a class or program as a learner, partner representative, teacher, classroom assistant, or guest. We may use these images in whole or part for commercial purposes, unless otherwise specifically restricted by the partner, location, or the person themselves.
In practice, P-P-T is extremely careful not to use participants’ images, particularly for commercial purposes or sharing on platforms like Facebook, because we know that personal information acquired in an intercultural context is ethically problematic, and can expose us to legal action, no matter what our documentation says. Also, we could really mess up someone’s life, and that’s not what we are about. Related to this topic is our policy on research which you can read here.