Organization name:

Human Rights Education Associates

Web site:

http://www.hrea.org

Description:

According to their website, HREA is “an international non-governmental organisation that supports human rights learning; the training of activists and professionals; the development of educational materials and programming; and community-building through on-line technologies.” They provide: “assistance in curriculum and materials development; training of professional groups; research and evaluation; clearinghouse of education and training materials; networking human rights defenders and educators.”

Where are they working? (country/region)

They operate internationally through their own organization, various networks, and partner organizations that provide a variety of educational and professional development opportunities online and around the world.

What professional development programs related to peace education do they offer? (program names, content):

Curriculum & Materials Development and Technical Assistance

http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=297

These projects include many resources for civil society and legal workers as well as for teachers and other education professionals. A few of their current and recent projects relevant to educators include:

• "Crimes of War" Educator Guide

• The School for Human Rights

• Gender-review of middle and high school textbooks in Morocco

• Intercultural, Democratic and Human Rights Education for Croatian Schools

• Human rights in China

Distance Learning Programme

http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=274

These programs are geared towards “human rights defenders and educators, development workers, and staff members of social justice organisations, international and inter-governmental organisations.” Courses are in one of three formats: Introductory E-Courses, Specialized Courses, and Short Certificate Courses. Examples of courses that may be relevant for educators include:

• The Rights of the Child

• The Right to Education

• Introduction to Human Rights Education

• Human Rights in Europe

Introductory e-coursesare self-directed, multimedia courses that take between 3-10 hours to complete and do not have an instructor. Participants take the course at their own pace on their own time and complete assessments in order to gain a certificate of equivilency.

Specialized courses (http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=321): “HREA's courses typically involve 50 hours of reading, on-line working groups, assignments, and regular interaction with students and the instructor and facilitator(s). Courses are offered over a three-month period. They are based on a participatory, active learning approach with an emphasis on peer-to-peer learning.” Certain courses are offered on an annual or semi-annual basis, and thematic courses have also been included since 2008, focusing on specific themes.

Short Certificate coursesare a similar format to the specialized courses but take place over a shorter period of time. These courses began in May 2010 and are offered in collaboration with The Right to Education Project, Transparency International, the University for Peace Human Rights Centre and War Child Holland.

In-House Training

http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=277

In addition to distance-learning courses, HREA offers “tailored in-house training for NGOs, governmental and international-governmental agencies on human rights advocacy, human rights-based programming, human rights litigation, human rights monitoring, monitoring & evaluation, and international and regional human rights mechanisms.” Prospective clients can contact HREA to set up a training according to their needs.

Distributed Learning Programme for Human Rights Defenders

http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=276

These learning experiences are longer and more intense than the distance learning courses. The structure of these courses is:

• 12-week, Internet-based course on human rights advocacy and the human rights-based framework

• In-person regional workshop on advocacy culminating in development of projects

• Ongoing mentoring through regional or local human rights group

• 12-week, Internet-based course on human rights monitoring

• In-person regional training on monitoring with sharing of experience and further networking

The current project is a long-term training program for young human rights defenders in the Arab World.

Networking Human Rights Defenders and Educators

http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=7&language_id=1

HREA participates in/has initiated a number of networks for human rights defenders and educators. They include: Global Human Rights Education Network; Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe (DARE) Network; Portal for Human Rights Schools; Arabic Portal for Human Rights; U.S. Human Rights Network; Global Internet Liberty Campaign (GILC); OneWorld Nederland; OneWorld International

Service Learning Programme

http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=105

HREA and Amnesty International have just published a manual on human rights and service learning that can be downloaded in pdf from their website. This manual contains lessons and projects, and is designed to: “engage educators currently utilizing service-learning in the practice of human rights education; enable human rights educators and trainers to teach through service-learning; and provide the tools and building blocks for educators to promote human rights education and service-learning far beyond the scope of the activities included in this manual.

Clearinghouse and Resource Centre

http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=298

The resource center includes the following:

Forums: Include the Global Human Rights Education Listserv (“a forum on which activists and educators exhange information on upcoming trainings and conferences; studies and "lessons learned"; human rights education resources; and new projects from around the world”); the North American Human Rights Education Listserv (with a focus on “focus on topics, current events and issues of regional importance”); the Psychology and Human Rights Forum; and Huridocs-Tech, which is “a forum on the use of information technologies for human rights work; on policies regarding freedom of speech, privacy, the right to information and on other issues related to human rights and the Internet.”

Library: The Library “contains over 3,000 full-text guides, curricula, textbooks and other documents that can be used for both formal and non-formal education about, for and in human rights.” It is arranged so that visitors can browse by audience. Audiences include: Educational Policy, Curriculum, Methodology, Research; Training of Professional Groups, including In-Service and Pre-Service Training; Formal Education; Non-Formal and Informal Education. A number of resources and materials for sub-groups within these audiences are available for download. There is a specific link with a list of linked resources for Teachers.

Databases: Include: a Directory of Organisations involved in human rights education; an Annotated Bibliography of human rights education materials; and a Global Directory of Human Rights Educators (http://www.hrea.org/erc/Databases/educators.php).

Other

HREA also has a human rights education conduct research and evaluation of human rights programs: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=299

What are their best practices? What can we learn from them?

1. Network and partnerships

HREA has an extremely wide-reaching network and connections with such a large number of partners that in looking at their website, it is almost difficult to keep track of how all the different programs fit into the great scheme of the organization. Through their presence and connections in so many different locations and with so many other like-minded organizations, they act in many ways as a clearinghouse or hub for information and resources. In this way, they seem to have made themselves the go-to resource for education practitioners, civil society, governments, and others around the world looking to implement human rights education in a wide variety of sectors and locations. Their Global Directory of Human Rights Educators and other networking resources provide a platform through which human rights educators, individuals and organizations, around the world can connect with one another. They have an enormous number of links to outside organizations and directions on how to get free educational resources from many sources within their network and partnerships.

2. Multilingual content

Due to the international reach of the network, they are able to offer some of their courses and content in multiple languages in order to reach a wider audience. Their entire website appears to be available in nine languages as well.

3. Use of multimedia in courses

HREA makes excellent use of multimedia in their introductory short courses, which incorporate interactivity, quizzes, videos, and podcasts in self-guided courses that take a few hours to complete and lead to a certificate of completion. Those who are interested can see a short demo of the course before signing up.

4. Use of testimonials

Testimonials from participants in many of HREA’s courses are published online, and include both positive commentary and suggestions for how the course can be improved. This is an excellent resource for those considering taking a course, and demonstrates the transparency of the organization and their dedication to service, reflection, and improvement. Testimonials are easy to access, as they are linked prominently on course description pages. An example of a testimonials page can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/fr/index.php/index.php?base_id=664&language_id=1

Do they charge for their services? If so, how much?

Specialized courses: US$ 725. Tuition for auditors is US$ 275

Short certificate courses: US$ 435. Tuition for auditors is US$ 165

Introductory short courses are $50.

The cost for many courses also depends on country residency, with a discount given to “permanentresidents of non-OECD countries are eligible for the discounted tuition rates, not nationals of OECD countries working for international organisations who are temporarily based in non-OECD countries or applicants from non-OECD countries that work for well-resourced organisations.” This is to benefit applicants from small NGOs and community-based organisations in developing countries.

A variety of educational and training materials published by HREA are available for free online: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=107