2005 Testimonials - Course 8E: Introduction to Human Rights Education

What participants said about this course:

"It was an excellent course, exactly what I expected and more."

"This was my first on-line course and I was somewhat skeptical. However, the course far exceeded my expectations and I found it to be very beneficial to my ongoing professional development."

"This course matched all my expectations. The readings were an exceptionally invaluable resource, and I enjoyed learning from my peers."

"I really did not know what to expect from a distance course. But it met all my expectations… I learned a lot from the readings and from the other participants and I feel I have a lot of new resources that will be useful in the future."

"I have to admit that I did not come with very specific expectations: I am not an education expert, so did not know what to expect. I was very pleased to see that the course - though designed for education practitioners - did meet my professional needs very well."

"Above and beyond for the most part. I enjoyed it and wished the dialogue could be continued!"

"It really exceeded my expectations. I was not worried about any technical difficulties with the on-line nature of the course, nor was I concerned that it would not be conducive to learning, but I was skeptical that the virtual (on-line) classroom could deliver the same quality of experience as a traditional classroom. Although there were clearly differences - which took some getting used to - I found the experience every bit as valuable as a traditional classroom environment."

"I really learnt much more than I expected that there was to know. I am also supported in my thought about human rights education: that it is more than knowing the instruments…"

"This was the first time that I enrolled in a distance-learning course, and I was not sure what to expect. I enjoyed the course very much, and learned a great amount from the materials as well as from the participants."

"[The course met my expectations] very well, considering I wasn't sure what to expect from an online course. At times I did wish I was sitting in a classroom with all the other participants, discussing issues and role playing facilitating HRE, but knowing the limitations from the beginning, I was very impressed with the level of motivation and excitement the course raised in me and I so much appreciated the enthusiasm and contributions from the other participants."

"The course far surpassed my expectations. I loved it and learnt a tremendous amount, especially from participants' contributions."

"I feel the curriculum was very balanced although you do need to dedicate some hours of the week to reading it was not so much as to feel drowned and lost in so much topics and reading. It also gave you time to reflect on the readings. The themes were like bricks one was necessary to understand the next (I really liked that)."

"The curriculum was very appropriate and very timely. I thought the chosen topics were excellent."

"The structure of the course was well built and fits logically together."

"I especially appreciated how the course built and was grounded in a solid foundation from the onset. I also welcomed the opportunity to have additional readings if a topic was of particular interest to me."

"I thought the order of the presentation was very good, and helped me to think through how to develop a training topic."

"Good variety of topics, all of which were both relevant and important."

"Perhaps some amount of time could be spent looking at controversy in human rights. By that I mean to spend more time discussing the clashes between culture and human rights, talking about the universality of rights and collective vs. individual rights. We did touch very briefly on some of these issues, but more discussion, especially drawing on the experiences and perspectives of the class participants in this area would be helpful."

"I had never used the source of the readings before so that first was something good. The language of the texts was easy to understand and follow. I believe the readings were OK ( example wise) but for me it was the comments of the others that made me understand and put the readings in context. The assignments I believe had more to do with personal/ work experiences."

"I was thankful for the facilitator's additional recommendations around further readings and books. I have found her recommendations to be both sound and very useful to my work."

"The readings were very useful. My only comment would be to provide more suggestions for additional readings on each topic."

"I enjoyed the readings, and thought they were a good mix of theory and practice."

"I appreciated the splitting of readings into core ones and supplementary ones. This is something that definitely should be considered. Sometimes the readings are available in different languages and the weblinks to the readings make this obvious. Where this availability in different languages is not obvious, it should perhaps be explicitly pointed out."

"The websites provided will be useful when looking for ideas for future training programmes that I am likely to be part of. I was particularly interested in ideas for running different human rights sessions that were presented to us through the readings (for example on dealing with rights of refugees)."

"Comments, discussions, and questions posed by course participants were for me the most interesting part of the course. I found myself realizing that many people out there in the world did not think like me and that mine was not the only opinion that mattered. Also, I learnt that HRE was not the preserve of the NGO community!"

"I find it very hard to be genuinely interested in topics of others without meeting them in person. Again I feel it is a disadvantage of being online."

"I especially enjoyed the feedback and thought provoking comments from other participants. I think the choice of participants offered a diverse variety of experience, culture and knowledge and that really enriched the whole learning experience for me."

"I thought this aspect of the course was very instructive and interesting - particularly reading the responses/discussion from other participants and learning about HRE from different perspectives. Our group provided much rich, thoughtful and thought-provoking discussion."

"By discussing participants are often to "translate " he learning and think to what it relates a to their life or work… I felt I had a too much of a "desk job" a lot of people had more "hands on" and therefore more interesting discussions…"

"This was a good way of touching base with other particants in a manner that was directed at the topic of interest, but also allowed the participants to bring to bear their own experiences and knowledge."

" The discussions were great. Hard to read and keep opening different people's writings…….all but the discussion board items were helpful and the way they were organized was good."

"Reading other participants' contributions took a lot of time, but it was worth it as I not only enjoyed them thoroughly, but also learnt an incredible amount from their contributions."

"Reading the contributions from other course participants was absolutely one of the most wonderful aspects of the course. The difficulties I had with the on-line (i.e., not in-person) nature of the course were more than outweighed by the benefits of being able to share ideas and experiences with such an interesting cross section of people. I'm not sure if all classes are as active as ours was. But as a result of the high level of participation - and the sometimes lengthy and multiple contributions from a single participant - I found that it took much more time to really read and absorb it all than I expected."

"This for sure was my favorite part of the course. I learned a lot from others, their work and their life experiences. They also made clearer the concepts of the readings."

"I learned a lot from other students' answers. Sometimes though I felt I did not have as much knowledge on the topics as others had."

"I especially got a lot out of the peer review of my final project. However, part of the complexity of reading the weekly participant comments was the sheer number to read and the fact that often some arrived late and so we had often moved on by then and I therefore did not give them the time they were due."

"I thought our group participated well, and this was an enjoyable aspect of the course. I learned much from what others had to say, as well as learned about how others are applying HRE in their various situations."

"Extremely helpful, I learned so much, a very interesting group of people, I wish I can keep in touch with them."

"Perhaps I should commend the way the questions were posed by the course facilitator. Some appeared simple, but I think it is that simplicity that generated very deep and detailed discussion from participants."

"I enjoyed the simultaneous nature of the discussion [in the chat sessions]. I felt I was learning more about how both participants and facilitators thought. I participated in two sessions. The last one though, I didn't find useful, probably because the course was essentially over."

"I would have like more chats and I would make the times varying a bit more so that more people have a chance to participate. I would also have more structured topics and additional special guests like Shula Koenig."

"The chats were Ok for the group feeling because of the technology some comments are delayed...but this always happens I believe for people that have never been to chats this can be hard to follow but I loved having guests in the chats this was extremely interesting!! The chats were not technically difficult at all."

"The chats were difficult but interesting. Sometimes I felt intimidated to contribute because maybe what I was saying wasn't so relevant. Shula Koenig was very supportive."

"I enjoyed the chat sessions, and felt that they did enhance the learning. I mentioned earlier that I wondered if a chat session could be for a specific topic that had previously been discussed especially for a topic that inspired many varied responses. The sessions were easy to participate in, but I did get "kicked out" of the chat a few times without realizing it until later in the discussion."

"Great! I loved the chat sessions……..missed one due to school visits but I liked them after I figured out the technical aspect of it………wished we could have done more often as I learned so much from other participants."

"I LOVED the chat sessions and only regret that 1) I didn't participate in all of them and 2) there weren't more of them. I did have some technical difficulties during the chat with Shulamith which made following the discussion and participating more difficult and somewhat frustrating. [Technical support staff] were wonderful about guiding me through the difficulties."

"While the time difference was a bit of a challenge, the chats were very worthwhile and I should like to find a way to continue connecting with participants. I found it very helpful to have transcripts of the dialogue, thank-you. The chats were well planned and executed technically by staff."

"Having people's pictures and profiles up on the site is a fantastic idea. I found I always checked up someone's profile and picture when I was reading their contribution. This way I related their answer to their background and nature of work and found I understood their comments better."

"The written assignments were clearly explained and if there were doubts there was the channel open to write straight to the facilitator and ask for clarifications. The assignments more than helping me understand the topic, they helped me relate to the topic and be able to translate it and by doing this I believe I developed a practical skill."

"These were my FAVORITE. I wish I had more time to write each and perhaps been asked to write longer on a given topic. I felt the most "rewarded" when reflecting on past experiences……I loved this part of the course because there were things that I had not remembered and this triggered the memories and the ideas."

"The written assignments were helpful to articulate and continue the reflection stimulated by the readings and the participants online."

"The exercises in general were good but sometimes I understood them when other people started replying. For the practical skills, I need to apply what I have learned."

"The periodic written assignments helped me to think and rethink through some issues, and the peer feedback was very helpful for my final project."

"The facilitator maintained a fantastic tone throughout the course providing the right teacher-student balance. Even with private messages (questions sent directly to the facilitator) the responses to me were always balanced and appeared well thought out. All 'harsh' messages were sent by the administrator not the course facilitator - e.g. messages about needing to complete my assignments in time! I got quite a number of these! I suppose the course organizers did this on purpose so that the facilitator relates to us in a completely different way and doesn't appear to be the one enforcing rules and regulations!"

"Excellent instructor (thank you Felisa). I still wonder how she found the time to respond so thoughtfully to each of my questions. A big thank you once more!"

"The instructor was excellent and I could not fault her."

"Excellent facilitation. Thank you."

"The facilitator's work put a thread to put everything together. Felisa always found a way to relate all the participants comments and found the way that they related to each other and it was like an interesting summary of all the discussions we had."

"[The instructor's] weekly feedback messages were nothing short of brilliant. I am really in awe of how skillfully you wove things together, how respectful and warm your tone was, and how well you guided us through the various topics --- on the one hand as if you weren't there, and on the other hand as if you had extended a firm, but gentle/supportive hand and invited us to follow."

"[The instructor's] feedback was very helpful and encouraging. I appreciated the weekly feedback and tying together and relating the various comments/responses from the participants. This helped place perspective on the many comments received per weekly assignment. Felisa's individual feedback was helpful and instructive as well. She was always very patient and encouraging and challenged us to think about HRE in different ways."

"It has been simply a pleasure to work with [the course instructor] - her personality transpired through her e-mails and instructions and created a great course climate in the truest sense of HRE."

"The facilitator's feedback was always timely and on target with the flavour of the discussion. I appreciated that Felisa allowed the course to follow its own uniqueness and did not impose too much structure upon it. I guess her flexibility and adaptability recognized that we were all adult learners and from multiple cultures and she allowed this to be reflected in the course content."

"Brilliant! I've been reading [the instructor's] stuff for years and feel privileged to have been I this course!! [Technical support staff] were fabulous and responding promptly and were very positive in their support."

"[Technical support] was extremely helpful all the time ( THANK YOU)."

"Thank you [technical support staff]! Very friendly and helpful. Some difficulties I encountered were due to my own shortcomings. Very high technical standards, very user-friendly.

"My only complaint about the website is that it logs you out after some amount of time of inactivity and I found this annoying because I would often go back and forth between what I was doing and would always need to log back in and find my place again."

"HREA staff have always been very responsive and helpful."

"It's all good I'm just learning to become more tech savvy…"

"I did not have any technical challenges and found the staff to be helpful and supportive."

"It was a good idea to insist that participants write a project on something they are going to pursue in the future (at organizational or personal level). I will use the feedback given to improve my project and will be following the laid out plan to review a number of projects in our organization in 2006. I'm also hoping to be able to pass on some of the learning to staff running HRE programmes in future. Its for this reason I am hoping the course website will remain accessible to us for a while."

"I have developed the beginning of a human rights curriculum for my program and I believe from this we will not only work on HRE, but the follow-on of supporting human rights projects that youth will initiate themselves."

"Thank you very much to the 'course team' for organizing the course, for accepting my application and for encouraging me to keep contributing."

"I fully intend to put all that I've learned back into my work. This course has increased my sensitivity and awareness into the many means and perspectives with which one can approach HRE. It will help me both as a teacher and an activist."

"THANKS SO MUCH!!! IT was a pleasure to share stories and ideas with like minds and to hear from people living so far from me and realize that we all have the same goal in mind. LOVED that!!!"

"I have learnt a lot and plan to continue working in this field. Now after the course I am able to better articulate my thoughts and have a sounder theoretical foundation in which to ground them. This course also has encouraged me to experiment a little more with different HRE models and methods."

"THANK YOU very much for a wonderful experience. I am not sure how I am going to take it from here but I know this is the area I want to be. HRE is the kind of education I've always wanted to exist and was looking for it. I don't feel alone anymore."

"The course has brought me important insights to improve our education programs as well as child rights programming at country level and to influence regional and international agenda of our organization."

"The course was very good at exploring the range of topics for education in human rights, the challenges faced by this, and the scope of diversity of approaches that are taken."

"Thank you so very much for offering this course. It has been an inspirational and transformative experience, even for me who has been gung ho on human rights issues for so long. I am taking what I have learned and turning it around immediately to hopefully invigorate many more people like I have been invigorated."

"I found it excellent as an introduction to HRE. That is exactly what I was looking for: resources and bibliography as well as theoretical questions on HRE. I think there was a good balance between theoretical and practical readings. Some of the theory was difficult for me to follow though and I think I needed more work on that. I felt that the content of the course was so much that maybe two courses were necessary. Some weeks the readings were a lot as opposed to others. I think I needed more time for some of them."

"Only one suggestion: to create a degree program on HRE. I had done a lot research on what is being offered worldwide and yours is ranking on the top. Please consider it and let me know."

"Overall I AM VERY HAPPY WITH THE COURSE, and I definitely happy I participated."

"Thanks for this great course experience. I am looking forward to be part of the upcoming Rights Based Programming course."

"Thank you again . . . and again, and again, and again!"