[hr-education-na] Re: Successful strategies for introducing HRE

Colleagues:

I am grateful to all contributors whose informative and
insightful "snapshots from the field" have illuminated this discussion.
It's truly gratifying to read about how dynamic individual teachers 
have integrated HRE into their curriculum planning, and to see evidence of
the pivotal role that department leaders can play in permanently
integrating HRE into their school curriculum. The work of teacher
educators who structure HRE into their course offerings promises to reap
substantial benefits, as the professionals they teach begin their careers
equipped with both the information and the methodology they need to
implement HRE in their positions. It's clear that the creativity and
tenacity of individual educators is playing a major role in putting HRE on
the curricular map in US schools.

One observation I might add to this discussion regarding strategy is
to underline the community-building role that education professionals
play in the process of making their work "stick". Within American
popular culture, there exists a romanticized mythology of the
progressive teacher as counter-cultural lone crusader and visionary.
Numerous Hollywood films present us with this notion: think Dead
Poets Society, Stand and Deliver, or Dangerous Minds.  While It plays
well at the box office, this individualistic version of progressive
education is far from the reality of how I have seen teachers
sustainably integrate HRE into their schools.

The most successful mainstream subject teachers I have worked with
that bring HRE into their classrooms do not go it alone. Beyond the
necessary first step of engaging the support of their students, they
build and sustain their work by enlisting resources found both within
and beyond the school walls. They find like-minded colleagues and
support each others' work through team teaching and curricular work;
they invite administrators to view their classes, and go about the
sometimes-delicate task of securing institutional support for their
work through diplomacy and collegial education; they invite parents
and other community members to participate in the learning process;
and they collaborate with community-based organizations whose mission directly
or indirectly supports HRE. In short, to sustain their work, teachers of HRE
reach far beyond conventional classroom boundaries. As a result,
their work on behalf of HRE has a strengthening, community-building
effect on the entire educational structure.

My work with educators has led me to conclude that they are every bit
as strategically savvy as activists who advance human rights through
more traditionally recognized routes such as law and media-based
advocacy. Their activism on behalf of HRE impacts both individual
school cultures and the larger communities in which they work.
Perhaps the next question to ask is: how can those of us working in
organizations dedicated to advancing human rights support the work of
educator-activists most effectively?

Deanna

-- 
Deanna Gallagher, Information Officer
Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) - USA office
(tel) +1 978-341-0200 (fax) +1 978-341-0201
(e-mail) dgallagher@hrea.org (Web) http://www.hrea.org



======== North American Human Rights Education listserv ========
Send mail intended for the list to <hr-education-na@hrea.org>.
Archives of the list can be found at:
http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education-na/markup/maillist.php
If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact
<owner-hr-education-na@hrea.org>.
**You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item,
but please retain the original and listserv source.