ARTICLE 26 Amnesty International USA Human Rights Education Program September 2003 - - - - - - - - - - - - In this issue: - Opening Letter - Welcome NY City Teaching Fellows - Call for Participation - Rights in Sight Summit - More Dear Educator Activists, The school year is upon us! From the Human Rights Education Program, we hope that the summer has given you the chance to recharge and get ready for the new school year. The start of the year is a great time to reaffirm our commitment to human rights, and to recall two important things: WHAT we are teaching and HOW we teach it. Materials - content, curriculum, lesson plans, handouts all are of prime importance. But HOW we teach is an essential component to the field of human rights education. Let's keep in mind that in order to bring about a culture that respects all of our human rights, those principles must necessarily be bred in the classroom, or the promotion of human rights will ring hollow. Students can feel, hear, and know human rights, right in your classroom! How? The easiest way is through class participation and helping the students take ownership of their classroom. As well, you can set up your own "classroom rights and obligations". Do you have other tips? Let us know! Throughout the summer in the Amnesty office, things have been as active as always. We had a very successful, first-ever US national Human Rights Education Summit, in New York City. (Read more below). Curriculum-wise, we are nearing completion on a resource book for US History. ACTIVATE! is growing - now in 8 sites! We were fortunate this summer to have a great team of volunteers and interns working with us. A big thank you goes to them! Naralys Estevez, Molly Loeb, Molly Ernst-Alper, and, Emma Alabaster - without you, the summer would not have been nearly as productive or fun. So, as the summer winds down and the school year begins, we should keep some things in mind: 1. We are all facing some very real and difficult challenges - budgets being one of the most significant as it impacts us at so many different levels. 2. Unfunded mandates - need I say more. 3. An economy that has made life even more difficult for even more people. 4. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. 5. The opportunity to learn, the human right to education for everyone is worth fighting for. 6. There is a need and a place for all of us...whether you are a new human rights educator or you have been doing this work for years - you are needed. 7. Knowing that just 1 person you have worked with got it, is an important and valuable success...if your school or other place of learning does not recognize that yet, we do - SHARE THOSE SUCCESSES WITH US! Good luck and stay in touch! In Solidarity, Karen - - - - - - - - - - - - WELCOME NEW YORK CITY TEACHING FELLOWS AIUSA's Human Rights Education program would like to welcome the incoming class of New York City teaching fellows. The work you have committed to doing is very important and as you partner and work with other teachers in the school system, know that we are ready to support your work in any way that we can. We look forward to hearing about your successes, your challenges and your general reflections as you embark on this very worthwhile endeavor. - - - - - - - - - - - - CALL FOR PARTICIPATION: HUMAN RIGHTS AND LITERACY RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT Level: Middle school (10 lessons) and high school (10 lessons) Focus: Non-fiction essays not currently featured in standard literature texts Alignment: National Education Standards For English/Language Arts Emphasis: Grammar, analyzing literature, writing, study skills and speech Timeline: Lesson Plan Proposal Submission: September 15 Lesson Plan Submission: October 1 Publication Date: November 15 * Please see model lesson plan for standard format * Emphasis will be placed on cross-curricular lesson development * Personal and institutional recognition will be given for accepted lesson plans Learn more: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=305607&l=6746 - - - - - - - - - - - - HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION, RIGHTS IN SIGHT SUMMIT 31 July - 1 August 2003 Over the course of two days, just over 180 educator-activists, community representatives, administrators, representatives from NGOs, and politicians met in New York City in the first-ever national human rights education summit. The No Child Left Behind Act was where we started in our discussions about human rights education and the related issue of the human right to education. We discussed issues that impact education in the United States and what we, as human rights educators from a wide cross section, can do to not just leave no child behind but to help them become active, engaged participants in society. Read more: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=305607&l=6747 - - - - - - - - - - - - LESSON PLAN Preliminary reflection on the death penalty View the lesson plan: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=305607&l=6748 - - - - - - - - - - - - AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL'S THIRD INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION FORUM The Human Rights Education (HRE) network held its third International Human Rights Education Forum in Krokkleiva, Norway last May. The Forum brought together HRE coordinators from across the movement to discuss and debate HRE within AI, and plan HRE work for the next two years. Read a brief overview: http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=305607&l=6749 For more information about this meeting, please contact HREintern@aiusa.org . - - - - - - - - - - - - THE NEW 4TH R!! It is with great pleasure that the Human Rights Education (HRE) Program announces the launch of the new 4th R. The 4th R has long been a corner stone of the HRE program: providing resource ideas and suggestions for educators, sharing information about work in HRE, challenging each other to look at our work through different lenses, and growing the community of educator activists, committed to human rights in theory, in practice, and in action. That hasn't changed. What has changed, based on feedback from all of you, is the layout and look of the magazine. Our team of volunteers and our designer have worked very hard to provide you with a resource that is easy to use, accessible, and full of information that is going to assist you in your work as an educator activist. If you are interested in receiving the 4th R, please contact us at education@aiusa.org and indicate that you would like to receive the 4th R. ======== 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.
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