Article 26 Amnesty International's USA Human Rights Education Update January/February 2003 - - - - - - - - - - - - In this issue: -- Letter from the editor -- The Integration Project Update -- HRE Lesson Plan -- Think Peace -- Feedback? -- Meet Project Spera -- The Education Program Team -- Human Rights Publications - - - - - - - - - - - - Dear Educator Activist, Happy 2003!! As we head into the new year, we are faced with many challenges - some new and some familiar. In the face of these challenges, it is as important as ever that we work together. We need to learn from one another, sharing ideas and successes and frustrations. From lesson plans to more difficult and thought provoking questions, we need to find the place to seek out answers and support. It is our continued hope that this newsletter will provide the space for such exchanges. To that end, I want to thank all of you who have volunteered to help out by serving on committees, reviewing new resources and by sharing your thoughts on something you have read in Article 26-keep it coming. But working together, challenging each other, and supporting each other, is not enough. We need to make sure that we bring what we learn to the students that we work with. We need to work with them to make sense of what is happening in our world in a way that will transform how they think and act. Perhaps then, when we welcome 2004, we will be on the verge of peace - where more people than ever before are living in dignity. In Peace, Karen Robinson Human Rights Education Program Amnesty International USA - - - - - - - - - - - - INTEGRATION PROJECT UPDATE Guess What? We are excited to announce that the Integration Project is a thing of the past! Well, to be more exact, the name of the project is a thing of the past. As part of a branding process intended to raise awareness about our initiative to incorporate human rights education into school systems across the country, we have come up with a new name-Rights in Sight: A Focus on Human Rights in Education. To further get the word out, we are planning to hold special events in various communities, and we are working to strengthen our presence on the Amnesty International USA website. The latter will provide easy access to lesson plans and other resources for the classroom. Curriculum Development We are in the initial stages of putting together a new set of lesson plans for middle and high school American history classes. Approximately 20 one-to-two day lessons are being developed around themes commonly covered in history courses. These lessons are intended to assist educators in their coverage of important topics, and, at the same time, highlight the human rights component of the issue. With these lessons as a model, educators will find it easier to incorporate a human rights perspective into all of their classes! We are also beginning work on a series of world history lesson plans. A heartfelt thank you to the teachers at Madison High School in Brooklyn, New York, who helping us develop this series. For further information about Rights in Sight, or if you are an educator who would like to work with us to create stimulating and relevant lesson plans for any school grade, please contact Nick Sullivan at nsullivan@aiusa.org. - - - - - - - - - - - - HRE LESSON PLAN View the lesson plan on the Crisis in Iraq. http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=305607&l=2277 - - - - - - - - - - - - THINK PEACE by Janet Schmidt, 2002-3 Research Fellow, Teaching Tolerance It's Time to Learn Your CRC Every teacher should get acquainted with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). It's a fairly recent international document, adopted by the U.N. in 1989 and ratified since then by all member nations, except for two: Somalia and the United States. The CRC includes four categories of rights: survival, development, protection and, most notably, participation. It affirms the right of all children to know their rights and to work together with adults to create better lives for all people. Despite the failure of our government (so far) to give its official approval to the CRC, U.S. educators ought to understand the special human rights framework it establishes. Educators at all levels need to know the international standards accepted by nearly every other nation in the world, and to help work toward achieving these standards in the U.S. and beyond. Furthermore, educators should bring the ideas and promises of the CRC to students in school. A great resource for introducing the CRC to elementary school children is the book A Life Like Mine: How Children Live Around the World (Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2002). Beautiful photos of children from all over the globe are accompanied by simple, clear text. Students can focus on a single category of rights, or on a single issue, or on a particular part of the world. If there is time for in-depth exploration, students can pursue specific topics through web research and group and individual projects. Study of children's rights can connect readily with current events and with students' own lives. When President Clinton signed the Convention in 1995, there was some hope among human rights educators that ratification would soon follow. But since it doesn't appear that the Senate will consider it anytime soon, let's move forward. If you were waiting to celebrate the U.S. ratification of this document before bringing it to school, change your plan. And if you haven't done so already, educate yourself about the CRC (and about the UDHR and other human rights documents). Encourage your colleagues to do the same. Urge teacher educators to include it in their courses for pre-service teachers. And then bring it to your students, and let them participate in learning about and promoting children's rights! - - - - - - - - - - - - FEEDBACK? We are always looking for new and better ways to support educators around the country. One idea we are considering is turning some of the printed resources we offer into CD-ROMs. The question we put to you is this: Would you find CD-ROMs more convenient that printed materials? Please tell us what you think. Send an e-mail to hre_intern@aiusa.org. - - - - - - - - - - - - MEET PROJECT SPERA Project Spera, Inc. is a newly founded educational nonprofit whose mission is to inform, empower and engage young people to become active and responsible lifelong participants in a global community. Project Spera will provide programs and services for students and teachers in middle and high schools, starting in the San Francisco Bay Area. We have chosen to focus on three broad issue areas in our pilot year: Human Rights, Poverty, and Responding to September 11, 2001. With this focus, we are currently developing Professional Development resources for teachers and a Global Citizenship Unit for students. The teaching resources will include background information and fact sheets, curriculum and lesson plan ideas, and teacher briefings on specific issues. The Global Citizenship unit will teach about issues including hunger and poverty, labor rights, terrorism and armed conflict. The workshops will promote an understanding of how international social, economic and political problems impact the lives of human beings everywhere, and will encourage global social responsibility. The workshops will include seminar-style instruction, interactive group-work, simulations, role-plays, and discussion. Project Spera will pilot the Global Citizenship Unit and Professional Development resources in Spring and Summer 2003. We are seeking feedback on teachers' interest and ability to incorporate international issues in their classrooms. If you work in the field of education in the San Francisco Bay Area and are interested in participating, please contact Madiha Murshed at murshed@projectspera.org or 415-292-7421. If you are interested in our work, or have questions or concerns, we encourage you to contact us. More information about Project Spera and our contact details are available on www.projectspera.org. We look forward to hearing from you! - - - - - - - - - - - - THE EDUCATION PROGRAM TEAM Meet the Human Rights Education Program staff, volunteers and leadership: The national steering committee Christy Hargesheimer (Nebraska) Kristen Belisle (Washington, DC) Scott Hirschfeld (New York City) Maria del Rocio Costa (Puerto Rico) Staff and office volunteers based out of the New York Office Karen Robinson, Director (krobinson@aiusa.org) Nick Sullivan, Program Coordinator (nsullivan@aiusa.org) Joanne Clark, Project Assistant, Article 26 Editor (jclark@aiusa.org) Catherine Bergart, Editorial Director (cbergart@aiusa.org) Pinar Araz, Human Rights Education Intern (hre_intern@aiusa.org) - - - - - - - - - - - - HUMAN RIGHTS PUBLICATIONS FROM THE AIUSA EDUCATION PROGRAM The following publications are available free of charge*: Speak Truth to Power (2000): A resource containing extensive information and activities on a wide range of human rights issues, based on interviews with over fifty human rights advocates around the world. September 11th Crises Response Guide (2001): A resource focusing on the issues in our local, national and international community in light of the tragic events of September 11th 2001. The Fourth R: The extensive newsletter of the Human Rights Education Program. Contains useful articles and resources centered on the theme of human rights education. * If you wish to order more than 20 copies of one of our free publications, we ask that you pay the postage. $7** Our World, Our Rights (2000): A guide to introducing elementary school children to human rights as embodied in the UDHR. $7 $20** UDHR Poster Series and Teachers Guide (2002): Twelve beautifully designed posters illustrating articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and a teacher's guide, which includes an introductory lesson plan on the UDRH as well as lesson plans for incorporating the illustrated articles into existing coursework. ** For price reductions on bulk orders, or if you are unable to pay the regular purchase price for these publications, please call Karen Robinson at (212) 633-4270 or e-mail krobinson@aiusa.org. ---- You can subscribe to this newsletter at: http://www.amnestyusa.org/education/article26/ ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to <hr-education@hrea.org>. 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