HRE USA

 Most American educators are familiar with the field of Civics Education, and many have heard of Peace Education and Social Justice Education.But what is Human Rights Education (HRE)?HRE fosters a broad public understanding of the full range of human rights--civil, economic, social, cultural, political--and provides opportunities to exercise civil liberties in support of the dignity and inherent value of every human being. HRE is key to the defense of civil liberties, advocacy for social justice within the U.S., and the struggle to build a society grounded on respect for the dignity of every person. Rooted in an international human rights framework, HRE connects the U.S. traditions of rights and liberties to the universal values of the inherent and equal dignity of each human being. At the high school level, it is often found embedded within Social Studies, History, or Government course curricula, where it may draw upon legacies of human rights leaders such as Dolores Huerta, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Ai Wei Wei, and Mahatma Gandhi. It can begin at the earliest levels of formal schooling and continue through college and into the nonformal and continuing education sectors. HRE is vital. Without adequate knowledge and resources for advancing human rights, people cannot forcefully invoke and protect their rights or those of their fellow human beings, at home and abroad, when addressing issues such as refugee family separation at the border, human trafficking, bullying in school and online, as well as long-standing systemic injustices such as racial inequality and poverty. HRE supports positive social change to further equality, justice, and dignity and respect for all people.So where does Human Rights Educators USA (HRE USA) fit in?In just under a decade, we have grown to be a network of nearly 650 organizations and individuals collaborating to cultivate an expansive, vibrant base of support for HRE in the U.S.?Our network includes teachers, non-profit organizations (including all major U.S. human rights organizations), both major U.S. teacher unions, faculty at higher education institutions, and students and human rights activists. We work to leverage international and domestic principles and practices in support of our members’ efforts to implement HRE in the U.S. Our commitment to HRE in the U.S. derives from our steadfast belief that the key to engaged American citizens who understand and respect human rights -- and act in their daily lives with compassion and empathy for their fellow human beings -- is the introduction to our children of human rights concepts, in the age-appropriate language of HRE, from earliest formal schooling onward.HRE USA promotes HRE on a policy level by influencing curriculum content and standards development at the state and school district level, and in teacher preparation and through international treaty monitoring and compliance. We support educators, students, and other community members on an individual level by offering educational tools, professional development opportunities, and consultant expertise on learning about, through, and for human rights. We provide a free, on-line resource library of curricula, posters, and lesson plans on a wide variety of social justice issues for all educational levels. We collaborate with our partner human rights and social justice organizations (including Amnesty International USA, Human Rights Watch, and Teaching Tolerance) to build a movement that calls on educators not only to teach about injustices, but also to promote action to address them.We are proud of our work so far, but we recognize that although other nations have developed plans for the promotion of HRE, the U.S. has been slow to take up the call for action emanating from the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations. In addition, the U.S. has been reluctant to address the economic, social, and cultural aspects of human rights or to accord them full status as “rights” that must be defended. This reluctance makes it difficult for policy leaders in the US to find a rights-based framework for evaluating the implications of the growing inequality in the United States for the “General Welfare” which the government established by the U.S. Constitution exists to promote. In fact, research conducted for HRE USA by the Advocates for Human Rights in 2016 found that 8 states do not address human rights topics in their state learning standards at all, and another 21 states purport to teach about human rights but make no reference to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the most central of human rights documents. The research also shows that when human rights are taught, it is usually in an international context only, with standards including very few examples of human rights issues in the U.S. In addition, far too few teacher preparation programs include HRE in their curriculum. In a recent (2017) stakeholder report to the UN, researchers found that across 76 surveyed teacher preparation programs, none required prospective teachers to be proficient in HRE and only 12 offered significant opportunities for pre-service teachers to engage with human rights content and practice. In other words, most teachers are receiving no formal training in HRE and are likely unprepared to foster student learning in this area.The good news is that we know some ways to fix these problems and create solutions grounded in respect for the rights and dignity of all, and we have the expertise of our passionate members to draw upon to get the job done. But we need your help! Please join HRE USA today! ................
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