A small but growing number of Human Rights Education (HRE) studies demonstrates that HRE can encourage civic action and respect for the rights and dignity of all people. Building on existing efforts, how might we increasingly integrate HRE into classrooms and communities? This presentation and discussion will highlight one such effort, Human Rights Close to Home (HRCH), which engages high school students and K-12 teachers in a yearlong human rights education program. 

The goal of HRCH is to encourage civic action in order to strengthen democracy and respect for human rights in our Connecticut communities and beyond. HRCH provides dynamic professional development for teachers that includes human rights content and rights-based approaches to classroom instruction consistent with promoting civic engagement and empowering youth activism. 

HRCH supports youth by giving them tools to help in building a sustainable network of young civic engagement leaders who collaborate with community members on creating positive social change and learn from each other. HRCH is interactive and learner-centered. Teacher and student fellows learn and share through collaboration with each other as well as scholars, human rights educators, and practitioners.