The aims of this programme are different from those of the formal systems of teaching and learning so the methodology here would employ different means of established teaching and training.
The programme would consist of initiatory lectures, face-to-face discussion with resource persons drawn from a variety of fields and experiences, panel discussions, workshops, case study discussions, policy discussions, films on development, and issues of rights and justice etc. The programme would use interactive principles to develop participatory and critical approaches to learning, teaching and training aimed at developing a sense of critical engagement with the processes and systems, which govern society, its development and inter personal relations. These principles would also be used to create a dialogic, interactive and participatory ‘educational space’ owned collectively by the participants of the programme. The significant characteristics of the educational space for dialogue would be its horizontal structure, informal nature, exposure to non-mainstream perspectives, critical engagement with both mainstream and non-mainstream perspectives and a creative environment for learning and training. The dynamics of the educational space itself and the methodology will be open to critical questioning and will be discussed in the feedback sessions towards end, which would lead to improvement in design and methodology of the future programmes (See feedback / review form later).
Assumptions
The activities and the ideas expressed above are premised on the following assumptions:
- Assume and recognise the fact that the participants may or may not have similar levels of understanding of the issues, parental background and education but are connected by their desire to participate in the programme.
- Participants are willing to critically engage with the themes of the programme and are sufficiently interested.
- Participants have read the key texts, other reading materials and understood the context of it.
- They also understand the idea of a participatory and interactive dialogic space and are willing to critically engage with it and think for development of the methodology and the programme.
- They are comfortable with the language and willing to participate in spite of their problems with the language with the help of others.
Role of Resource Persons
Since the programme emphasises a lot on the interaction and participation of the participants in the programme, it is crucial that the principles are understood by the resource persons very carefully. They need to understand the value of the participation and the ways it can be ensured. Hence care should be taken in the finalisation of the resource persons and if possible they should have a brief orientation programme together prior to the beginning of the course and to maximum possible extent they should be staying with the participants and plan to be there with the participants for the full duration of the course.
It is also essential that they pay enough attention to each of the participant keeping in mind their needs and socio-economic and cultural context in mind, in order to achieve the maximum result from the programme and have a sustained impact on participants.
Follow Up
As the programme progresses the participants together with the resource persons engage in drawing up of a follow up procedure amongst them either through creation of list serves or establishing of networks or through some common activities. This would mean that a significant group of them would add to the strength of the human rights defenders and also be willing to take forward the message of the rights, justice and development in their organisations and networks in a much more collective fashion.