Hemispheric Course For Teachers: The Inter-American Democratic Charter As An Instrument For Teaching Democratic Values And Practices: IADEC Course

The Inter-American Charter of the Organization of American States declares that the people of the Americas have the right to live in democracy and their governments the obligation to promote it and defend it (Inter-American Democratic Charter, 2001). The Charter also recognizes that education is an effective way to promote citizens’ awareness concerning their own countries and to strengthen democratic institutions. This capstone paper presents a focused response and a contribution to the teaching and learning of democratic values and practices with the design of an internet based (online) course for secondary education teachers. The online Hemispheric Course for Teachers: the Inter-American Democratic Charter as an Instrument for Teaching Democratic values and Practices (the IADEC course) aims to provide secondary education teachers with a practical understanding of the essential elements of democracy. The IADEC is a 10 week course designed initially for 30 teachers of secondary education in the Americas region. The course will become part of the working plan of the Department of Education and Culture at the Organization of the American States