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HDC Teachers Share Best Practices at Global Open House

HDC Teachers Share Best Practices at Global Open House

September 19, 2020 – World Youth Alliance hosted its first HDC Global Open House online gathering HDC teachers from Kenya, Croatia, Romania, and the Philippines. More than 50 attendees tuned in to WYA’s Facebook Live page to learn more about this innovative K-12 program focused on personal development and human dignity. 

The event featured several panelists. Kevin Alando, Regional Director of Operations for WYA Africa, and Joyce Cedeño, Regional Director of Operations for WYA Asia Pacific, spoke about the benefits of the HDC and implementation of the curriculum in their regions. 

Alando shared one example of a Grade 6 student in Kenya who struggled with a habit of falling asleep in class. When they were taught about freedom for excellence, she was able to apply this by demonstrating patience when other students were speaking in class.

Petra Medak of WYA Croatia, Delia Balan of WYA Romania, and Dave Mariano of WYA Asia Pacific also reflected on their experiences of teaching the HDC and shared best practices.

During the pandemic, Medak shared that their team was afraid to shift to teaching the HDC online because it might already be too much for the children who already had online school. In the end, they saw that it was still successful. In one evaluation, a student said, “I know I will be happy when I remember this experience in the future…. After this, I will show people even more that I care about them and I will respect myself and others more.” 

Balan also shared a testimony on how their local community first responded to the HDC. “The concept of human dignity in Romania is not a usual one. It’s hard to convince parents and teachers about its importance and our goal is to make human dignity famous here. After attending 1-2 sessions, they saw why it was necessary to teach this at a young age and encouraged us to do more sessions,” Balan shares. 

Indeed, a common theme throughout the event was the profound impact the HDC has on young people. Watch the full stream of the HDC Virtual Open House in full below.

Invite us to host an HDC open house for your community by sending us an email at education@wya.net

Written by: Siobhan-Heekin Canedy, WYA North America Program Officer

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