| This study explores various ways people learn to become international human rights advocates (Advocates). People involved in international human rights were interviewed to determine the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are important for an Advocate to possess. Six Advocates were profiled to describe different means in which the above are acquired. The profiles are not biographical but rather each address this study's fundamental question: How a person learns to become an Advocate. These profiles and other data also describe aspects of these Advocates' careers, which reveal Advocates' career stages and begin to point out certain implications for learning needs changing at different stages in Advocates' careers.; This study found that there is no one method of acquiring Advocates' proficiencies. Each of the Advocate-profilees acquired these proficiencies through formal, nonformal, and informal learning experiences. International relations was learned primarily through informal experiences and to a much lesser extent, nonformally; the law and procedures mainly through formal and informal means, while the affective characteristics were acquired through informal and nonformal channels. These Advocates also brought a wealth of knowledge and skills from unrelated experiences that contributed to their acquiring the vital proficiencies for international human rights advocacy.; Careers in this field do exist, but they are limited due to few positions, little upward mobility, and uncertainty because of "soft funding." This study reveals that some Advocates' experience the following stages career stages: (1) serving an internship, (2) going out on one's own (3) acquiring recognition, (4) being recognized as an authority, and (5) serving as a mentor. Learning needs do vary at different stages.; People in this field who are designing and implementing educational programs will benefit from systematic inquiry in the areas of learning how people become Advocates and how Advocates' learning activities relate to career development in order to help adults to become the best Advocates possible. |
