Council of Europe’s Strategies Regarding Human Rights Training Evaluation

Abstract

The Council of Europe is an international organization that promotes and protects human rights.  Leaders within the Council of Europe accentuated the importance of effective training and training evaluations since 1993, but human rights training evaluation for law enforcement officials is still not sufficient to fully promote and to protect human rights.  Program managers organize and evaluate training for law enforcement officials, but many program managers do not apply the evaluation guidelines of the Council of Europe.  The researcher in his exploratory multi-case study interviewed a sample of 11 out of a population of 30 focusing on their strategies to evaluate human right training for law enforcement officials.  The theoretical framework that has been applied was Kirkpatrick’s four-level evaluation model.  While the first (reaction) and second (learning) level provide assessment for internal validity, the third level assesses the behaviour of participants, and the result level shows the external validity of the program.  The leadership style used by the Council of Europe leaders determines their strategies.  Transactional leadership might be appropriate to guide program managers to adhere to the evaluation guidelines.  However, Council of Europe leaders who follow the transformational leadership approach are more likely to lead their program managers effectively.  The findings of the study surprisingly showed that program managers independently developed strategies to evaluate law enforcement training.  The qualitative multi-case study promoted an understanding of the strategies used by program managers to evaluate human rights training.