Teachers’ pedagogical perspectives and teaching practices on human rights in Cyprus: an empirical exploration and implications for human rights education (original) (raw)
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Fundamental Issues in Teacher Education for Human Rights: a European perspective
Journal of Moral Education 23 (3): 349 - 359, 1994
Human rights education is an essential part of preparation for participation in a pluralistic democracy. As Europe aspires to be a continent of democratic states accepting human rights as their basic principles, a human rights ethic should be a feature of all schools within Europe. Human rights education provides an ethical and moral framework for living in community. Moreover, this ethical position is backed in Europe by the powerful legal framework of the European Convention on Human Rights. This paper describes the features of two teachers' human rights education courses based on a structure proposed by Richardson. Both explore the relationship between moral and legal aspects of human rights teaching. The Council of Europe Recommendation on Teaching and Learning about Human Rights in Schools identifies three broad dimensions of human rights education, namely: skills, knowledge and feelings. The latter affective dimension, as well as facts and pedagogy, is critical to successful teacher education in human rights.
Journal of Curriculum Studies, 2016
Abstract The present paper takes the approach of critical hermeneutics in human rights education (HRE) that has been developed theoretically and tries to operationalize it in pedagogical practice. In particular, a group of Greek-Cypriot teachers were trained in a series of workshops on how critical hermeneutical approach (CHA) could be taught in the context of HRE. The paper explores teachers’ difficulties with and perspectives of CHA during the training designed and offered by the authors. The findings show how, in addition to epistemological issues involved concerning the meaning and implications of the CHA, the particularities of the local context (ethnic conflict, pedagogic traditions, educational structures) influenced the uptake of this approach. The implications are discussed in relation to the need to identify the difficulties teachers have with specific pedagogical approaches of HRE as they become manifest contextually, and the need to design teacher training in which teachers have opportunities to reflect upon and engage with these difficulties through a critical interpretive lens.
Human rights education: developing a theoretical understanding of teachers’ responsibilities
Educational Review, 2018
The United Nations (UN) asserts that children and young people should have access to human rights education (HRE) and that schools are one of the key means through which HRE should be made available. However, there is currently limited knowledge about the presence and form of HRE in school contexts, and there is no established means through which HRE provision within schools is evaluated. This paper proposes a theoretical framework to support the classification of teachers' responsibilities in relation to HRE and argues that systemic change is needed within education systems if HRE provision is to be realised in more extensive and consistent ways. The curriculum documents of three nations-Australia, England and Swedenwere analysed to determine teacher responsibilities for educating pupils about human rights. The viability of the developed framework was then tested through applying it to the outcomes of these analyses. The theoretical contribution made by the paper deepens knowledge and understandings about the nature of responsibilities placed on teachers to educate pupils about human rights, and provides a foundation from which to stimulate debate about what constitutes effective school-based HRE practices.
Education in Human Rights: Conceptions and Educational Practices
Education Journal, 2019
These paper article analyse the problem how the human rights are conceived and carried out made effective in the educational environment of two public high schools of the state system of education in Brazil, based on students' perceptions and teacher's opinions. Objectives of the study: Aligned to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) from 1948, as well as the fundamentals and the historical and legal milestones, the study proposes to identify youth perceptions and teacher's opinions about the implementation of human rights in the school environment and its manifestations in educational practices. Methodology: We used a questionnaire with open-ended and close-ended questions to students (45) and interviews with openended questions to teachers (17). The categories analysed were organised in: tolerance and respect to differences and diversities, gender equality, respectful attitude towards sexual orientation, age differences, environmental care, experience in peace and solidarity situations, valorisation and respect to cultural diversities. Conclusions: Research results analysis of both in students' and teachers' perceptions revealed that in schooling context, considering the established interactions between teachers and students, and students between themselves, pointed to occasional situations of discrimination and prejudice hidden into "pleasantries" and "jokes" emulating ideological strategies of concealment and dissimulation of attitudes regarding lack of respect to the human dignity, considered a universal principle to the establishment of human rights.
A Conceptual Analysis of Human Rights Education
The purpose of this research is to conduct a concept analysis and conceptual historical analysis as well as to develop a conceptual cartography of the concept of Human Rights Education (HRE) with reference to human rights in education. HRE has evolved into a burgeoning pedagogical formation that sources its currency from the perceived consensus on human rights universals. However, the proliferation of HRE is paradoxically not matched by a sustained and meaningful theoretical analysis of HRE though it has far-reaching implications for educational systems worldwide. This study provides a comprehensive theoretical analysis of HRE by examining the meanings that organise and construct the conceptual structure of HRE. The origins of the concept of HRE and its changing meanings are traced over time and paradigmatically analysed across a variety of theoretical orientations. This study also shows that HRE is a concept that is subjected to an unexplored and unexplained conceptual eclecticism that hampers its pedagogical potential as a counter-measure to human rights violations and human suffering. Amongst all the conceptual possibilities that could have been developed as an analytical interplay between the conceptual cartography, models, approaches and typologies of HRE, this study demonstrates that the dominant conceptual structure of HRE has grown into a declarationist , conservative, positivistic, uncritical, compliance-driven framework that is in the main informed by a political literacy approach. Consequently, this study develops alternative conceptual principles buttressed by a non-declarationist conception of HRE that stands in a critical and anti-deterministic relationship with human rights universals.
Human Rights Awareness as part of educational institutional texts and contexts
2020
This article aims at highlighting the importance of Human Rights Education and shedding light to the degree of embedding its principles into the official curricula of educational texts and institutions. More precisely, the curricula that were chosen to be explored for both primary and secondary education are those of Greece and Canada, specifically the province of Ontario. Research focuses on the way Human Rights Education is explicitly or implicitly promoted through certain subjects and suggestions are given in order to orient schools' curricula towards embracing respect, solidarity and tolerance for diversity, the foundation of a democratic and value education.
The diverse nature of South African classrooms presents a number of challenges. One of these is creating a culture of human rights. Although South African school curricula promote the infusion of human rights, teachers are still uncertain about how to apply human rights and learners are, at best, equivocal about human rights. The purpose of this research was to investigate teachers' and the learners' perspectives on human rights, to explore concomitant challenges, and to present proposals for human rights teachinglearning and curriculum development. To achieve this, two qualitative studies were conducted and the following research questions were posed: What challenges arise for human rights education in teaching-learning and curriculum development? What are the implications of these challenges for both teachers and learners? The findings suggest ways of addressing human rights more optimally in curriculum development and teachinglearning practice to the advantage of teachers and learners in diverse contexts.
Human Rights Education: An Analysing Study of the Programs of Study of Greek Pedagogical Departments
Problems of education in the 21st century, 2014
The United Nations (UN) declared 1995-2004 the Decade for Human Rights Education (HRE); as a follow-up, a HRE World Program (2005-2009) was initiated, aiming at the support and development of sustainable national strategies and programs in HRE. Many higher education institutions and universities seized upon the opportunity and infused their curricula with the philosophy and principles of HRE. HRE is a type of education that promotes training, dissemination, and information efforts aiming at building a universal culture of human rights (HR) by imparting knowledge and skills and shaping attitudes. This paper presents a thorough quantitative content analysis of a descriptive assessment of HRE in all Greek Pedagogical Departments ' (GPD) Undergraduate Programs of Study (PS), where future Primary School Teachers (PST) and Preschool Educators (PE) are educated. A review of course titles and descriptions of the 19 PS of GPD was conducted to identify HR content. The results suggest that HR content is present in a variety of GPD courses. It is especially evident in 17 courses. The question arising and discussed is whether the attendance of such courses can lead to a robust and consistent implementation of HRE. Recommendations for further development of HRE in Pedagogical Departments (PD) are provided.