"...educational programmes and
activities that focus on promoting equality in human dignity,
in conjunction with other programmes such as those promoting
intercultural learning, participation and empowerment of
minorities"
Official definition of Human Rights Education for the Council
of Europe Youth Programme
A long-term aim
There are many definitions and a number of different
approaches, but human rights education is best described in
terms of what it sets out to achieve. The long term aim of
such programmes is to establish a culture where human rights
are understood, defended and respected. Thus, anyone who works
with other people may be said to engage in human rights
education if they have this end in mind and take steps to
achieve it - no matter how or where they go about it.
There may be slightly different views about the best or most
appropriate way to move towards such an end, but that is as it
should be. No two individuals, or groups of individuals, or
cultures have identical requirements, and no one educational
approach will suit all individuals, all groups, or all
societes. This only goes to show that effective human rights
education needs to be, above all, learner-centred: it has to
begin from the needs, preferences, abilities and desires of
each person, within each society.
A learner-centred educational approach recognises the value of
personal action and personal change and also takes account of
the social context in which learners find themselves, but this
need not mean that educators have to work in isolation, or
that they cannot learn from others who may be working in
different contexts. What draws human rights educators together
from around the globe is a common enterprise - a desire to
promote and inhabit a world where human rights are valued and
respected. There are general guidelines, tried and tested
methods, educational materials, and many people working in the
field - all of which can help us to achieve this common aim.
This manual is intended as another contribution.
What
do you understand by human rights education?
Breaking it down
The long view is important but for practical purposes we
sometimes need a more down-to-earth picture of our aims. It
can help to break these down into more concrete objectives: to
look at the different components that go to make up a culture
of human rights, and then to think about how we might be able
to approach these individually. A human rights culture, after
all, is not merely a culture where everyone knows their rights
- because knowledge does not necessarily equal respect, and
without respect, we shall always have violations. A human
rights culture is a network of interlocking attitudes,
beliefs, behaviours, norms and regulations. Understanding
these can give us hooks on which to hang the work we carry out
within our groups.
Towards a human rights culture
The following points derive from the essential elements of
such a culture. They can provide us with general objectives
for human rights education:
-
to strengthen respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms
-
to develop a sense of individual self-respect
and respect for others: a value for human dignity
-
to develop attitudes and behaviour that will
lead to respect for the rights of others
-
to ensure genuine gender equality and equal
opportunities for women in all spheres
-
to promote respect, understanding and
appreciation of cultural diversity, particularly towards
different national, ethnic, religious, linguistic and other
minorities and communities
-
to empower people towards more active
citizenship
-
to promote democracy, development, social
justice, communal harmony, solidarity and friendship among
people and nations
-
to further the activities of international
institutions aimed at the creation of a culture of peace,
based upon universal values of human rights, international
understanding, tolerance and non-violence.
Outcomes of HRE
What are the aims for my group?
We have identified a global aim for human rights education,
and some long-term goals. But we can move, even closer to
home, and think about the needs of individual groups and
communities: changing in the world, by working locally! The
world, at the moment, is a world where there are violations of
human rights all around us. In an ideal case, it might be
enough to instil in the members of your group a sense of
respect towards other human beings, and to hope that they, at
least, will not be among those who will violate the rights of
others in the future. This is one important aspect of the work
we do as educators for human rights.
But we can aim for more: we can aim to inspire the young
people with whom we work to act not only on themselves but
also on the world around them. We can try to inspire them to
become, in their own right, mini-educators and mini-activists
who will themselves assist in the defence of human rights -
even when the issues do not appear to touch them personally.
There is nothing unachievable about that aim: it does not mean
that we should expect young people to devote their lives to
the defence of human rights, but only that they should be
aware of the issues, concerned by the issues, and capable of
acting to alter the existing state of affairs where they feel
that this is necessary.
With this idea in mind, existing models of human rights
education sub-divide objectives into three main areas:
-
Promoting awareness and understanding of human
rights issues, in order that people recognise violations of
human rights
-
Developing the skills and abilities necessary
for the defence of human rights
-
Developing attitudes of respect for human
rights, so that people do not willingly violate the rights
of others.
What
can you identify as the main concerns for the young people
that you work with?
Knowledge, skills and attitudes
What type of knowledge is necessary for young people to
gain a deeper understanding of human rights issues? Which
skills and attitudes will be required for them to help in the
defence of human rights?
The lists below provide some of answers to these questions;
these were the objectives that we used in putting together
this manual. Knowledge and understanding
-
Key concepts such as: freedom, justice, equality, human
dignity, non-discrimination, democracy, universality,
rights, responsibilities, interdependence and solidarity.
-
The idea that human rights provide a framework for
negotiating and agreeing standards of behaviour in the
family, in school, in the community, and in the wider world;
-
The role of human rights and their past and future dimension
in one's own life, in the life of communities, and in the
lives of other people around the world.
-
The distinction between civil/political and social/economic
rights;
-
Different ways of viewing and experiencing human rights in
different societies, different groups within the same
society, and the various sources of legitimacy - including
religious, moral and legal sources;
-
Main social changes, historical events and reasons leading
to the recognition of human rights;
-
Major international instruments that exist to implement the
protection of human rights - such as the United Nations
Declarations of Human Rights (UDHR), the United Nations
Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the European
Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms (ECHR);
-
Local, national, international bodies, non-governmental
organisations, individuals working to support and protect
human rights.
Skills
-
Active listening and communication: being able to listen to
different points of view, to advocate one's own rights and
those of other people;
-
Critical thinking: finding relevant information, appraising
evidence critically, being aware of preconceptions and
biases, recognising forms of manipulation, and making
decisions on the basis of reasoned judgement;
-
The ability to work co-operatively and to address conflict
positively;
-
The ability to participate in and organise social groups;
-
Acting to promote and safeguard human rights both locally
and globally.
Attitudes and values
-
A sense of responsibility for one's own actions, a
commitment to personal development and social change;
-
Curiosity, an open mind and an appreciation of diversity;
-
Empathy and solidarity with others and a commitment to
support those whose human rights are under threat;
-
A sense of human dignity, of self-worth and of others'
worth, irrespective of social, cultural, linguistic or
religious differences;
-
A sense of justice, the desire to work towards the ideals of
freedom, equality and respect for diversity.
An inclusive approach
In this manual we have taken an inclusive approach to HRE in a
number of different senses. Firstly, we have tried to embrace
every one of the three different dimensions - knowledge,
skills and attitudes - to an equal degree. Secondly, the
activities have been designed with a broad audience in mind -
both in terms of age range and in adressing the formal,
non-formal and informal education sectors simultaneously.
Thirdly, we tried to link human rights education through
participatory and active learning activities to relevant local
and global issues such as development, environment,
intercultural relations and peace. We do not suggest that HRE
can only be approached as a separate discipline.
The use of such participatory activities has been central.
Studies show that co-operatively structured small group work
helps in building group cohesion, and in reducing biases
between group members. Co-operative group work also helps to
improve understanding of complex concepts and increases
problem-solving skills, enabling participants to devise
solutions that demonstrate greater creativity and
practicality. All of these outcomes are important aims of
human rights education. That means that we need to 'include'
young people themselves at every moment of learning process.
We should not fall into the trap of assuming that we, the
educators, are in possession of an ultimate truth, which must
be passed on to passive learners. Such an approach can easily
transform human rights education into the worst type of
'ideological' education. An essential feature of the
methodology contained in this manual involves the idea that
young people will bring to any educational process a rich pool
of experience, which must be actively drawn upon to ensure an
interesting and effective development of the educational
activities. Questions, often even conflicts, should be
regarded as fundamental educational resources, which can be
adressed in a positive manner.
For further descriptions of involving young people in
participatory activities, you can look at "Section
3" of DOmino and the educational approach outlined in the Education
Pack.
HRE with young people
It is increasingly accepted that attention should be devoted
to human rights education for young people, not only because
it is important for society, but also because young people
themselves appreciate and benefit from the type of activities
that this work involves. Contemporary societies and, in
particular, the youth population are increasingly confronted
by processes of social exclusion, of religious, ethnic and
national differences, and by the disadvantages - and
advantages - of increasing globalisation. Human rights
education addresses these important issues and can help to
make sense of the different perceptions, beliefs, attitudes
and values of a modern multi-cultural society. It helps
individuals to find ways of using such differences in positive
ways.
Perhaps more importantly, young people care about human
rights, and in that sense, they provide the main resource for
human rights education. Young people today are often
criticised for being apathetic and uninterested in politics;
but a number of studies appear to suggest that the opposite is
actually the case. Research carried out for the European
Commission in 2001, for example, reminded us that young people
do participate in society - not least, through associations
and youth clubs. On average, within the countries of the
European Union, more than 50% of young people either
participate in, or belong to, an association of some type1 (although
there are significant differences from one country to
another).
As far as interest in political issues goes, a study of young
people's attitudes to the European Union revealed that human
rights issues rank among their top priorities. Beaten only by
the issues of unemployment and crime, young people would most
like their governments to address the protection of human
rights, protection of the environment, the fight against
racism, and inequality between the sexes2.
Is
it your experience that young people are not interested in
political issues? If so - why do you think this might be?
Experience from around the globe has shown the energy and
commitment that young people will devote to such issues if
they can themselves take joint responsibility for what they do
and how they learn, and if the issues are presented in
relevant and interesting ways.
As educators, we need to harness that energy. That they will
take up these ideas and run with them is evident from the
numerous existing programmes for young people - from the small
scale activities carried out on a relatively ad hoc basis in
individual youth clubs or schools, to the major international
programmes conducted by the Council of Europe and other
organisations.
Which
types of issues are most likely to raise the interest of
members of your group?
Formal and non-formal educational settings
The most appropriate way of involving participants and
structuring an educational process depends to a large extent
upon the setting in which an educator is working. You may have
more or less freedom regarding content, timing and form of
activity depending on whether you are operating within a
formal, informal or non-formal educational context.The
activities presented in this manual have been designed to be
flexible enough for use in all such contexts: within youth
clubs, schools, summer camps, informal meetings, and so on.
Informal education refers
to the lifelong process, whereby every individual acquires
attitudes, values, skills and knowledge from the educational
influences and resources in his or her own environment and
from daily experience (family, neighbours, marketplace,
library, mass media, work, play, etc.).
Formal education refers
to the structured education system that runs from primary
school to university, and includes specialised programmes for
technical and professional training.
Non-formal education refers
to any planned programme of personal and social education for
young people designed to improve a range of skills and
competencies, outside the formal educational curriculum.
Non-formal education as practised by many youth organisations
and groups is :
-
voluntary;
-
accessible to everyone (ideally);
-
an organised process with educational objectives;
-
participatory and learner-centred;
-
about learning life skills and preparing for active
citizenship;
-
based on involving both individual and group learning with a
collective approach;
-
holistic and process-oriented;
-
based on experience and action, and starts from the needs of
the participants.
Formal, non-formal and informal education are complementary
and mutually reinforcing elements of a lifelong learning
process. This manual has not been designed as a 'course' in
HRE, and the individual activities can usefully be applied in
very different contexts, in formal or less formal settings,
and on a regular or irregular basis.
HRE as a starting point for action
At the core of human rights education is the development of
critical thinking and the ability to handle conflict and take
action. We have included among the aims of this manual the
encouragement of solidarity-based activities and the
organisation of events in the community, both because these
are important for the development of skills and abilities
closely connected with HRE, and because they are in themselves
a means towards the end of developing a positive human rights
culture. Young people can make a direct difference to the
world around them, and this has been an important theme in the
manual. We have included an individual section on taking
action (Chapter 3) which provides a series of simple ideas for
community activities related to human rights.
In addition to this section, each of the activities in Chapter
2 has been designed with the aim of helping to develop certain
key skills useful for organising and carrying out actions in
the community. We have tried to adopt a pluralistic approach
and a learning-by-doing perspective, in line with, for
example, the Council of Europe's Education for Democratic
Citizenship (EDC) project recommendations. Here, HRE is
presented as a daily practice that should be based on
experiential learning and learning-by-doing, with the aim of
mobilising competencies and initiatives in a continuing and
changing process.
The following recommendations for educational policies are
drawn from "Education for democratic citizenship: a lifelong
learning perspective", and are intended to support this
spontaneous process of change:
-
directly involving practitioners in designing, monitoring,
implementing and evaluating their own educational
innovations;
-
encouraging the solving of concrete social issues, using the
know-how and practical experiences of reflective
practitioners;
-
promoting bottom-up educational change;
-
working towards greater autonomy of educational agents so
that they can work out specific forms of action and linkage
with the local community, civil society and social partners;
-
encouraging networking, joint projects and activities, as
well as communication between practitioners and decision
makers.
International support for HRE
The Council of Europe
For the Member States of the Council of Europe, human rights
are meant to be more than just assertions: human rights are
part of their legal framework, and should therefore be an
integral part of young people's education. The European
nations made a strong contribution to the twentieth century's
most important proclamation of human rights, the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the United
Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948. The European
Convention on Human Rights, which has legal force for all
member states of the Council of Europe, drew its principles
and inspiration from the UN document, and was adopted two
years later.
Recommendation No R (85) 7 to the Member States of the Council
of Europe (adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 14 May
1985) is related to teaching and learning about human rights
in schools. This document emphasises that all young people
should learn about human rights as part of their preparation
for life in a pluralistic democracy; and this approach is
slowly being incorporated into different European countries
and institutions.
At the level of the European Union, at a meeting in Luxembourg
in December 1997, the European Council recommended that all
states should work towards:
-
strengthening the role of civil society in promoting and
protecting human rights;
-
promoting activities on the ground and developing technical
assistance in the area of human rights;
-
strengthening training and education programmes concerning
human rights.
Youth Policy
In April 1998, the European Ministers responsible for Youth
met in Bucharest, and agreed on the aims and objectives of the
Council of Europe youth policy3:
-
to encourage associative life and all other forms of action
which embody democracy and pluralism, and to help all young
people to participate more fully in the life of the
community;
-
to adapt current partnership patterns to social change and
to other types of youth organisations and youth work which
have so far been under-represented, and further develop the
concept of active participation by young people;
-
to take full advantage of the valuable contribution which
young people can make as active, responsible citizens;
-
to develop citizenship education projects which make it
possible to involve young people more quickly and more
effectively in the life of the community, while respecting
differences;
-
to implement, from local to European level, an
inter-sectoral, integrated and coherent youth policy, based
on the principles of the European Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the
European Social Charter.
United Nations
In December 1994, the United Nations General Assembly
officially proclaimed 1995-2004 the United Nations Decade for
Human Rights Education. This followed a recommendation at the
1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, which stated
that human rights education, training and public information
were essential for the promotion and achievement of stable and
harmonious relations among communities and for fostering
mutual understanding, tolerance and peace. The Vienna
Conference had recommended that States should "strive to
eradicate illiteracy and should direct education towards the
full development of the human personality and the
strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms". It had called on all States and institutions to
include human rights, humanitarian law, democracy and rule of
law as subjects in the curricula of all learning institutions
in formal and non-formal settings. More recently, in December
2004, the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed a
World Programme for Human Rights Education (2005-ongoing).
Building on the achievements of the United
Nations Decade for Human Rights Education, the World
Programme "seeks to promote a common understanding of the
basic principles and methodologies of human rights education,
to provide a concrete framework for action and to strengthen
partnerships and cooperation from the international level down
to the grass roots".
UNESCO
One other area of relevance is the increasingly multicultural
and multi-faith nature of modern societies. The importance of
"learning to live together" within and across different
societies is central to the whole idea of education - the
"necessary utopia" that was recommended by the 1996 UNESCO
report about education in the twenty-first century4.
Human rights lie at the core of the concept outlined in the
UNESCO report - for example, in the ability to mediate
conflict and to find common perspectives in analysing problems
and planning future directions. Facilitation of non-violent
change is of fundamental importance and of urgent concern both
within and between societies. It should occupy a central role
in educational efforts.
References
Endnotes
