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Teaching for human rights: what works? Survey results

21 February 2008, 03:19PM

Some comments from teachers in response to our human rights education survey. You can add your own thoughts in the section below.

Students need to understand that human rights is about them- once they realise that they are involved regardless of how old they are or where they live, they make choices and begin to look at things from a different perspective

Making links. Students need to feel connected to something to care enough to take action. Personal experiences or stories that students can relate to make a huge difference to a young person's apathy level. I have taught the Diary of Anne Frank to 13 years for the past three years and everyone in my class (boy or girl) is engaged from the first word. It is usually the only book some boys read in that year. The story is successful because it is about someone their own age!

Empathy. Generally in school our senior studies have a special program where they raise awareness of a social justice issue they have chosen (with guidance) and the most powerful element is the development of empathy which creates an atmosphere in this school that we are not just being educated for ourselves but that we must be people who will make a difference.

This is the million dollar question!!! Students like their views to be challenged. They like to discover their own meanings..... discovery learning is good in this sense. They hate being preached at. Case studies are great. Turning statistics into a personalised experience is vital to develop empathy. Some students will tap into the material, others will not change very much. In the end it is a personal choice. Using the popular cultures that surround students is very important too. Amnesty had a video tape a few years ago about Human rights work of Amnesty with lots of young peoples views... my classes loved it.

As a teacher you need to make a personal link with students - engage them in an activity that places them in an uncomfortable situation where they have to make hard decisions and really confront what they think is important. I need to reach my students on an emotional level for human rights education to be effective. Simulations and role play work well but nothing is better than linking my students up with other community members who have different life experiences to their own.

Teaching the subject with passion, and emotion on a topic you believe in.

"hands on" learning eg hunger banquet, collaborative co-constructed learning, student investigation… Visuals so that it becomes real and not distant or imagined… concise accurate information, personal engagement (story of someone their own age) contact with someone at the coalface, listening to their peers who have had a "human rights experience"

Allowing them to direct the inquiry and take charge of their knowledge.

knowledge, connecting on some personal level (emotion) and showing relevance to them, community link (guest or visit) being able to argue/ discuss an issue openly and honestly, working in groups/ taking action in some way, pedagogies that are non-threatening, fun yet challenging- no preaching- that involve doing eg role plays, making something, achieving a meaningful outcome eg teaching others, raising money, creating an informative film etc- no worksheets

real information - myth busters often cut through

linking their own personal experiences into the terminology of human rights

When they discover things for themselves. When they have been touched emotionally by a story from an individual case, especially if it is someone like them or a younger child. We use City of Joy with great effect in Year 11 Geography.

i think the key ingredient to engaging students in this issue is offering the information and then giving the students the opportunity for informal class discussions so they can ask questions and express their opinions. i have found in situations students will even continue these conversations in their own time with their friends because they have been given the opportunity in a non-judgmental environment to express how they feel.

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