US: Human rights comes centre stage for students
One of EI’s affiliate in the US, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), has developed a useful toolkit designed to help the teaching of human rights in the classroom.
In July, the AFT brought together teachers from Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, New York and Washington, D.C. to take human rights concepts they are already working with in their classes and design two complete lesson plans to share. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the overarching theme that pulls them all together.
One lesson draws from the inspirational story of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl and education activist who survived an attempted assassination by the Taliban. The second lesson focuses on the ongoing issue of sweatshops and the high cost of human life involved with making clothing sold by some of the world’s most popular retailers.
International inspiration Few issues have the potential to resonate more for young people than the fight for human rights and social justice. When a 15-year-old girl in Pakistan can be shot in the head by the Taliban for speaking up for the right of girls to go to school, students across the world take notice and ask why.
When a building collapse in Bangladesh kills more than 1,000 factory workers who were making the Gap, Banana Republic and other trendy clothes that teenagers thoughtlessly toss on for school each day, students take notice and wonder if the rubble might relate to their lives.
The 40-minute lesson plans on Malala Yousafzai, the advocate for girls’ education who survived an assassination attempt, and the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in Bangladesh use videos, online games, interactive classroom activities and social media to help students make real-world connections to the issues of their time.
Need to empower US students “In US schools, we train our students to be complacent, to be good listeners and to not question authority,” noted Lee Cutler, the New York Secretary of United Teachers and a former English/humanities teacher.
But that can undermine their learning of what it means to be part of a functioning democracy. “Our students have little appreciation and knowledge of the power they have to make a difference,” he added.
The lesson plans can be used for grades five up to 10. Tammy Vinson, a special education teacher and member of the Chicago Teachers’ Union, said they allow for “a lot of things to be brought home—for example, local minimum wage battles in the context of international workers’ rights.”
EI: Culture of peace vital EI believes human rights education has a crucial role in contributing to building a culture of peace, uniting nations and bringing human beings closer together.
“A culture of peace and non-violence is at the heart of fundamental human rights,” stated EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen. “This educational action concerns the content of education and training, educational resources and material, school and university life, initial and ongoing training for teachers as well as for young people and adults. A culture of peace must take root in the classroom from an early age.”
The lesson plans are available to all teachers for use in their classrooms here
