Teaching human rights at schools?<\/p>\n
Alpha Amirrachman, Jakarta<\/p>\n
During my time as a teacher at some informal education
\ninstitutions, I found the students to be relaxed in their
\nexpression of ideas. Jokes that mocked the New Order regime were
\ncarefully timed during discussions, making us chuckle. At public
\nschools, however, students were generally tense. Jokes were told,
\nbut naturally not about the New Order regime.<\/p>\n
When I touched on the issues of human rights, students showed
\ninterest. But there was no student who raised questions.<\/p>\n
Lessons on human rights can be stimulating for students, but
\nwhich method of teaching works best?<\/p>\n
In light of the fact that the world has been rocked by
\nterrorism -- which disgraces human dignity through its violent
\nacts and the prejudice and discrimination that it incites -- this
\nis a critical question. While democratic values are now being
\nadopted here, human rights violations continue in various new
\nforms.<\/p>\n
Indeed, there are now many school textbooks that cover human
\nrights issues, but teachers lack the experience to teach human
\nrights values to students according to their stage of
\ndevelopment, which is pedagogically essential to effectively
\nimpart the values to students.<\/p>\n
Betty A. Reardon in her book Educating for Human Dignity:
\nLearning about Rights and Responsibilities, outlines practical
\neducational activities to be practiced in classrooms based on the
\ndevelopmental level of elementary and secondary school students.<\/p>\n
For childhood level (ages five to eight), the main concepts
\nand values are rules, order, respect, fairness, diversity,
\ncooperation and personal responsibility; and the discussion
\ntopics are inequality, unfairness and harm.<\/p>\n
At this stage, the concepts of social order, fairness,
\ncommunity and responsibility are introduced through the
\npracticality of classroom rules. It should be imparted that
\nobserving agreed rules is important so that everybody can have
\nopportunities to engage in all learning activities. In terms of
\ndiversity, students are exposed to the notion that the beauty of
\nthe whole family is characterized by the willingness of its
\nmembers to recognize their differences.<\/p>\n
For later childhood (ages nine to 11), the main concepts and
\nvalues are law, citizenship, community rights, constitution,
\nfreedom, social responsibility; the discussion topics are
\nprejudice, discrimination, poverty and injustice. At this stage,
\nthe teacher introduces the idea that a citizen has both rights
\nand responsibilities, thus introducing the basic concept of
\ncitizenship.<\/p>\n
In classrooms, through drama or puppetry, a scene can be shown
\nwhere a child is denied participation in class activities due to
\nspecific reasons, followed by discussion on how prejudice and
\ndiscrimination can hamper people's right to receive a decent
\neducation.<\/p>\n
For adolescents (ages 12 to 14), the main concepts and values
\nare justice, equality, equity, global responsibility and
\ninternational law; while the discussion topics are ethnocentrism,
\nracism and authoritarianism.<\/p>\n
In classrooms, teacher can ask students to list things that
\ncan make the world better and compile human rights news and
\nstories from the media that reflect their wishes, such as the
\nchange from authoritarianism to democracy in some countries.<\/p>\n
For youths (ages 15 to 17), the main concepts and values are
\nmoral exclusion and inclusion, moral responsibility, global
\ncitizenship and ecological responsibility; the discussion topics
\nare ethnocide, genocide, torture, political repression and
\nenvironmental abuse.<\/p>\n
For example, students can be encouraged to get involved in a
\nmovement that pushes the government to outline new regulations
\nthat preserve the right to a sustainable environment. Their
\ninvolvement in such activities can be stimulating as it enhances
\nboth their organizational skills and their human rights
\nawareness.<\/p>\n
Above all, if we are serious about making this nation more
\npeaceful, civilized and democratic of its own accord, it is vital
\nfor the government -- with the help of any concerned non-
\ngovernment organization -- to start institutionalizing both the
\nconceptual awareness and practical skills of human rights
\neducation through capacity building such as the training of
\nteachers and workshops. Locally rooted educational activities,
\nhowever, should further be designated, encouraging the emergence
\nof a genuine awareness.<\/p>\n
Unlike during the New Order regime, now we have the
\nopportunity to make this happen. The question is: Do we have the
\ncommitment and will to pursue this?<\/p>\n
The writer is an M.Phil candidate at the School of Policy and
\nPractice, Faculty of Education and Social Work, the University of
\nSydney.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/teaching-human-rights-at-schools-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}