A matrix for assessing mutual impacts of human rights education and religious education

Jasmine Suhner

doi:10.7577/hrer.4480

Abstract

To address the societal challenges of global solidarity and sustainable societies there is clearly a need for human rights education (HRE). The question arises as to which school subject is capable of contributing to HRE in which way – and how different disciplines may ideally collaborate. The situation is particularly challenging for religious education in public schools. Here there is an inherent potential for HRE, but there are specific didactic issues related to civil rights and liberties. This article presents a ‘matrix for human rights awareness’ that is based on a systematic and multi-perspective analysis. The matrix can be used to categorise current HRE approaches. It can also serve the self-assessment of the various reference disciplines for HRE, while promoting and supporting mutual communication and collaboration among them. Furthermore, it may serve as a reference framework to map the field of different models of public religious education, establishing their specific potentials for HRE.

Highlights

At the beginning of the third millennium, we are faced with complex socio-political challenges: conflicts over justice and distribution, ecological crises, cultural struggles, and migration are mutually intertwined, in turn igniting other socio-political problems
We argue that interdisciplinary human rights education (HRE) is a normative necessity
Here—at the macro-level—human rights awareness shows a potential for analysis, communication, and further development in specialist debates on religious education, in educational policy discussions on public religious education, and in didactic debates with other human rights-related reference disciplines

Summary

Introduction

At the beginning of the third millennium, we are faced with complex socio-political challenges: conflicts over justice and distribution, ecological crises, cultural struggles, and migration are mutually intertwined, in turn igniting other socio-political problems. It may serve as a reference framework to map the field of different models of public religious education, establishing their specific potentials for HRE. This challenge is even more pronounced in the light of current debates on different profiles of public religious education and their specific contribution to general education: ‘Of all the subjects in the school curriculum, religion is surely the most contested’

Results

Conclusion