Human Rights Education: Methodologies

Abstract

Human rights education (HRE) is tied to various educational goals and objectives. Professional educational program stresses that the first step in the planning of teaching and curricular activities requires the sorting out of ends, objectives and means. Some educational goals bearing on human rights can be derived directly from the international human rights instruments. Some goals are driven by a framework of social needs (such as empowerment) and long term projects (such as development and democracy programs). Methodologies of human rights education are linked to (1) understanding the international human rights instruments; essentially based on the right to know our rights; (2) curriculum planning, (3) efforts to promote social empowerment; (4) responding to the goals of specific user groups; and (5) program and participant evaluation. These five goals are overlapping, but are distinguishable. Within the framework of these four goals and the methods used to advance them, we should also recognize distinguishable teaching objectives