Interlocutors, Human Rights Education and Interreligious Dialogue: A South African Perspective

Abstract

Reflecting on interreligious education and human rights education in South Africa is complex. The different paradigms underpinning religious education in school environments embody deep philosophical differences. In this chapter an overview regarding interreligious dialogue and human rights educations is given within a social-cultural paradigm. This paradigm will be used to describe the propensity that interreligious and human rights education have to support interreligious dialogue. The position and knowledge construct of teachers as interlocutors remain a crucial part for any successful process in interreligious dialogue. However, if interlocutors do not internalize the knowledge constructs and values of human rights, they are bound to lack a crucial part needed for facilitating dialogue. An international project on, Human rights literacy: the quest for meaning (2012–2016) explored this phenomenon involving pre-service student teachers in 2013 and in 2015 including students in social sciences and law. This chapter will reflect on an analysis of the first phase of the project (2012–2014) on issues relating to interreligious dialogue and human rights education.