Towards situated learning: Luiz Gama Human Rights Clinic and urban realities at the University of São Paulo Law School

The UN Decade for Human Rights Education began in 1995, and since that time many nations have reported activities and programs in line with the decade (United Nations 1998; UNHCHR 2005). While 1995 was a pivotal year in the history of human rights education, the curricular movement neither began nor ended with the UN Decade. Human rights education has been developing for several decades, and efforts to introduce human rights into formal school curricula have included diverse and ongoing activities by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), and dedicated individuals throughout the world. Beyond advocating for human rights education in schools, the actors involved in promoting human rights education also have been involved in creating and developing a curricular movement. This article builds on previous comparative education research by analyzing the current discourse surrounding this emerging education model— human rights education. The first section provides a brief history of human rights education in formal education. The second section reviews research on international reforms, emphasizing analyses of processes in global diffusion and variation at national or local levels. Closely related, the third section discusses linkages and relational and associational processes that spread ideas and construct new models such as human rights education. The fourth section focuses on the current state of human rights education, ex-

As the ubiquitous force of globalization further erodes the nation-state and political activity increasingly focuses on global issues, there is renewed attention to models of global education. Within this global context, human rights education emerges as a response to the demands of global education. One of the main objectives of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995--2004) is the building and strengthening of programs and capacities for human rights education at the national and local levels. In this essay, an overview of human rights education and the policy guidelines for national plans of action for human rights education developed by the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) are presented. Further, the essay focuses on comprehensive national initiatives within the Decade that are being undertaken in Japan, Austria, and the United States, with particular attention to the implementation of human rights education in formal secondary school settings.

This mixed-methods study examines the human rights and human rights education and training (HRET) perspectives and practices of law educators in Myanmar during the democratic transition that ended with the 2021 coup. “Contextual, Theoretical, and Methodological Framing” provides an overview of legal and human rights education in Myanmar, discusses the potential of human rights education in law schools during democratic transitions, addresses why educators’ human rights and human rights education perspectives and practices are important to examine, and presents the research methodology. “Findings” presents findings based on the two phases of research during the transitional period: phase 1 (2015–2017)—law instructors’ perspectives and practices after participating in a multi-year HRET program; and phase 2 (2019–2020)—law instructors’ perspectives on the goals, challenges, and potential of HRET in Myanmar. The third section—“Discussion and Implications”—examines the contextual challenges and opportunities for human rights education as related to (1) critical human rights education, (2) practice-oriented HRET, and (3) administrative policies and practices for human rights and HRET within universities.

This article examines how the U.S. government’s stance on human rights and human rights education has shifted from leading the creation of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights through the United Nations Human Rights Commission, with Eleanor Roosevelt as chair of the Commission, to one in which human rights education has only a minimal presence in the U.S. schooling system. It explores the trajectory of human rights education’s inclusion in curriculum standards, drawing comparisons with other countries. Based on interviews with 32 members of the national volunteer network, Human Rights Educators USA, some of whom have been working in the human rights education field since the 1980s, the article addresses barriers to implementing human rights education in the present day and how they might be overcome.

The Korean Framework Act on Education cherishes the quality necessary as a democratic citizen. Meanwhile, as the National Human Rights Commission Act was enacted in 2001, and many local governments, including Gwangju Metropolitan City, enacted ordinances to guarantee and promote human rights in the mid to late 2000s, human rights education was emphasized but not studied theoretically and practically. This paper presents a methodology that can be used to realize the common public interest goals of both by comparing the concept and actual status of democratic citizenship education and human rights education. To this end, first of all, the concept of democratic citizenship education and related discourses are considered in light of the preceding studies of Democratic Peace Research and related laws and ordinances. Subsequently, it analyzes the status of the people's human rights consciousness, systems related to human rights education, human rights education seen in democratic citizenship education programs, and ordinances related to human rights education in Gwangju Metropolitan City. As a result, it emphasizes the fact that human rights education has the purpose of confirming the basic rights of mankind and the people and holding both the state and civilians responsible for guaranteeing it, while democratic citizenship education can provide a practical methodology to maximize its effectiveness. This study is of significance in that it proposed an alternative that could harmonize the two in a state where democratic citizenship education and human rights education were indiscriminately mixed.

The enjoyment of human rights largely depends on the level of awareness of what these rights are and how to enforce them. Human rights education (HRE), therefore, is crucial in ensuring that people are empowered to access the rights to which they are entitled. There have been several programmes and plans of action aimed at HRE at international level, but 20 years after the advent of a new democratic and constitutional dispensation in South Africa, the level of public awareness in the country is still, unfortunately, inadequate. It is against this background that the roles and responsibilities of the main role players in HRE in South Africa are discussed and, where possible, assessed. This analysis is important, because without an understanding of all available infrastructure and the main actors involved in HRE, it is impossible to identify gaps or to make recommendations for future improvements. The role of government, human rights institutions, such as the South African Human Rights Commission, and non-state actors, such as nongovernmental organisations and other civil society formations, are reviewed, after a presentation of background information on conceptual issues, the international dimension of HRE, and HRE in Africa. Recommendations for increased involvement in HRE - especially by government - are made. It is recommended that the state play a more dominant role in HRE, because it has the resources and the obligation and responsibility to do so.

What role have states played in promoting human rights education? While nongovernmental organizations have been at the forefront of human rights education, scholars have neglected the increased activism of states, especially national human rights commissions. This article addresses this gap by sketching the relationship between states and human rights education, examining cross-regional trends and presenting a case study of South Africa’s Human Rights Commission. The article concludes by considering the critical gap between state promotion and implementation of human rights education, as well as the limits of state involvement in constructing a culture of human rights.

Background/Context Human rights education has proliferated in the past four decades and can be found in policy discussions, textbook reforms, and grassroots initiatives across the globe. This article specifically explores the role of creativity and imagination in human rights education (HRE) by focusing on a case study of one non-governmental (NGO) organization's program operating across India. Purpose/Objective This article argues that human rights education can and should be creative and innovative in its approaches to ensure access and sustainability of programs that seek to transform the learning experiences of marginalized students. Evidence from India contributes to the discussion of HRE by presenting teachers’ and students’ experiences with one particular human rights education program in India that incorporates an array of strategies to secure support and contextually-relevant curricula and pedagogy for poor children. Research questions that guided the larger study from which data are presented here included (a) How have differentiated motivations for, conceptualizations of, and initiatives towards HRE operated at the levels of policy, curriculum and pedagogy, and practice in India? (b) What impact has HRE had on Indian teachers and youth from diverse backgrounds who have participated in one NGO program? Research Design The larger study from which the data are drawn is a vertical case study utilizing primarily qualitative methods. Participants in the larger study included 118 human rights education teachers, 625 students, 80 staff and policy makers of human rights education, and 8 parents. Observations of teacher trainings included hundreds more participants. The majority of student respondents came from ‘tribal’ (indigenous) or Dalit (previously called “untouchable”) communities, both comprising the most marginalized sections of Indian society. Design and Methods This study was primarily qualitative and was carried out from August 2008 to August 2010 (13 months of fieldwork during that period). Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 118 teachers, 25 students, 8 parents, and 80 staff and officials of human rights education in India. 59 focus groups were carried out with an additional 600 students. Observations were also carried out of teacher trainings in human rights and human rights camps for students. Follow up data were collected on subsequent, but shorter, field visits from 2011-2013. Conclusions/Recommendations The study found the following: (a) Human rights education that is creative, contextualized, and engaging offers a meaningful opportunity for educators, families and students to critique and interrogate social inequalities. (b) Non-governmental organizations can provide a unique perspective on human rights education by drawing on diverse creative approaches if they are able to engage effectively with students, communities, educators and schools. (c) Research on human rights education must attend to how local communities, activists, artists and educators make meaning of normative frameworks (like human rights) in order to understand how creativity, imagination and innovation are engaged and ‘indigenized’ in productive and transformative ways. Further attention to creativity and imagination in human rights education can illuminate how HRE influences—and is mediated by—existing community realities and societal structures. I started learning about human rights in class six. I first thought they are giving us more of a burden with yet another subject and more books. But the teachers were so different after they started teaching human rights: human rights teachers talk nicely to us, they don't scold and beat us. They encouraged us to try new things and cultivate different talents like dance, poetry, drama, singing, and everything. Other subject teachers would just teach their subjects and they beat us also. They put the pressure of other people on us. But the human rights teachers release us from that. Through this course, I started writing poems about women's rights and children's issues and my human rights teacher encouraged me to send it to the newspaper when I was in class eight. They liked it and even published it! I had never ever thought something like that would happen. My grandmother can't read–she is a sweeper in someone's home–but I showed it to her in the newspaper and she was so happy. I kept writing poems and made a collection of 125 of them. My teacher encouraged me to put them together in a book and she raised money from teachers and got the publisher to give us a discounted rate. They are putting all the proceeds of the book sales in a bank account under my name so that I can go to college. I can't imagine what my life would be if this human rights class would not have been there. When I grow up, I would like to do a lot more in the field of human rights. —Fatima, 16-year-old human rights student in India1

The 1990s was the era of human rights awareness, democratic transitions, and growing involvement of international organizations and the nongovernmental sector in human rights education (HRE). The UN Decade for HRE from 1995–2004 was not only born out of the initiatives and pressures of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) but it also actively triggered many new private initiatives and commitments by governments to increase HRE. New information technologies, globalization, and the rise of civil society paved the way for new strategies and methods to disseminate the idea of human rights worldwide. With this in mind, two aspects will be discussed in this article. First, how HRE can become an integral part of all formal education systems. In this respect I will discuss the role of governments and state responsibility. Second, there were shifts and developments that made HRE an adaptable and coherent education concept oriented towards future challenges such as climate changes or migration. Coherent international concepts and a clear definition of HRE should help avoid the misuse of education in human rights for political or ideological reasons.

The current study analyses the behaviours of US state actors in engaging in international human social rights practices. In particular, through citation count analysis, we examine the citation patterns of US federal and state courts in utilising international human rights instruments, such as international human social rights treaties, in facilitating human rights-based education rights. The empirical findings indicate that US federal and state courts are not engaging the global judicial human rights networks in promoting human rights-based education rights as a type of universal human social right. Theoretical and empirical implications are presented in the concluding section.

Legal Education in India is becoming more concerned about serving the demands of the market and the private corporate sector. Law students and budding lawyers are therefore being trained in such a mechanical manner that they are not being sensitized towards the field of human rights. This article seeks to emphasize on the importance of human rights training in a lawyer’s career. It discusses human right provisions in light of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the guidelines provided by UNESCO in the context of Human Rights in India. The authors will further explore the present scenario of legal education in India and elaborate on the importance of clinical education in Indian context. The article will further focus on the need for legal education to be contemporary and in tune with the changing society. It will conclude by stating that human rights education should be made a compulsory part of legal training.

The position and the validity of the Declarations on Human Rights (1948) accepted by the United Nations (UN), and the subsequent declarations on Human Rights Education and Training (2010) are questioned by many scholars in their respective fields. These discourses manifest around the universality of human rights and its applications in human rights education suitable for global, contextual, diverse and particular societies. The proclamation of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995–2004) (Resolution, 49/184), the World Programme for Human Rights Education (2004/71), the reassessments of UN Declarations on Human Rights Education (March, 2011) and UNESCO publications on human rights education (2011), illustrate the need to infuse shared values into every sphere of society. However, scholars are questioning the ontology and epistemology of human rights as a universal declaration and as the only means for legitimising human rights education for its transformative competencies and to offer its shared values for a sustainably just society. The legitimacy of this ideal of a universality of human rights as a binding factor drawn from a Western liberal philosophy, is arbitrary and limited. These limitations of human rights expose the ideal of an interconnectedness between human rights and human rights education in multilayered and multicomplex social environments. Human rights literacies and its new languages on human rights is a progressing nexus between human rights and human rights education and offers an epistemology in understanding human rights in human rights education.

Purpose– There has been a lack of human rights education for a long period since New China was founded. Human rights education appeared at the university level in the 1990s, and has developed quickly over the past decade in mainland China. The purpose of this paper is to argue that human rights education in mainland China has had its own characteristics and problems during its development, and intends to identify and solve its problems in order to achieve sustainability.Design/methodology/approach– First, this paper surveys the development of human rights education in mainland China. Second, it summarizes its characteristics and problems objectively, and then gives some ideas and suggestions for its future sustainable development.Findings– Human rights education in mainland China has seen great improvement, although it also has its own characteristics and has had problems during its development. The ideas about and approaches to human rights education development in mainland China should be adjusted. Ensuring and promoting the respect of human rights in society is the main goal of human rights education. Balanced development, independent development, the encouragement of and investment by the government and society in the subject and the high quantity and quality of available human rights teachers are the guarantees for a sustainable model of human rights education in mainland China.Originality/value– This paper studies the history and current situation of human rights education in mainland China, summarizing its characteristics and existing problems completely and objectively. This paper states that human rights education in mainland China should change its theories and its approaches to development.

South Africa’s higher education landscape mirrors its history of its relentlessly discriminatory past along racial, gender, social, political and class lines. Within this setting teacher education aims to cultivate its teaching and learning toward the fostering of moral persons who are caring towards the other and concerned with social justice and transformation. In this sense we explored the relationship between human rights education and human rights literacies and how these can be called upon to create one avenue to drive this agenda. In this chapter we use evidence-based findings to unpack the (im)possibilities for human rights literacies as revealed through student-teachers’ views of human rights education. As students’ views may reveal what and how they learned and what the curriculum offered them, we may unlock (im)possibilities for reviving human rights education and supporting human rights literacies through teacher education. We concentrated on the human rights education section in two surveys (S2013_RSA and S2015_RSA) to see how findings might shed light on future directions for teacher education to support human rights literacies, dynamically fluid, and that are continuously developing in response to the South African context. In response to critique against human rights education as stagnant, declarationist and as having lost its critical and transformative edge (Keet et al., South African Journal of Higher Education, 31, 79–95, 2017; Spreen and Monaghan, Human rights education: Theory, research, praxis, 2017; Keet, Human rights education or human rights in education: A conceptual analysis, 2007) we argue that for human rights literacies and human rights education to be supportive of one another, human rights education programmes in teacher education should regard human rights literacies as a disposition toward thinking and practising human rights that occupies the spaces that emerge when one transcends the division between what is legislation (written) and what is lived. For this reason, we recommend transformative pedagogies be included in teacher education programmes for human rights.

This study tried to empirically verify the relationship between adolescents' experience in human rights education and human rights abuse experiences such as hate discrimination. Human rights education among teenagers can have a positive effect not only on understanding the concept of human rights or improving human rights sensitivity, but also on recognizing and respecting differences from others through human rights education. While research on human rights education is centered on educational measures or effects that need to be improved, little research has been conducted on the effect of the results of education and the behavior of adolescents' human rights violations. Therefore, this study selected the second data of the “Children and Youth Human Rights Survey” conducted by the Korea Youth Policy Institute from 2018 to 2020, and used data from 9,017 in 2018, 9,240 in 2019, and 8,346 in 2020 for the final analysis. Descriptive statistical analysis, frequency analysis, cross-analysis, and logistic regression analysis were conducted year by year using the statistical program SPSS 28.0 ver. According to the study, the three-year human rights education experience exceeded 70% in 2018, while less than 50% in 2019 and 2020, but the results of the study showed that it was a positive (+) influence on the human rights violations of adolescents with human rights education experience. In other words, based on the research results, it is necessary to check the actual institutions and programs of youth human rights education based on the internalization of actual human rights education contents and operational methods to expect the effect of education. In particular, school violence is caused by mischief, and the beginning of the mischief can be caused by acts of human rights violations such as discrimination and hatred. Therefore, it is expected that human rights education that can contribute to preventing such acts of human rights violations will be used as basic data for the implementation of human rights education.