The Lost Link: Conversations About Violence and Human Rights Education in Classrooms

• In Event: 14.045 - Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: 14.045-12 - Supporting Student Talk in the Classroom

Abstract

This study presents data collected from HRE classroom observations and interviews with high school students during the 2014-2015 academic year. Findings suggest that the absence of discussions linking structural violence and human rights violations prevent students from rejecting interpersonal violence as a means to promote change. During data collection students proposed preliminary definitions of violence, and classified different types of violence. Yet most students failed to recognize the connection between human rights violations and violence. By the end of the academic year students did not discard violence as a means to protect themselves, or to solve problems. This research suggests the limitations of human rights instruments to promote conversations that link the daily experience of violence with human rights violations.

Authors

• Diana Rodriguez Gomez, Universidad de los Andes

• S. Garnett Russell