Unpacking the implementation of human rights curriculum in the global south

Session Submission Type: Group Panel

Description of Session

This panel aims to discuss the challenges of human rights-related curriculum implementation in conflict and post-conflict societies in the global south.

In line with the Resolution adopted by the United Nations for the Decade for Human Rights Education, we define Human Rights Education as “a comprehensive lifelong process by which people at all levels of development and in all societies learn respect for the dignity of others and the means and methods of ensuring that respect” (UN, 1997). This definition allows us to include and assess examples of the broad spectrum of human rights educational programs in the global south.

The elements examined by each presentation on this panel make up the full range of the experienced curriculum, defined “not merely in terms of how things ought to be, but how things are in real classrooms” (Ellis, 2004, p. 5). Focusing on South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Colombian-Ecuadorian border, we assess the tensions between what is included and excluded in the curriculum. We consider the rationale, objectives, aim, scope, structure, and content of the curriculum in formal and informal educational settings, as well as tests and assessment methods, according to the particular focus of each paper. By using Ellis’ inclusive definition we move beyond the dichotomy between the written and the hidden curriculum. We examine how curricula are implemented, experienced by students, and the learning environment itself.

These studies cover three countries of the global south where violence has been normalized and inequality and discrimination persist: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa and the northern border of Ecuador. For the purpose of this panel we understand the extension of political violence beyond the scope of “war” to include violence perpetrated by non-state actors such as left-wing guerrillas and gangs in conflict and post-conflict settings. We understand conflict-affected contexts to be those where conflict, whether between state or non-state actors, and whether current or in the recent past, impacts education. One purpose of the presentations we have assembled is to demonstrate the various ways in and degrees to which such disruptions have occurred in the contexts we examine.

In this context, Bishop offers a feminist assessment of curricula with human rights content from the Democratic Republic of the Congo for evidence of the gender culture that they are influenced by and in turn reproduce. Her mixed methods study combines close reading and text/discourse analysis of curricula and teaching guides.

Sirota examines the presence of human rights education inside and outside of the formal school setting and its connection to social movements in promoting peace and social justice.

Through a qualitative study, Rodríguez Gómez argues fear of being identified as snitches by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in the Colombian-Ecuadorian eastern border prevents school communities from naming, teaching and analyzing the impact of armed conflict in school. Silence emerges as a barrier to peace-building initiatives.

This panel aims to contribute to the field of comparative and international education by unpacking the notion of human rights education as a global solution for conflict, discrimination and inequality. A critical stance that highlights the challenges of human rights educational initiatives can help us better develop peace building solutions.


References:

Glatthorn, A. A., et al (2013). Curriculum Leadership: Strategies for Development and Implementation (3rd ed.). London: Sage.

Schrader, C. E., and Wotipka, C. M. (2011). History Transformed?: Gender in World War II Narratives in U.S. History Textbooks, 1956–2007. Feminist Formations 23(3), 68–88.

Strand, H., Dahl, M. (2010). Defining Conflict-Affected Countries. Paper commissioned for the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2011, The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education. Paris: UNESCO.

Sub Unit

• SIG: Peace Education

Chair

• Susan Garnett Russell, Teachers College, Columbia University

Individual Presentations

• Gender, human rights and women’s rights in curricula from the Democratic Republic of Congo - Emily Bishop, Teachers College, Columbia University

• The role of human rights education during and post-apartheid in South Africa - Sandra Sirota, Columbia University Teachers College

• The learning experiences of youth and normalization of violence on the Colombian-Ecuadorian border - Diana Rodríguez-Gómez, Ed.D. Candidate IED Teachers College

Discussant

• Susan Garnett Russell, Teachers College, Columbia University