ED1231 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Problem Solving, Critical Inquiry, Australian Curriculum
Humanities
Lecture Six – Week Six
What are human rights?
- The rights you have simply because you are human
o Apply to everyone, everywhere
o Universal
- Cyrus the Great
o Slaves were free to go
o People could choose their own religion
o ‘Cyrus Cylinder’
- Magna Carter
o Not even the king could take away a humans rights
- What are the human rights you think we should all have?
o Shelter
o Protection
o Equality
o Education
o Right to nutrition
o Right to love
o Right to religion
- Compare your list to the Human Rights Cards
- Routinely respected
What is Human Rights Education?
- In simple terms, human rights are those rights that enable all people to live fully ‘human’ lives.
o The definition is obviously open to interpretation but basically it is about ensuring all people have the
right to live a free and happy life where they can be heard and are safe
- As the title indicates, human rights are considered ‘universal’ with all people entitled to them regardless of
race, culture or religion.
- Examples of rights and freedoms include:
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948
- Human rights issues arise when there are, or seem to be, abuses of people’s rights and/or violations of the
articles of the UDHR
o (Gilbert & Hoepper 2014,p. 421)
- As the title suggests are considered universal with all people entitled to them regardless of race culture or
religion
- Examples of rights and freedoms include the right tolife and liberty to freedom of expression to education the
right to vote to work and to an dequate standard of living
Australian Human Rights
- What are some of the Human Rights issues in Australia currently?
- Talk about human rights
- How could we deal with these issues in a classroom?
• Children’s literature
• Discussion
• Need to be really aware of how you are leading the discussion
the right to
life and
liberty
to freedom of
expression to education the right to
vote to work
to an
adequate
standard of
living
find more resources at oneclass.com
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• Excursions and incursions
- Would you use clips like this in the classroom?
- What questions would you like to ask?
- What learning activities might be prompted by this video clip ‘hook’?
- How would you encourage students to create and post their own presentations about children’s rights?
• The importance of human rights in education and the dynamics of the classroom and community require
each person to evaluate and think about relationships with each other in families, workplaces and
schools. In becoming a citizen, awareness and focus on the importance of human rights is essential
Experiencing Human Rights
- Refer back to the list of human rights
- Think of a time in your life when you have experienced
- Human Rights being violated?
- When you were on prac did you witness any human rights violation?
Where does it start?
- The importance of human rights in education and the dynamics of the require each person to evaluate and think
about relationships with each other in families, workplaces and schools classroom and community. In becoming a
citizen, awareness and focus on the importance of human rights is essential
- It starts with each individual. It starts in the classroom and in homes. I think sometimes we think human rights
violations are happening somewhere else in the world but actually they are happening right here. We have to
make sure children are aware of their human rights and that they are given the skills to act if their human rights
are being violated.
- The that end we can teach children again about perspective and empathy to become active citizens and global
citizens and help ensure other children’s rights are met.
Children’s Human Rights
- Children as well as adults have human rights. Children also have the right to special protection because of their
vulnerability to exploitation and abuse.
- The main international human rights treaty on children’s rights is the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
The CRC is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in the world. Australia ratified the CRC in December
1990, which means that Australia has a duty to ensure that all children in Australia enjoy the rights set out in
the treaty.
- Children are particularly vulnerable as they are easy targets for exploitation and abuse. As educators we
must ensure they are safe.
- There in a human rights treaty for children. This treaty was ratified in Australia in 1980 which means we have
a responsibility to ensure it is upheld
- The CRC incorporates the whole spectrum of human rights - civil, political, economic, social and cultural - and
sets out the specific ways these rights should be ensured for children and young people. The CRC recognises
that children have the same human rights as adults, while also needing special protection due to their
vulnerability.
• Some of the guiding principles in the CRC are
• respect for the best interests of the child as a primary consideration
• the right to survival and development
• the right of all children to express their views freely on all matters affecting them
• the right of all children to enjoy all the rights of the CRC without discrimination of any kind
Social Justice
- Conceptually, ‘social justice’ is an ideal in which people’s basic needs are met, in which they have equal rights
to pursue opportunities and to access services, in which they are accorded equality and dignity, in which they
are free from abuse and discrimination and in which they can participate freely and equally in democratic
political processes.
- Nelson Mandela commented on the relationship between rights and social justice when he stated that:
• Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated
by the actions of human beings. Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is
the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life.
• BBC, 2005, p. 423
Human Rights in the Curriculum
- The Australian Curriculum signals the importance of the curriculum in developing citizens. ‘The Civics and
Citizenship curriculum helps to build students’ knowledge and understanding of the ways in which citizens, as
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The rights you have simply because you are human: apply to everyone, everywhere, universal. Cyrus the great: slaves were free to go, people could choose their own religion. Magna carter: not even the king could take away a humans rights. What are the human rights you think we should all have: shelter, protection, equality, education, right to nutrition, right to love, right to religion. Compare your list to the human rights cards. As the title indicates, human rights are considered universal" with all people entitled to them regardless of race, culture or religion. Examples of rights and freedoms include: the right to life and liberty to freedom of expression to education the right to vote to work to an adequate standard of living. The universal declaration of human rights (udhr) in 1948. Human rights issues arise when there are, or seem to be, abuses of people"s rights and/or violations of the articles of the udhr (gilbert & hoepper 2014,p.
