Human Rights and Education
EDST 352
Spring 2023
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01
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Since the end of World War II, the idea of human rights has spread around the world. Within human rights discourses, education has emerged as simultaneously a right in and of itself, a crucial space that can either reproduce discriminatory practices or subvert and resist them, and a means through which knowledge of human rights can be promoted. But what do these developments in human rights and education mean in the everyday lives of formerly and currently colonized and oppressed peoples in the US and around the world, for whom education has been and continues to be used explicitly as a tool of oppression, forced assimilation, and violence?
This class will explore this and other key questions related to human rights and education. What does it mean to be human, and how do we learn to be human? What rights mark a human being, who has them, and how do we learn who has them? Who, if anyone, should have a right to education? If they have a right to education, do they have a right to a particular kind of education? How does education as a human right relate to human rights education, and what are the implications of this relationship for our understanding of what changes to existing schooling systems might accomplish in terms of expanding and improving all humans' rights? Can the global human rights framework improve current educational, national, social, and economic inequities? Do schools have the responsibility to teach or to practice human rights education? And, can one global education and human rights model best meet the needs of our incredibly diverse global population?
For the central class project, students will work in groups to learn about local community organizations working on various human/civil rights issues (broadly defined) and education. Student groups will meet with these groups to learn about their work, goals, needs, and any frameworks they use surrounding rights. Student groups will then present to the class their findings, connecting the community groups' work and frameworks to those we have learned about and discussed in class. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS EDST |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (EDST-MN)(EDST)(HRAD-MN) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Sample readings:
Bajaj, M. (2017). Human rights education: Theory, research, praxis. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Zembylas, M. (2017). Re-contextualising human rights education: Some decolonial strategies and pedagogical/curricular possibilities. Pedagogy, Culture & Society 25(4), 487-499.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed.
PBS Wide Angle (2016). Time for school.
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Examinations and Assignments:
There will be 4 short (1-3 pages) reflection papers throughout the semester.
For the central class project, students will work in groups to learn about local community organizations working on various human/civil rights issues (broadly defined) and education. Student groups will meet with these groups to learn about their work, goals, needs, and any frameworks they use surrounding rights. Student groups will then present to the class their findings, connecting the community groups¿ work and frameworks to those we have learned about and discussed in class. They will also connect these frameworks to the needs that the local community members shared with them to examine the overarching course questions: Can the global human rights framework improve current educational, national, social, and economic inequities? Do schools have the responsibility to teach or to practice human rights education? And, can one global education and human rights model best meet the needs of our incredibly diverse global population? |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course will satisfy the Category 2 requirement for the EDST major and minor. |
| Instructor(s): Speciale,Teresa Times: ...W... 01:20PM-04:10PM; Location: 164MTV108; |
Permission of Instructor Required
Enrollment capacity: 12 | Permission of instructor approval will be granted by the instructor during pre-registration through the Electronic Portfolio. Click "Add to My Courses" and "To request a POI electronically, click here" to submit your request. |
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