Human Rights and the National Curriculum

Human Rights and the National Curriculum

Those who were able to attend the ACE National Conference had the privilege of hearing from one of Australia's leading authorities on Human Rights - The Hon Catherine Branson QC.  XX of the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

The AHRC have initiated a strategy to encourage ACARA, education ministers and the education community to think about  giving more prominence to human rights education and practice as an across the curriculum priority.  This is their position paper on this matter.

http://humanrights.gov.au/pdf/education/position_paper.pdf

The paper defines Human Rights Education as encompassing

  • the acquisition of knowledge and skills about human rights;
  • the development of respectful values and attitudes and changed behaviour that reflects human rights values; and
  • the motivation of social action and empowerment of active citizenship to advance respect for the rights of all.

Why should the National Curriculum be amended to ensure a more coherent and comprehensive emphasis on human rights?

This position papers provides many answers including the following:

  • assisting young people to incorporate these values into their daily lives is a concrete way to prevent bullying, discrimination and promote inclusion and respect for diversity
  • where education around values is embedded in the content and pedagogy of the classroom, there is evidence of improved student engagement with schooling, better learning outcomes, and enhanced social and emotional wellbeing and
  • the delivery of human rights education in schools fulfils Australia's international and domestic human rights commitments as detailed in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This paper argues that while there are human rights perspectives already  included in elements of the draft national curriculum they need to be strengthened:

"[I]t is the Commission's view that human rights needs to be explicitly integrated into existing general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities. The integration of human rights into existing relevant general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities will ensure the relevance and importance of human rights to students' learning - both as a body of knowledge and as values and principles to guide attitudes and behaviours - is highlighted throughout the Curriculum.

If you are interested in incorporating human right into your school, classroom or system in a coherent and comprehensive way this paper provides an excellent starting point for auditing your current approach to curriculum, pedagogy and school ethos.

It is also a useful read if you plan to take part on the consultation being conducted by ACARA on the student capability framework and the cross curriculum perspectives (both underway)