Good Practice in Human Rights Education in Schools

Ever since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed in 1948, the United Nations has been encouraging states to provide human rights education (HRE). Initiatives to promote HRE include the World Programme for Human Rights Education (2005—ongoing) and the Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training (2011). Despite the United Nation’s concerted efforts to promote human rights education, there is still uncertainty as to exactly what ‘human rights education’ means and how it should be implemented within schools. This chapter presents findings from empirical research and an evaluation of HRE programs in different countries, in order to identify six key elements of effective school-based human rights education.

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Acknowledgement

The author would like to acknowledge the support of the Australian Attorney-General’s Department in this research. The Department provided funding for a literature review into good practice in school-based human rights education, on which this chapter is based.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

1. Faculty of Law, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia Paula Gerber

1. Paula Gerber