The author examines the theory, research, and practice linking human rights to education in order to broaden the concept of citizenship and social studies education. Osler anchors her examination of human rights in the U.N Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training.

This book offers research-based models of exemplary practice for educators at all grade levels, from primary school to university, who want to integrate human rights education into their classrooms. It includes ten examples of projects that have been effectively implemented in classrooms: two from elementary school, two from middle school, three from high school, two from community college, and one from a university. Each model discusses the scope of the project, its rationale, students' response to the content and pedagogy, challenges or controversies that arose, and their resolution. Unique in integrating theory and practice and in addressing human rights issues with special relevance for communities of color in the US, this book provides indispensable guidance for those studying and teaching human rights.

This book engages with human rights and human rights education (HRE) in ways that offer opportunities for criticality and renewal. It takes up various ideas, from critical and decolonial theories to philosophers and intellectuals, to theorize the renewal of HRE as Critical Human Rights Education. The point of departure is that the acceptable “truths” of human rights are seldom critically examined, and productive interpretations for understanding and acting in a world that is soaked in the violations these rights try to address, cannot emerge. The book cultivates a critical view of human rights in education and beyond, and revisits receivable categories of human rights to advance social-justice-oriented educational praxes. It focuses on the ways that issues of human rights, philosophy, and education come together, and how a critical project of their entanglements creates openings for rethinking human rights education (HRE) both theoretically and in praxis. Given the persistence of issues of human rights worldwide, this book will be useful to researchers and educators across disciplines and in numerous parts of the world.

Most of the struggles for equitable schooling, including multicultural curricula and culturally responsive teaching, have largely taken place on a local or national stage, with little awareness of how international human rights standards might support these struggles. Human Rights and Schooling explores the potential of human rights frameworks to support grassroots struggles for justice and examines the impact that human rights and child rights education can make in the lives of students, including the most marginalized. The author, Audrey Osler, examines the theory, research, and practice linking human rights to education in order to broaden the concept of citizenship and social studies education. Bringing scholarship and practice together, the text uses concrete examples to illustrate the links between principles and ideals and actual efforts to realize social justice in and through education. Osler anchors her examination of human rights in the U.N Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training. “Audrey Osler offers timely and relevant insights into education for human rights and social justice. The book examines complex global realities and the power of narrative to create a grounded and critical cosmopolitanism.” —Monisha Bajaj, associate professor, International and Multicultural Education, University of San Francisco “Educators specializing in social studies/civic education, multicultural, comparative, and/or social justice education will find Audrey Osler’s Human Rights and Schooling a fascinating read. It is filled with practical strategies for teaching about, in, and for human rights. In her wide-ranging discussion of concepts such as cosmopolitan citizenship, intersectionality and identity, and narrative, Osler draws on examples from across the globe to show how educators can foster solidarity with human rights struggles near and far as they empower youth to take action for social justice at home and abroad.” —Carole L. Hahn, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Educational Studies, Emory University

Human Rights Education for the Twenty-First Century is a comprehensive resource for training, education, and raising awareness in a wide variety of settings, both formal and informal. A diverse group of contributors—experienced activists, education experts, and representatives of several international governmental organizations—provides a rich potpourri of ideas and real-world approaches to initiating, planning, and implementing programs for teaching people about their human rights and fundamental freedoms. This volume has been developed for a global audience of educators, scholars in many disciplines, nongovernmental organizations, and foundation officers.

In tracing the origins of the modern human-rights movement, historians typically point to two periods: the 1940s, in which decade the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was ratified by the United Nations General Assembly; and the 1970s, during which numerous human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), most notably Amnesty International and Médecins Sans Frontières, came into existence. It was also in the 1970s, Sarita Cargas observes, when the first classes in international human rights began to be taught in law schools and university political science departments in the United States. Cargas argues that the time has come for human rights to be acknowledged as an academic discipline. She notes that human rights has proven to be a relevant field to scholars and students in political science and international relations and law for over half a century. It has become of interest to anthropology, history, sociology, and religious studies, as well as a requirement even in social work and education programs. However, despite its interdisciplinary nature, Cargas demonstrates that human rights meets the criteria that define an academic discipline in that it possesses a canon of literature, a shared set of concerns, a community of scholars, and a methodology. In an analysis of human rights curricula in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, Cargas identifies an informal consensus on the epistemological foundations of human rights, including familiarity with human rights law; knowledge of major actors including the United Nations, governments, NGOS, and multinational corporations; and, most crucially, awareness and advocacy of the rights and freedoms detailed in the articles of the UDHR. The second half of the book offers practical recommendations for creating a human rights major or designing courses at the university level in the United States.