Children's rights education is the teaching and practice of children's rights in schools, educational programs or institutions, as informed by and consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. When fully implemented, a children's rights education program consists of both a curriculum to teach children their human rights, and framework to operate the school in a manner that respects children's rights. Articles 29 and 42 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child require children to be educated about their rights.
In addition to meeting legal obligations of the Convention to spread awareness of children’s rights to children and to adults, teaching children about their rights has the benefits of improving their awareness of rights in general, making them more respectful of other people's rights, and empowering them to take action in support of other people's rights. Early programs to teach children about their rights, in Belgium, Canada, England, and New Zealand have provided evidence of this. Children's rights were taught in schools and practiced as an ethos of "liberating the child" well before the UN Convention was written. This practice helped to inform the values and philosophy of the Convention, the IBE, and UNESCO, though the UN has not acknowledged this history or built upon its practices. This is one reasons that children's rights have not become a foundation of schools despite 100 years of struggle.Newman, Michael (2015) Children’s Rights in our Schools – the movement to liberate the child, an introduction to the New Ideals in Education Conferences 1914-1937, www.academia.edu
Meaning of children’s human rights education Children’s human rights education refers to education and educational practices in schools and educational institutions that are consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.Howe, R.B. and Covell, K. (2007). Empowering Children: Children’s Rights Education as a Pathway to Citizenship. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Osler, A., and Starkey, H. (2006). "Education for democratic citizenship: A review of research, policy and practice 1995-2005." Research Papers in Education, 21 (4), 433-466. It is a form of education that centers on the view that children are bearers of human rights, that children are citizens in their own right, that schools and educational institutions are learning communities where children learn (or fail to learn) the values and practices of human rights and citizenship, and that educating children about their own basic human rights is a legal obligation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Children's rights education is education where the rights of the child, as described in the Convention, is taught and practiced in individual classrooms. But in its most developed form, children’s rights are taught and practiced in a systematic and comprehensive way across grade levels, across the school, and across school districts. With fully implemented children’s rights education, children’s rights are not simply an addition to a particular subject or classroom. Rather, the rights of the child are incorporated into the school curricula, teaching practices, and teaching materials across subjects and grade levels, and they are the centerpiece of school mission statements, behavior codes, and school policies and practices.Covell, K., Howe, R.B., and McNeil, J.K. (2010). "Implementing children’s human rights education in schools." Improving Schools, 13 (2), 117-132.
Fully developed children’s rights education means that all members of the school community receive education on the rights of the child. The Convention serves as a values framework for the life and functioning of the school or educational institution and for efforts to promote a more positive school climate and school culture for learning.
A core belief in children’s rights education is that when children learn about their own basic human rights, this learning serves as an important foundation for their understanding and support of human rights more broadly.
Education and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child The Convention on the Rights of the child has important implications for the education of children. Approved by the United Nations in 1989, the Convention is the most widely ratified and most quickly ratified country in world history. Only the United States and South Sudan have yet to ratify the treaty.Child Rights Information Network (2008). Convention on the Rights of the Child . Retrieved 26 November 2008.Amnesty International USA (2007). Convention on the Rights of the Child: Frequently Asked Questions . Retrieved 26 November 2008. By ratifying the Convention, countries commit themselves to the principle that children have fundamental rights as persons and that state authorities have obligations to provide for those rights.Detrick, S. (1999). A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.Verhellen, E. (1994). Convention on the Rights of the Child. Kessel-Lo, Belgium: GarantVan Bueren, G. (1992). The international Law on the Rights of the Child. Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff. Under the terms of the Convention, a legally binding treaty, states parties have the obligation to make their laws, policies, and practices consistent with the provisions of the Convention, if not immediately, then over time.
Several articles in the Convention address education and children’s rights education. Eugeen Verhellen divided the Convention’s provisions on education along three tracks.Verhellen, E. (1993). "Children’s rights and education." School Psychology International, 14 (3), 199-208. First is the child’s right to education on the basis of equal opportunity (article 28). This includes the right to free primary education and to accessible secondary and higher education. Second are the child’s rights in education (articles 2, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 19). This includes the right to non-discrimination, participation, protection from abuse and violence, and freedom of thought, expression, and religion. Third are the child’s rights through education (article 29 and 42). This refers to education where children are able to know and understand their rights and to develop respect for human rights, including their own human rights.
The third track of education defines an obligation by countries and education authorities to provide for children’s human rights education. Article 29 of the Convention requires that "the education of the child shall be directed to the development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms." This presumes knowledge and understanding of rights. Article 42 requires that countries "undertake to make the principles of the Convention widely known, by appropriate and active means, to adults and children alike."
Mindful of this duty of disseminating knowledge and recognizing its importance, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the UN body responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Convention, has repeatedly urged countries to incorporate children’s rights into the school curricula and ensure that children know and understand their rights on a systematic and comprehensive basis.United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (1991). General Guidelines Regarding the Form and Content of Initial Reports. CRC/C/5. New York.Hodgkin, R., and Newell, P. (1998). Implementation handbook for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. New York: UNICEF.
Value of children’s human rights education Children’s rights education in schools fulfills the obligations of countries to respect the rights of the child and implement the provisions of the Convention. Beyond the fulfillment of a legal obligation, children’s rights education has value for children. Felisa Tibbitts suggests that child rights education can be expected to affect learners in three ways.Tibbitts, F. (1997). An Annotated Primer for Selecting Democratic and Human Rights Education Teaching Materials. Amsterdam: Open Society Institute/Human Rights education Associates. First is in the providing of basic information and knowledge on the nature of rights and the specific rights that children are to enjoy. Children can be expected to have a more accurate and deeper understanding of rights. Second is in attitudes, values, and behaviors consistent with the understanding of rights. Children can be expected to have greater respect for the rights of others as shown in their attitudes and behaviors. Third is in empowering children to take action in support of the rights of others. Tibbitts refers to this as the "transformational model" of rights education. Children here are more likely to take a stand in preventing or redressing human rights abuses by, for example, supporting a victim of bullying and confronting a bully in the school playground.
Research by Katherine Covell and R. Brian Howe provides evidence of the above effects.Covell, K., and Howe, R.B. (1999). "The Impact of Children’s Rights Education: A Canadian study." International Journal of Children’s Rights, 7, 171-183.Covell, K., and Howe, R.B. (2001). "Moral Education through the 3 Rs: Rights, Respect and Responsibility." Journal of Moral Education, 30, 31-42.Covell, K., Howe, R.B., and McNeil, J.K. (2008). "'If there’s a dead rat, don’t leave it.' Young children's understanding of their citizenship rights and responsibilities." Cambridge Journal of Education, 38 (3), 321-339. Compared to children who have not received children’s rights education, children who have received children's rights education are more likely to have an accurate and adult-like understanding of rights, to understand that rights and responsibilities are related, and to display socially responsible behaviors in support of the rights of others.
Implementation of children’s human rights education
Early initiatives Many schools and children's communities around the world have been founded on the rights of children, including Janusz Korczak's rights-based Warsaw orphanage, Homer Lane's Little Commonwealth (1913) of delinquent "prisoners", and A.S. Neill's Summerhill School (1921). Inspired by Montessori, Homer Lane, and Harriet Finley Johnson, a community of teachers, educationalists, suffragists, politicians, inspectors, and cultural contributors formed a community called the New Ideals in Education Conferences (1914–37). Their founding value was "the liberation of the child"; they sought shared and celebrated examples of practice in schools, prisons, and child communities. They contributed to the "child centred" primary school.Selleck, R.J.W. (1972) English Primary Education and the Progressives, 1914-1939, p156 Routledge & Kegan Paul London and Boston
Since the approval by the United Nations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, various efforts have been made to provide children's rights education in schools.Howe, R.B., and Covell, K. (2013). Education in the Best Interests of the Child: A Children’s Rights Perspective on Closing the Achievement Gap. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.