Exploring human rights integration in selected general education subjects in three higher educational institutions

• Main Author: Delantar, Maria Liselle N.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2007
• Subjects: Human rights; Curriculum development; Curriculum planning; Universities and colleges; General education > Curricula-; Development Studies
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/3494; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etd_masteral/article/10332/viewcontent/CDTG004280_P.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study was undertaken in order to determine the emergent nature of human rights integration in the teaching of selected general education subjects, through the perspectives and actual experiences of teachers in three higher educational institutions. Semi-structured interviews, syllabus review, actual classroom observation and other secondary sources were utilized to explore the content, manner and extent whereby human rights concepts were integrated by teachers in their current practice. Guided by Everett Rogers (1995) Innovation-decision process and the Approaches to human rights education chart of the Asia Regional Research Council for Human Rights Education (2003), the findings revealed: (1) the potentiality of drawing legalistic, political, socio-cultural and psycho-social-spiritual perspectives of human rights in the teaching of three social science and two theology subjects; (2) that human rights integration as practiced in the three institutions is generally a pedagogical (or teacher-led) innovation; (3) that carrying out human rights integration involves a constant struggle between the teachers understanding of human rights, their motivation to see beyond the lack of explicit human rights concepts in order to raise social awareness and affect change upon their students, and the classroom realities that permit or hinder their intended manner of integration; (4) that the most prominent human rights issues conveyed are local incidences of violations and abuses, whilst reflective of societal conditions, have down played the component of active citizenship and participation in development; and lastly (5) that these v phenomena reflect the lack of coercive thrust and direction from the school and state on the aspect of planning, implementing and assessing human rights education in the formal higher education system With this, the study presented how human rights education can flourish in the higher education system through interventions made at the school, national government agencies (particularly Commission on Higher Education and Commission on Human Rights), and through state legislation.