IN THIS ISSUE

FROM THE HREA STAFF: EUROPEAN YEAR OF CITIZENSHIP THROUGH EDUCATION


Dear Colleagues and Friends,

2005 is the European Year of Citizenship through Education. The aim is to launch throughout Europe a campaign to popularise and put into practice existing education for democratic citizenship policies and programmes.

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 a lot has happened in the area of curricular reform, policy development, text development and professional development in subject matters like civic education and history, both in Central/Eastern Europe and Western Europe. It is our hope that this European Year will particularly place education for citizenship and democracy higher on the agenda of policy makers and create more awareness in the media about the importance of our field. HREA will be actively involved in the European Year through activities of the Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe (DARE) Network.

It will be interesting to see if the European Year will also spark the necessary dialogue about the essence, and differences and similarities, of human rights education, education for democratic citizenship, peace education and other closely related fields. To get a taste of what such a discussion might result in, please take a look at the Global Human Rights Education listserv on which a lively discussion is currently taking place among educators about the relation between human rights education and citizenship education.

With warm wishes from the HREA Board and staff,

Felisa Tibbitts
Executive Director

NATIONAL TRAINING ON GENDER-REVIEW OF TEXTBOOKS IN CASABLANCA


HREA’s first national educators training in Morocco took place in Casablanca from 25-28 January. The thirty enthusiastic participants included teachers, members of women’s and human rights groups, education officials, a representative of a parent organisation and university students. The training was organised by HREA’s Morocco office. Trainers included Mustapha Kak (project coordinator), Abderrahim Sabir (project director), Khalid El Abbioui (sociologist), Nezha Alaoui (legal specialist on the Moudawana), Laden Yurttagüler (textbook review specialist from Turkey) and Felisa Tibbitts.

The goal of the four-day training was to prepare for the review of 50 Moroccan school textbooks, applying gender-based criteria. The criteria that were distributed will be used to identify and document stereotypes of girls and women in the images and text in a variety of social science and humanities textbooks.

The textbook review process is being carried out in close cooperation with the Ministry of National Education, which is supporting the teachers’ involvement in the work, supplying textbooks, and will also have a member of their Human Rights Department participate as a reviewer. It is anticipated that the review process will result in the internalisation of gender-sensitive criteria in the internal textbook approval process of the Ministry. The textbook review process is part of a larger HREA effort in Morocco to promote the implementation of the new Family Code, or Moudawana.

INTERVIEW WITH HISTORIAN HOWARD ZINN

"In education, we want to bring up a new generation of people who can do away with war, who can do away with racism and sexism - that's what education is for." - Howard Zinn

As a member of the editorial board of Amnesty International-USA's "Fourth R" magazine, HREA's Director Felisa Tibbitts recently interviewed historian Howard Zinn. He spoke about the interdependent relationship between education and activism - sharing his years of experience as an educator, author, and outspoken advocate for peace and human rights. Professor Zinn's seminal A People's History of the United States sold over one million copies worldwide. The book illustrates that the struggle for labour laws, women's rights and racial equality were conducted at the grassroots level in the face of fierce resistance. Over time, the language of his activism for peace, nonviolent civil disobedience and social and political reform has increasingly and more expressly used the language of human rights. Recognising labour rights, civil rights and women’s rights efforts as part of a larger human rights movement allows us to see the interdependence and interrelatedness of human rights.

Historically, how do you think schools have served as a catalyst for social change and furthering the human rights movement?

Zinn: I think it works both ways. Students who learn in school about what is going on in the world are motivated to do something about it, to act on what they have learned. When I say it goes both ways, when you have students become active in human rights and feel that human rights has touched them personally, then they are likely to come back into the classroom and have the curriculum reflect their own consciousness.

When students study human rights-related themes and issues, how does it translate into change in the larger society? What can we do in the classroom to nurture activists?

Zinn: What we can do in the classroom is to teach history and to teach history in a certain way, one that departs from the traditional approach where students learn certain facts and reproduce these facts on paper. That kind of history does not lead to action but passivity, based on an idea that students take their obedient place in the classroom. A different history is one that emphasises human rights, which emphasises problems that people have had in this country and other parts of the world, and the resistance that people have put up in their lives.

What is your advice for administrators and policy makers? How can we best encourage change in schools as well as in the larger society?

Zinn: The energy has to come from below - from teachers and students. I think it’s most likely to happen if students demand it, and if teachers begin to teach this way. Teachers, not just as individuals but knowing that other teachers are also doing this. If they are active enough, then it can change the attitudes of principals in schools and school boards.

The full interview can be found in the Winter 2005 issue of Amnesty International-USA's "Fourth R" magazine.

Upcoming e-learning courses in 2005

The application process has started for HREA distance learning courses offered in the second half of 2005, including our annual courses on the European human rights system, human rights monitoring and the introductory course on human rights education. Find out more about these and other upcoming e-learning opportunities.

Workshop on human rights monitoring
(New York, 25-26 March)

HREA will organise a workshop on human rights monitoring in New York (USA) on 25 and 26 March 2005. The training will concentrate on principles of monitoring, techniques for documentation, and monitoring gender-based violence. Learn more.

Literature review on Learning to Live Together

HREA has developed a literature review for UNESCO on research related to programmes for "Learning to Live Together". A presentation of the literature review was made in Geneva in December 2004 and the current version of this document can be found on-line.

Upcoming course for teachers

In collaboration with Amnesty International-USA, HREA will be offering a two-day workshop "Demystifying Human Rights" for secondary school teachers on 30 April and 14 May in Boston (USA). The course will overview the philosophical and historical origins of human rights and international human rights standards. Professional development credits apply for Massachusetts teachers. You can apply now.

How You Can Help

HREA supports human rights and educational institutions in transitional democracies in developing human rights curricula and training materials. With your donations we can continue to assist our colleagues in their important work. Find out how you can contribute.

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