by Felisa Tibbitts

A working definition of justice needs to be focused on peace building,
and personal and social transformation.

Human rights education is a newly emerging practice, uniquely sanctioned at the intergovernmental level, as well as in some cases at the national and regional level, and most certainly by dedicated individuals and organizations at the grassroots level worldwide. It is an emerging area of practice that aspires to promote and protect human dignity and encourages trainers to involve learners in what can be termed an "empowerment process."

Human rights education (HRE) shares with intercultural education a belief in the power of learning to improve the human condition. Both HRE and intercultural education are also concerned with equity and providing equal access to the educational process, particularly for minority and dispossessed groups.

HRE also shares a rather multi-faceted approach, with elements related to cognition, affective and experiential learning. Methodological approaches have been especially important for HRE, as well as intercultural education and other approaches aimed at touching the psychosocial dimension. Thus, nearly all formal literature associated with HRE will mention the importance of using participatory methods.

Moreover, as the human rights vision pertains to justice at all levels of individual and State relationships, the term "empowerment" has a special significance. In United Nations guidelines on the Decade for Human Rights Education, which concluded in 2005, the Office of the UN High Commissioner called for human rights education that, among other things, would "enable all persons to participate effectively in a free society". Human rights education is not merely about valuing and respecting human rights, but about fostering personal action in order to guarantee these conditions.

Many human rights educators I know are convinced that the work that they do is transformative - empowering the people they work with to make changes in their own lives, as well as in their families, communities and institutions around them. Our intuition about impact can be better recognized and understood through placing such trainings within a transformative learning framework that recognizes the conditions leading to such changes.

This special issue of Intercultural Education was conceived in order to examine the compelling and complex question of how human rights education and transformative learning theory contribute to one another. The six articles included draw from a variety of regions, learning conditions, political environments and learner types. Two of the articles focus on human rights education with youth, one in a school setting. Four of the articles focus on adult learners, including teachers, poor women, and human rights educators and activists. Most of the human rights education programming that is highlighted has taken place in informal learning situations. The settings range from the International War Crime Tribunal in The Hague to a community setting in rural Turkey. The time frame covers the 1980s to the present.

Through the lenses of these articles we are looking for threads to answer the common questions related to transformative learning: What are the conditions and teaching techniques that can help lead to transformative learning? What are the impacts that we have seen in some programs meeting these conditions?

If we are able to identify some of the conditions and techniques that foster transformative learning in the human rights education context, no doubt we will uncover elements that will inform our efforts in other normative educational fields, as well. We may usefully begin with a very brief overview of the theory of transformative learning.

A Brief Theoretical and Empirical Overview of Transformative Learning

Mezirow is credited with initiating the theoretical field of transformative learning. He defined transformative learning as the process by which we call into question our taken for granted frames of reference to make them more inclusive, discriminating, open, and reflective so that they may generate beliefs and opinions that will prove more true or justified to guide action.

He developed the principle of "perspective transformation" whereby an individual - through experience, critical reflection and rational discourse - has a meaning structure transformation. This transformation is 'rational' insofar as it involves discourse and work with the conscious. Elements are also intuitive, creative and emotional.

Mezirow's initial theory has been extended and, by implication, criticized. The main criticism has been his neglect of the relationship between individual and social transformation. His earlier works, also, have drawn fire for a seemingly lock-step "rationale" approach for designing transformative learning. Nonetheless, Mezirow's initial idea has remained central to the field.

Other iterations, such as Boyd , have related transformative learning to adult development theory, linking certain processes to individuation, or the passing through of life phases. Ettling's study of praxis in relation to transformative changes in women's groups has recognized the essential role of building bonds of friendship and support within the group in order to help claim "oneself and one's beliefs".

For human rights education, the idea of transformative learning is completed and complemented by the work of Paolo Freire, who is also often cited in intercultural education circles. "Emancipatory transformation" takes the idea of transformative learning beyond that of the individual into social action and change. With Freire, we find the direct link between personal and social transformation, as well as the notion of critical reflection as a redistribution of power. Many human rights educators believe that a transformative learning experience, involving "conscientization" is intended to foster both personal and social change.

In the late 1990s, Edward W. Taylor examined the empirical evidence for practices that fostered transformative learning. Eleven studies were found to focus on this topic and they revealed several essential practices and conditions, not all of which had been identified by Mezirow.

1. Ideal learning conditions promote a sense of safety, openness and trust.
2. Effective instructional methods support a learner-centered approach, and promote student autonomy, participation and collaboration.
3. Activities encourage the exploration of alternative personal perspectives, problem-posing and critical reflection.
4. Teachers need to be trusting, empathetic and caring.
5. The environment must support personal self-disclosure.
6. It is essential to discuss and work through emotions and feelings before engaging in critical reflection.
7. Feedback and self assessment assist the process of transformative learning, as do solitude and self-dialogue.

Many of these practices and conditions were confirmed in the articles contained in this special issue on human rights education and transformative learning, but new ground is broken, as well.

Contributions of the Articles to the Transformative Learning Field

The findings from the Taylor study referenced above pertain primarily to the techniques for promoting transformative learning. The majority of articles in this issue either explicitly or implicitly refer to most of these techniques.

At the same time, certain other techniques have emerged in the work of human rights educators:

- A willingness to bring tensions and conflicts into the group. Politically speaking, dealing with tensions in the groups demonstrates the importance to defy noncompliance. Conflicts can also help to deepen our understanding of the subjective experience of others.

- An emphasis on critical analyses and reflection, both of personal perspectives and social elements, including power structures in societies. A critical perspective on social conditions affecting personal experiences can help groups to identify shared problems and to collectively develop strategies to address these.

- Acquisition of consciousness regarding the inherent connection of personal experiences to human rights and justice issues. Human rights education facilitates a critical "justice oriented" perspective on personal experiences, including the "de-naturalization" of discriminatory experiences.

- Consciousness leading to empowerment and the development of strategic actions. Knowledge can empower people to take hold of their rights, and trainings organized by human rights groups encourage learners to act on these rights.

These contributions in many ways reflect a broadening of the theory and practice of transformative learning to include Freire's critical consciousness.

Another technique mentioned in only one of the articles but potentially critical in helping to ensure transformative learning, is extended contact with the program. In the women's empowerment programs in both Turkey and Argentina, many women participating in a multi-month training were able to remain connected to the trainers through other activities. Such a circumstance, although ideal, is nonetheless worth noting, as these women demonstrated both personal transformation and social action.

The articles, which are essentially case studies of efforts, also enlarge our thinking about the essential conditions for promoting transformative learning as well as the impact (both individual and social) of participating in programs organized to bring about such results. These dimensions move us beyond an identification of promising practices to fundamental questions about political and social context, learners and goals for transformation.

Promising conditions augmenting transformative learning

The authors of the articles collectively work with three kinds of learners:

- so-called human rights victims - those experiencing restrictions on the enjoyment of their human rights (women in rural Turkey, poor women in Argentina without access to proper health care, educators suffering under military dictatorship in 1980s Chile);

- adolescents (who are naturally in a critical developmental stage of life); and

- human rights activists and educators (already presumably empowered).

Although transformative experiences are identified for all groups, there may be differences of degree and kind. Based on the outcomes reported, it may be that human rights education program experiences for groups suffering oppression may be the most profound and remarkable, if only because of the dramatic shifts in perspectives and empowerment that can take place.

Groups suffering from oppression are linked not only with a larger collective experience but with a particular time in history and place. For example, the initial human rights education programs presented for Chile took place during the period of military dictatorship. In Turkey, legal changes enhancing the role of women had made headway in official circles but remained to be realized in practice in more traditional regions. In Argentina, the women denied access to health care suffered not only from sheer poverty but also limited family planning options. Thus, the larger context for the human rights learner is a political and social one, one marked by inequities in power and justice. In the Freire spirit, human rights education calls for a critique of such circumstances as part of the transformative learning experience. Such an experience would ideally lead to social action and transformation.

In the transformative learning experiences involving youth, the programs focused on the personal experiences and perspectives of youth, creating circumstances for challenging their views and values. The adolescent period is an ideal time for challenging the moral and ethical convictions of young people, and helping them to expand their universe of responsibility. In the US and Dutch programs, such efforts "plant a seed" that youth's ability to change perspective and improve relationships will help make them caring and active adults, who will not be bystanders to injustice.

For human rights educators and activists receiving the training described in the Canadian case study, it may be that there is less "perspective shifting" in the Mezirow sense, but the techniques for transformative learning are very much in place, and the evidence suggests a deepening of commitment and consciousness to the role of a human rights worker as a consequence of the training. Thus, in many ways, this program is a "training of trainers" - intended to foster ongoing human rights education and activism.

Impacts of programs using transformative learning

The impacts reported by the authors were those originally targeted by the programs themselves. Outcomes for the rural women in Turkey participating in the WWHR-New Ways program showed not only significant increases in cognitive, affective and action competencies but also reported decreases in physical and emotional violence from partners, a nearly unanimous increase in self confidence and, in many cases, decisions to return to education or to the workforce. An independent evaluator also documented changed family relationships, including a shift in decision-making power in the family. Although only one third of the women participating in the program ended up joining a civil society group following the training, over the years a dozen independent women's grassroots initiatives were organized successfully by the trainees. Thus we found evidence of both personal and, to some degree, social transformation, particularly at the familial level.

In Argentina, there was "personal empowerment" for the 31 women who not only participated in the right to health care workshops but were willing to contribute their testimonials to the human rights report. "They felt that their testimonies served to transform reality" according to one of the report authors. Equally significant for the trainers was the ways in which these led directly to social action and change. At the end of this initiative, a faculty of medicine and a nursing faculty in the province where a complaint about discrimination had taken place had agreed to add to the curriculum a course on human rights in order to sensitize novice doctors and nurses about the rights of all patients to health care and respectful treatment in medical settings. Moreover, the municipal Secretary of Health and the Ombudsperson's Office had initiated investigations into the allegations made in the human rights report. In addition to these institutional responses, the feeling among the alliance of women's and human rights groups was that women coming from the slum areas of Rosario would now receive proper health care.

The human rights educators and workers attending the training of the Canadian Human Rights Foundation arrived already familiar with the human rights framework and dedicated to its implementation. For these trainers, the impacts were increased skills and knowledge that could be applied in their activist and training work, an enhancement of their self perception and renewal as a human rights educator or activist. Follow up with the trainees showed that the majority had actively applied training elements to their work.

In the case of the programs serving adolescents, the contributions were developmental in nature. For example, the Facing History program was able to demonstrate that young people who participated in the program grew in psychosocial competencies in their interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. The specific assessment tool highlighted in the article provided further information to teachers using the program about their participating youth - the degree to which, for example, their students were engaged or disengaged by the social exclusion case study used, and how the notion of bystander behavior was related to individual students or cultural norms that they understand. Related to Mezirow's emphasis on perspective taking, the research highlighted in this article, among other things, reveals what perspectives the students take in analyzing their response to the social exclusion case study, and how well these perspectives are coordinated.

The youth attending the "Coming to Justice" program at the Anne Frank House had many cognitive gains, including knowledge about the Holocaust, more recent genocides, war crimes and crimes against humanity, although the amount learned depended upon the level of previous knowledge students had on these topics. Separate from knowledge gains, students participating in the program were confronted with their own conceptions of justice and, according to documentation, became more motivated to read about human rights issues. Thus, a kind of human rights consciousness was raised, hopefully one with long-term effects.

Remaining Questions

Thus far, I have emphasized that the human rights approach enriches the transformative learning field. At the same time, the practice of human rights education, which is extremely general in conception and varied in practice, could clearly benefit from a more concerted embracing of transformative learning.

Thoughtful wrestling with a question as fundamental as "how do we promote transformative learning in human rights education" inevitably leads to new areas of inquiry. If, in this issue, we are able to identify and illustrate some promising conditions and practices for fostering transformative learning, we cannot prescribe such conditions. Moreover, we are left with a large set of theoretical and empirical questions - some of which might be resolved by debate, others only by further experience. As it's best to leave the questions only partly answered, I conclude with these queries:

* What is the role of human rights education - personal transformation or social change? Can these be separated?

* What is the role of education in emotional development? What is the interplay between affective learning, feelings, and rationality?

* What constitutes development? This has both a psychological nature and is also a social construct. Given all this, how can we foster a developmental perspective within the transformative learning field?

* Does transformative learning transcend cultural differences? How can we accommodate different cultural backgrounds among learners when designing such programs?

* How can we properly train facilitators for this role?

* How do we best develop safe and responsible relationships between facilitators and learners, and between learners themselves?

These are some of my questions. Although this issue will certainly not be able to offer definitive answers, I believe that we will be able to make some headway, to begin a conversation that I hope we will be able to continue - educator to educator. I invite you to critically reflect on your own work, and share your experiences with the rest of us in the next issue, or in HREA's online environment, the Global Human Rights Education listserv.

This article appears in Intercultural Education (2005), 16(2). London: Routledge. The journal is a publication of the International Association for Intercultural Education. For information about this special issue on human rights education, contact barry@iaie.org.