[hr-education] Re: Theoretical framework, legal bases and history of HRE

Dear all:

Abraham, Vasanthi, Hugh, Mónica, Jeroen, Alenka, Elaine, Felisa and all
friends that are participating in this wonderful dialogue...:

I would like to share with you some insights about the interesting issues
which have come up during these days. But, first of all let me ask our
moderators to help me translating my contribution into English, due to the
fact that I feel better writing in Spanish, my mother tongue. Thank you
very much.

I am very much in agreement with Abraham in regards to his idea to keep in
mind the fact that HRE entails an ethical and political dimension. It is
therefore, from my point of view, that HRE is something that is conceived
and raised abstractly, like a set of ideas on education oriented to
knowledge and skills of human beings so that they can act and coexist with
others. Human rights and, in particular, human rights education, is
something that has to do with each one of us, with our humanity, in regard
to the recognition of our dignity, and our condition of subjects of
rights. It has to do with how we become more being, that is to say more
human, in a process of interrelationship with other human beings.

In this process of seeking to be more human, I believe that it is
important to remember that what Aristotle called the 'zoon politikon',
refering to one of the characteristics of human beings; and, as we know,
this 'political animal', the human being is a social animal, which
posseses logic, that has the capacity to discern between that what is
favorable or not in order to reach its humanity.

Probably, what has been said draws much from philosophical anthropology
(perhaps not very well formulated as I am not a philosopher), but I
consider that human rights education has in itself an undeniable
ontological dimension. For that reason I think that 'human rights
education' is, and must be, par excellence 'education'. This brings me to
the conclusion, based on our experience of twenty years in this field,
that education is human rights education or it is not education. As a
great intellectual and Peruvian teacher, Dr. Luis Jaime Cisneros, said:
"if education does not shape people and citizens, there is lost his reason
of being" ["si la educación no forma personas y ciudadanos, ha perdido su
razón de ser"]. I believe this is the idea, the idea of Abraham, of the
ethical dimension and policy of HRE; people, based on the recognition of
their dignity, and citizens, based on the recognition of its condition of
'zoon politikon'. HRE entails this challenge: to develop processes of
interrelationships that make us more human and act against everything what
prevents us from being human. This for me is 'the distinguishing
characteristic' of HRE. The other approaches, Civic Education, Values
Education, Education for Democratic Citizenship, etc., I understand them
as thematic accents, emphases that can help to HRE as we have seeded it.
Excuse my long elaboration.

Seguiremos en contacto. We'll keep in touch. Love to all, brothers, and
sisters around the world.

Pablo Zavala Sarrio
Instituto Peruano de Educación en Derechos Humanos y la Paz
Av. Juan de Aliaga 427 - Magdalena
Telefaxes: 460-9444 / 461-0867 / 460-9564
Email: <       >

 


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