[hre-asiapacific] Re: Theoretical framework, legal bases and history of HRE

Dear colleagues,

I am perhaps in a good position to contribute on the historical origins of
HRE.

An intention that there should be human rights education is incorporated
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). Article 26.2 states
that: 'Education shall be directed...to the strengthening of respect for
human rights'. Before 1948 there was no common understanding of the
concept 'human rights', so human rights education could not exist.

The first international impetus to do more than simply display a copy of
the Universal Declaration in all classrooms was taken in the drafting and
adoption of the Recommendation of the UNESCO General Conference on 19
November 1974 in Paris, entitled: Recommendation concerning Education for
International Understanding, Co-operation and Peace and Education relating
to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.  UNESCO followed up the
Recommendation by commissioning Leah Levin to write Human Rights:
questions and answers" (1978) and in 1979 launched a journal "Human Rights
Teaching", essentially for those teaching in university law schools.

The first direct formulation that I have found of the phrase 'human rights
education' in relation to schools is in the title of a Council of Europe
symposium held in Vienna in 1983. The report of this symposium is
entitled: Human Rights Education in Schools in Western Europe. This
symposium, with key note speeches by Judith Torney-Purta and Ian Lister
helped to define HRE and the outcome was a formal Recommendation of the
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (R(85)7) on Teaching and
Learning about Human Rights in Schools (1985).

The first use of 'human rights education' in an academic paper is probably
Suzanne Shafer's Human rights education in schools (1987) and the first
use in a book title is, I believe, "The Challenge of Human Rights
Education" (Starkey, 1991).

For those with access to a library, this early history of HRE is told in
more detail in a book chapter (Starkey, 1994).


Dr Hugh Starkey
Course leader for MA Citizenship /History Education by distance learning
School of Arts & Humanities
University of London Institute of Education
20 Bedford Way,
London WC1H 0AL
Room 930c
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References:

Shafer, S. (1987) Human rights education in schools, in: N. Tarrow (ed.)
Human Rights and Education. Oxford: Pergamon.

Starkey, H. (ed.) (1991) The Challenge of Human Rights Education. London:
Cassell.

Starkey, H. (1994) Development education and human rights education, in: A.
Osler (ed.) Development Education: global perspectives in the curriculum.
London: Cassell.




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