Emphasis on human rights in schoolwork: An insight into the methods of Rights Schools

Abstract

Violations of children’s human rights occur in many parts of the world due to wars, various types of crises and multiple other reasons. Children are especially vulnerable in such situations which behoves the international community and civil societies to react. In accordance with international obligations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, children's rights need to be ensured, for example by supporting their development and education, offering them participation opportunities, and educating them about their rights. This emphasis has in recent decades become stronger in the educational policies of western countries, which includes Iceland. In this article, the history of education legislation will first be traced, how children’s and young people’s rights develop and get a deeper and broader meaning from the first comprehensive Icelandic legislation in 1907 on children’s education (7–13 years) to the most recent in 2008 on primary education (6–15 years). The current education system emphasizes that children and young people need to learn about their rights and responsibilities as a prerequisite for living with other people in the society. The developmental project of UNICEF’s Rights School in Iceland emerged from this background in 2016–2017. The aim was to create democratic environments in schools and strengthen students’ welfare by implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child. At the end of year 2017, the first schools in Iceland were accepted as UNICEF Rights Schools. Secondly, data was obtained from two Rights Schools’ websites about the ideology and emphasis of the schoolwork. The following data was also obtained from UNICEF about the Rights School project: UNICEF’s summary of experience with the project, Rights School Handbook (Eriksson and Fryknäs, n.d.), Implementation and participation in Rights Schools, Rights School Project book and Introduction to Rights Schools. Thirdly, to give an insight into how human rights emphasis appears in schoolwork the aim of the paper is to present findings of the first case study in Iceland on UNICEF’s Rights Schools. Data was collected by taking three interviews with one principal and two supervisors of the Rights School project. They were asked about their views and experiences of the project, and it’s aims, methods and values within their schools. Findings indicated that the schools benefited from UNICEF’s support during the project’s implementation phase but at the same time the schools had enough flexibility to develop and adapt the project to the schools’ ideology and emphasis. The project also proved to support aims in the primary school legislation as well as the fundamental pillars of the National Curriculum Guide, in particular human rights and democracy. Participation in the project turned out to be an incentive to democratic practices, where students’ voices are recognized, and participation opportunities offered. The teachers felt that students’ knowledge and understanding of their rights and responsibilities grew and they were interested in taking part in the Rights council which was among the main aspects of the project. Two children from each age group were members in the Rights council along with school staff and parent representatives. At the council, children often took the initiative to discuss issues they felt should be tackled in the school environment, such as schoolyard safety issues. Subsequently they became the custodians of reforms. The Rights council also proved to be a good forum for bringing together the forces of the school community. Students’ representatives in the Rights Council learned to seek a democratic mandate and proposals for reform from other students, for example at class meetings, which became fora for students to discuss issues they felt were important, such as communication problems. Interviewees also explained that the project had introduced valuable opportunities for students to work with human rights in schoolwork through various participation opportunities, such as in the environment council, but also through working with various values in communication such as safety, rights, trust, responsibility, respect, empathy, and tolerance. They also said that the project had contributed to a better school culture, communications, and co-responsibilities within the school community. UNICEF’s support and ‘toolbox’, with, e.g., the comprehensive handbook and project book, proved to be a great support in the implementation process. The project’s main challenges include sharing essential project information with school staff and parents, being able to involve parents in the project and creating opportunities for students to be active in decisions about diverse aspects of the schoolwork, not only practical aspects such as the organization of the school outdoor area. Furthermore, challenges in working with communication issues and prejudice occurred regularly, such as when comments are based on stereotypes. This study is part of a larger research project on children’s rights and responsibilities. The next step in the research will be to get students’ views on participation in the Rights School project.