Felisa Tibbitts

Transformative learning and human rights education: taking a closer look

Taylor and Francis Ltd CEJI113329.sgm 10.1080/14675980500133465 Intercultural Education 467-5986 (pri t)/1469-8439 (online) Edit ri l 2 05 & Francis Gr up Ltd 6 0 000May 2005 FelisaTibbitts Hum n Rights Education Associates(HREA)P.O. Box 382396CambridgeMA 02238USA +1 97 41 02001 ftibbitts@h ea.org A working definition of justice needs to be focused on peace building, and personal and social transformation.

Prospects for Civics Education in Transitional Democracies: Results of an impact study in Romanian classrooms

An impact study was conducted in the 1994/5 and 1995/6 school years with a single cohort of Romanian students (n = 109) who used an experimental civics text in the 7th and then the 8th Forms. The text emphasized critical thinking, dialogue and participatory methods of instruction. The results appear to confirm the results of others that have shown a clear link between instructional methodology and the development of participatory attitudes, or ‘civic behavior’ in students. This relationship is evident even at such an early time in the post-totalitarian period. The study also shows that students in this age group generally become more aware of the role and rule of law, expanding their notions of citizenship beyond that of civility and good manners. This may well be a reflection both of the emphasis of the Romanian civic culture texts, as well as the emerging ability of students to grasp abstract concepts related to the state and governance.

Curriculum Reform in Transitional Justice Environments: The South African Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Education and the Schooling Sector

This chapter explores the role of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), established in 1995, in promoting human rights education within the schooling system in a transitional context. In the South African post-apartheid environment, the widespread discourse on human rights – linked with the new Constitution, legal reforms and compliance with international standards – facilitated a review of the entire education system, including the curriculum, resourcing of schools and bringing the various racially segregated departments together in one education system. We focus our attention in presenting and analyzing the effort to infuse human rights content and values within the curriculum reform efforts as part of the strategy of reconstruction of South African society. In this chapter we will show that there were competing forces influencing curriculum reform, with the SAHRC’s more ambitious goal to have “transformative” HRE infused throughout the curriculum reduced to one that was less ambitious in both scope and depth.

History curriculum and teacher training: shaping a democratic future in post-apartheid South Africa?

ABSTRACT Issues of transitional justice are central to countries moving away from identity-based conflict. Research tends to focus on the most well-known forms of transitional justice, like truth commissions. Far less attention has been given to education as a form of transitional justice, and even less to teacher professional development, even though education is central to signalling the new society and teachers are expected to become agents of change in their classrooms. This article focusses on history curriculum change in post-apartheid South Africa. We show how the post-apartheid South African government developed a human rights-based history curriculum but failed to support teachers to implement it. Aspects of these inadequacies included a failure to take into account the de-skilling of a large segment of the teaching population under apartheid and teachers’ personal legacies of that era. Through a review of the teacher professional development programme, Facing the Past, this article demonstrates the possibility to implement teacher training programmes attuned to the particular needs of a transitional justice environment.

Women’s human rights education trainers in Turkey: situated empowerment for social change

This article presents evidence of the links between human rights education and social change by analyzing the long-term effects on 88 trainers engaged in a non-formal adult training program sponsored by a women’s human rights group in Turkey, Women for Women’s Human Rights – New Ways. In this article, I show the transformative impacts of carrying out human rights education on the trainers themselves: in their identity; knowledge, skills, and attitudes; and behaviors in their family and in the workplace. This article extends the treatment of an emerging question within social change theory – that of the long-term influence on activists brought about by their very engagement in these activities. At the same time, because the activists are trainers associated with a human rights education program that infuses critical pedagogy with a feminist perspective, this qualitative case study provides the opportunity to explore ‘situated empowerment’ on trainers in both their personal and professional domains. The article concludes that further studies of human rights educators engaged as long-term trainers will further enrich the social change literature and the treatment of activists.

Building a Human Rights Education Movement in the United States

The concept of human rights is widely recognized but perhaps poorly understood in the United States. Most people will recognize the term, but few are able to explain what “human rights” are, or what it means to them. This situation is troubling, suggesting that at the grassroots level human rights values are not being tapped to their full potential in promoting social change.

Political Autobiography: Reflexive Inquiry in the Preparation of Social Justice Educators

Abstract This paper is based upon the political autobiographies written by 15 graduate students in education atthe Teachers College of Columbia University who participated in a semester-long course called “Human and SocialDimensions of Peace”. The researcher first analysed the students’ work through the lens of critical pedagogy andpraxis (process). The researcher then analysed the political autobiographies through the lens of identity (content).She concludes that the use of political autobiography supports educators’ own self-knowledge and (re)constructionof identity in relation to early professional life choices. The students’ own conclusions show how many of themused this exercise to make sense of their belief system, to clarify their need to care for themselves while addressingproblems in their communities, and to affirm their career choice as an educator dedicated to caring and justice.