ERIC Number: EJ956850
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0305-764X
EISSN: N/A
Human Rights within Education: Assessing the Justifications
McCowan, Tristan
Cambridge Journal of Education, v42 n1 p67-81 2012
While respect for human rights has long been endorsed as a goal of education, only recently has significant attention been paid to the need to incorporate rights within educational processes. Current support for human rights within education, however, has a variety of motivations. This paper provides a theoretical exploration of these diverse justifications, leading to a normative proposal. A distinction is made between status-based and instrumental approaches. Human rights within education can be justified from a status-based perspective on the basis of their indivisibility, meaning that the right to education must not entail an infringement of other rights. Yet while rights-respecting environments are important sites of learning, instrumental justifications can be a source of concern, if the goals in question are irrelevant or inimical to the enhancement of rights. An argument, therefore, is put forward for a simultaneous realisation of embodiment of and opportunity for learning about human rights. (Contains 2 notes.)
Descriptors: Civil Rights, Learning Processes, Access to Education, Equal Education, Civil Rights Legislation, Educational Legislation, Childrens Rights, Discourse Analysis, Social Attitudes, Social Change, Educational Practices, Social Values, Values Clarification
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education; Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A