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Human Rights Review

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01-06-2015

Primary School Teachers’ Understandings of Human Rights and Human Rights Education (HRE) in Cyprus: An Exploratory Study

Authors: Michalinos Zembylas, Panayiota Charalambous, Stalo Lesta, Constadina Charalambous

Published in: Human Rights Review | Issue 2/2015

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A large body of work in recent years has examined different scholarly conceptualizations of human rights (Dembour 2006) and various approaches in Human Rights Education (HRE), particularly in relation to practical ways of implementing HRE programs in formal and informal education (Bajaj 2011a; Banks 2008; Osler and Starkey 2010; Tibbits 2002). However, few studies have sought to systematically examine teachers’ understandings of human rights and HRE in specific contexts (Messina and Jacott 2013) and explore possible links between teachers’ understandings of human rights and human rights teaching. As education policy studies have demonstrated, teachers have a central and decisive role in interpreting a policy and translating it into everyday practices (Ball 1998; Hill 2001; Walshaw and Anthony 2007). With the growing interest in HRE and the ongoing debates around the conceptualization of human rights and HRE, e.g., around the definition of human rights as universal entitlements or socio-political constructs, it becomes important to take a careful look at how teachers, who are called upon to implement HRE programs, understand human rights and human rights teaching (Cassidy et al. 2013). …

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The UDHR and the covenants that followed make up what is known as the International Bill of Rights.

In his debate with Hopgood, Landman (2013) is more optimistic and argues that Human Rights can contribute to these struggles by providing important legal standards, public discourses, and political levers that are helpful to local groups.

Exploratory studies aim to explore issues that have not been adequately studied in order to help researchers gain a better understanding of a phenomenon. For this reason, exploratory studies, especially those of qualitative nature, have a broad scope and rarely provide generalizable answers to research questions (see Tashakkori and Teddlie 2010).

After 1974, Greek-Cypriot education sought to cultivate ethnic self-containment and ensure the collective remembering of the conflict for the younger generations. An important means in this effort was the educational objective of ‘I don’t forget and I struggle’ (Den Xehno kai Agonizomai) which became prominent in the school curriculum. This objective which is still part of Greek-Cypriot curricula (with slight modifications) aims at teaching children and youth to acquire knowledge, so that they will never ‘forget’ the occupied territories and care enough so that they will struggle to liberate those territories.

The new curriculum has been the result of an ongoing educational reform since 2008, after a governmental decision to reform curriculum programs and the educational system in general. The philosophical basis of the reform is described in a manifesto for a ‘democratic and humanistic education’ in Cyprus (Educational Reform Committee 2004).

Health Education is a newly introduced subject in Greek-Cypriot education (introduced as part of the educational reform), and for the first time, this subject provides the necessary space and time in the curriculum for more substantial teaching of human rights.

By ‘compatibility’ here we refer to how well-matched or attuned are perceived to be human rights teaching and the philosophy of ‘I Don’t Forget.’

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Title: Primary School Teachers’ Understandings of Human Rights and Human Rights Education (HRE) in Cyprus: An Exploratory Study
Authors: Michalinos Zembylas
Panayiota Charalambous
Stalo Lesta
Constadina Charalambous
Publication date: 01-06-2015
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: Human Rights Review / Issue 2/2015
Print ISSN: 1524-8879
Electronic ISSN: 1874-6306
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12142-014-0331-5

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