Purpose
The study investigates how pre-schools and schools teach children's human rights. Focus is placed on investigating the type of teaching objectives involved, what the teaching consists of and what type of work methods are used. The two research questions are: 1) What objectives will one achieve through teaching about children’s human rights? 2) What is the content of the teaching on human rights and what type of work methods are used?
Result
The results show that there are major differences between kindergarten and school regarding the teaching of children’s rights. In kindergartens, focus is placed on the rights of children in their everyday lives, while teaching in school focuses on children’s rights in other countries. The researchers point out that there is little overlap between these two points of view and recommend that they should not be as separated as they are today: Schools must focus more on the pupils themselves as owners of the rights, and kindergartens must teach about the values and rights of all children. The researchers believe that the teaching content is good and well thought through, but feel there is a need for more basic discussion on rights as a phenomenon and what the different rights actually mean. The teaching showed little progression in the ethical reflection on the rights from kindergarten to lower secondary school. The researchers believe this may be related to the lack of an age-specific curriculum and a lack of educational tradition regarding the teaching of values.
The teachers in the project expressed that they had plenty of time to read up on the topic and to prepare the teaching. The researchers emphasise that a heavy responsibility is placed on teacher education to equip future and active teachers with the knowledge they need to teach children’s human rights.
Design
The empirical data consists of classroom research in four different age groups: two kindergarten departments and two classes each in Year 2/3, Year 5 and Year 8. The teachers were asked to plan and carry out teaching on children’s human rights, but were otherwise free to choose the scope, content and work methods of the teaching. The observations were documented with video cameras and field notes. The interviews were audio recorded. The results were presented in four sub-studies, one for each age group.
References
Quennerstedt, A. (Red.). (2019). ”Att undervisa om barns mänskliga rättigheter i förskolan och skolan: Utbildningens syften, innehåll och arbetsmetoder”. Rapporter i pedagogik 21. Örebro universitet.