MASTER OF EDUCATION
Human Rights and Citizenship Education

Recent years have seen the development of policy and practice which recognise the need for schools and other educational settings to address the diverse needs of their pupils and communities and to enable young people to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes conducive to global citizenship. This option will enable participants to develop their understanding, knowledge and skills in human rights and citizenship education.  The course will be underpinned by the values and principles of international human rights instruments particularly the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Convention on the Rights of the Child. The course is targeted at practitioners including school leaders and prospective school leaders who wish to apply democratic and human rights principles in their school practice, primary and post primary teachers and those working in non-formal settings. There will be a strong global dimension to the course and the opportunity to engage directly with leading theorists and practitioners in the field nationally and globally. Participants will be engaged as holders of rights, as citizens, as educators and as democratic researchers in exploring the links between theory, experience and practice.

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Module 1: Understanding Human Rights and Citizenship Education
Module one will introduce students to the underlying concepts and theoretical approaches that inform human rights and citizenship education. The module will be informed by current issues and debates with respect to human rights and citizenship in global and local contexts and will draw on scholarship, research and lived experience to examine the implications of these ideas for education. The historical development and the legal underpinnings of current human rights standards will be explored. Students will be introduced to different models of citizenship and will examine critically the relationship between citizenship and human rights. Case studies will examine the implementation and the impact of the right to education and of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in global and local contexts.

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Module 2: Challenges and Context: Diversity and Conflict
Module two will explore a range of themes that inform and challenge theory and practice in citizenship education and human rights education. Issues relating to identity and citizenship will be problematised. The implications of ethnic, religious, gender, sexuality, disability and class based diversity for citizenship and education will be examined in terms of policy and practice. National and international policy and practice in conflict resolution will be critiqued through case studies that focus on global and local experiences. Opportunities will be provided for students to engage in discussion and debate with theorists and practitioners who have practical and lived experience of human rights and diversity issues in education and related areas.

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Module 3: Human Rights Education in the school and classroom
Module three will focus on the application of the values and principles of human rights and citizenship education to policy, practice and pedagogy. It will strengthen the capacity of participants to employ the content and methodologies of human rights education and citizenship education in their educational settings. Themes will include child citizenship and participation in school and community, at local, national and global levels. Education for sustainable development in whole school practice will provide students with an opportunity to explore issues in a cross-curricular context. Conflict resolution will also be addressed and students will develop knowledge, skills and pedagogical strategies for classroom and whole school practice. Themes will also include an exploration of how human rights and citizenship education inform curriculum planning, whole school practice and models of educational leadership. Module three will give students an opportunity to reflect on and critically analyse the values and principles underpinning their own practice.

Last Updated: Thursday April 19 2012