Human rights education in China
Human rights education might not be what comes to mind, when one thinks about China. But for the first time, education materials aimed at schoolchildren and civil servants are now being developed in the metropolis of Tianjin – roughly 120 kilometres from Beijing. The Danish Institute for Human Rights has signed a partnership agreement with the prestigious Nankai University in spring 2014.
- This is pioneering work. Chinese schoolchildren have never been taught human rights before. We are very excited about the prospects, Tang Yingxia, Deputy Director of Nankai University’s Human Rights Research Centre said.
The agreement stands on the shoulders of the Danish Institute for Human Rights’ yearlong dedicated cooperation with Chinese institutions and civil society organisations with the aim of promoting human rights in the country.
“We are extremely pleased with this partnership. We are committed to contribute with human rights expertise and experience,” Jonas Christoffersen, director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights said.
China is unique
The cooperation agreement runs for a period of three years from 2014 until 2016. The first two years will be spent developing educational materials aimed at the different age groups in primary and secondary schools as well as teachers manuals. During the third year, the first teachers will go through the human rights training.
- At this moment, we are carving out what subjects the materials will cover, senior advisor Marie Louise Muff, responsible for the cooperation, said.
As it is a relatively new thing for the Chinese to be teaching schoolchildren and civil servants in human rights, the process is more or less starting from scratch.
- We have scrutinised existing materials for both children and civil servants, but China is so different from other countries, that it is very limited what we can re-use, Marie Louise Muff explained.
Innovative working methods
Prior to kids being educated in human rights, their teachers need to be taught how to disseminate human rights in the best possible way. This is an area where the Danish Institute for Human Rights has a lot of expertise regarding pedagogical methods, Muff assures.
Nankai University is with 95 years one of China’s oldest and most respected universities. It holds 25,000 students and faculty numbers 2,000. The university has boasted a human rights research centre since 2005, which holds six full time researchers and has published more than 100 scholarly articles in the field of human rights.
- We cannot point a finger at our partners’ professional standards. They have been educated in human rights in China and international top universities. But it is crucial that the human rights education focuses not only on knowledge, but also on abilities and skills to act. A central part of this means making the education open for critical dialogue and making it live up to human rights standards itself, Muff explained.
This means that the teaching must empower the children to claim their rights, when the educational goals for learning are set and that they are involved as much as possible in the teaching process. That is a significantly different approach from traditional teaching with emphasis on rote learning that is often used in China.
- Our partners at Nankai University are as interested in the teaching methods as we are, and that is very encouraging, Marie Louise Muff said.
Education needs central approval
The plan for the development of teaching materials entails the idea to follow a child through all steps of education dealing with the different human rights issues most common for each step. For civil servants, the cooperation is aimed at developing the needed educational materials.
In China, there are limits set as to what issues can make the curriculum. All educational materials need central approval from the ministry of education – on the other hand, there is a massive potential if the educational materials over time can be used all over China.
- Obviously, it is not possible for us to tackle all the human rights issues we would want. But if we stood firm on specific topics of controversy in China, the Chinese would not engage with us at all. That is why we prefer to assure that Chinese children can learn about their rights instead of not having any qualified human rights education, director Jonas Christoffersen from The Danish Institute for Human Rights asserted.
The work of the Danish Institute for Human Rights in China receives funding from the Danish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.