To create a better and more peaceful world: Infusing human rights instruction in PK-12 classrooms

Abstract

This article discusses an online graduate education course at a large Southern university in the United States. The course, part of a certificate program for International Baccalaureate (IB) educators, focuses on infusing human rights instruction in PK-12 classrooms and provides teachers with additional methods and strategies to teach various subjects, disciplines, student populations, and cultural contexts. Although the course text centers on the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), additional readings require students to consider other human rights documents, academic research concerning peace and human rights education, and classroom strategies. The teachers who complete the course are more confident working with human rights topics and the course encourages educators to think critically and connect issues at their grade level and in their current contexts.