Piloting whole-school implementation of human rights-based education (Nov 2009)

Piloting whole-school implementation of human rights-based education (Nov 2009)

2009 has been the first year in which some New Zealand schools have been applying the ‘human rights and responsibilities' lens across the school as part of the HRiE Initiative. Although the stories are still coming in, a few lessons (unsurprisingly, echoing experience in Hampshire) appear to have been learned.

The power of human rights-based education, with its potential impact on student participation, engagement and achievement and positive impact on teacher satisfaction, is in a whole-school approach.

As the best-evidence syntheses suggest, effective human rights learning and development of a strong human rights culture comes from:

• Coherent strategic planning based on clear goals and expectations (clear leadership buy-in; implementation team that includes those with management responsibilities for curriculum and behaviour support)
• Inclusive professional development involving sharing of implementation experience (whole-staff workshop followed by regular revisiting as part of ‘normal business')
• Multiple opportunities to learn and apply information (applying the human rights framework and rights&responsibilities lens in all situations of school life)
• Use of smart tools (posters, signs, other prompts, inclusion in existing checklists...)