The winter issue of Rethinking Schools features three articles about social justice in elementary schools.

One of these stories is “Community Building as World Building” by Cristina Paul in collaboration with Olivia Lozano and Nancy Villalta. They describe an early elementary engineering unit. Students designed a model community — with no police or banks — in which everyone gets what they need.

>> Read issue

Presented in partnership with the
Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center

Teaching about Genocide
July 15-18 | 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie, IL

Learning about genocide, beyond the Holocaust, has become an essential feature for curricula across the country. However, teaching about genocide can be challenging.  Many educators report needing additional content preparation and pedagogical support to teach this difficult topic effectively. Join Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center (IHMEC) and Educators Institute for Human Rights (EIHR), as we work to connect best practices in genocide education with global genocide through the framework of IHMEC’s new core exhibition Voices of Genocide.

Through the seminar you will:Expand content knowledge of 5 case studies of genocides in Armenia, Guatemala, Bosnia, Rwanda, and BurmaLearn the common conditions and risk factors that can lead to genocide;Discover diverse primary and secondary classroom resources;Gain a toolkit of strategies on effective methods for teaching about genocide;Explore Voices of Genocide, a first-of-its-kind exhibition;Hear presentations from noted genocide scholars, educators, and survivors LEARN MORE>>
100% of Summer Institute participants agreed the Institute increased their confidence in teaching genocide studies to their students and the sessions were well-organized/engaging.

“This was well organized and provided a ton of resources and support to help me better prepare and bring back to my classroom.” – 2022 Teaching About Genocide Summer Institute Participant

WORKSHOP INCLUDES:

Classroom Resources and Materials

21 Clock Hours (CPDUs)Graduate

Credit Available through National Louis University (at an additional cost)

1 CPS Lane Credit (Must attend entire four-day Institute to receive credit)

Breakfast and Lunch

COST: $150
Full or partial financial assistance for tuition will be available for teachers with demonstrated need. Limited number of Travel Stipends are available for teachers who live farther than 200 miles from the Museum. APPLY EARLY!

UNICEF Child Friendly City in the country

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View the event on our YouTube channel

The City of Minneapolis puts children first, with City leaders and partners committed to creating a supportive environment for young people.

                        Recognizing this effort, The United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF USA) will announce Minneapolis as the second city in the country to receive the UNICEF Child Friendly Cities designation. The recognition takes place on the 4th anniversary of the City Council’s resolution to take the steps towards becoming a UNICEF Child Friendly City.

Houston became the first Child Friendly City in August of 2023.

The UNICEF Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI)

 CFCI aims to improve the safety and inclusion of children and young people, their meaningful participation and access to equitable social services, safe and healthy living environments, play and leisure opportunities.

 A UNICEF Child Friendly Cities designation:

·       Recognizes a city’s advancement of child rights.

·       Shows commitment to eliminating discrimination against children through local government policies and actions. 

·       Fosters inclusive participation through child and youth councils.

·       Indicates a thorough assessment of the community was conducted, a detailed local plan was created, and that much of the plan was implemented.

Prioritizing children in Minneapolis

 City leaders are investing in our youth’s physical and mental well-being by addressing key areas:

·       Eliminating barriers to accessible health care.

·       Providing after-school opportunities.

·       Offering mental health and substance use resources.

·       Creating job programs.

WHEN:            Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 10 a.m. 

WHERE:          RSVP to Scott Wasserman for location details
Note: The event can also be viewed on our YouTube channel

WHO:              Mayor Jacob Frey

                        Michael J. Nyenhuis, UNICEF USA President & CEO

                        Commissioner Damōn Chaplin, Minneapolis Health Department 

                        Gretchen Musicant, Former Minneapolis Health Commissioner

                        Director Kim Ellison, Minneapolis Public Schools School Board Member

Background

·       Children make up 20 percent of Minneapolis.

·       98 percent of Minneapolis residents live within six blocks of parks.

·       City leaders, community members and youth participants developed the Minneapolis Local Action Plan to become a UNICEF Child Friendly City in 2020

Guest Editors: David Donahue, Maria Autrey Noriega, Lori Selke, Mauro Sifuentes

This special issue of the International Journal of Human Rights Education (IJHRE) queers human rights and human rights education, drawing on the multiple definitions of queer: as a noun, adjective, and verb. As a noun, queer is an umbrella term for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual/aromantic/agender, two spirit (LGBTQIA2S+) community, with the plus sign in the acronym holding space for new and expanding understanding about identity related to sexuality and gender. As an adjective, queer speaks to departing from the norm, differing from expectations regarding sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). As a verb, queer refers to challenging all that is considered normal and natural. Queering is about troubling power and replacing binary thinking with more complex, fluid ways of understanding.

In keeping with these multiple definitions, the editors of the special issue seek articles that are about the human rights desires and celebrations of LGBTQIA2S+ people as well as the challenges and contestations of those rights. In addition, we seek articles that challenge normative thinking about human rights and HRE, particularly in terms of gender and sexuality and that trouble what it means to teach and research in the field of human rights. We welcome scholarship that not only expands what we know but questions, challenges, and complicates how we come to know something and why we think it is valuable.

We welcome contributions looking inside and outside of the classroom, across all global settings, from early childhood, primary, and secondary education to higher education, adult education, and immigrant/refugee education and their intersections with HRE curriculum and educational materials; HRE pedagogy and practices; HRE community and spaces; HRE history and scholarship; and/or HRE advocacy and policy. Visual art, poetry, and creative nonfiction are welcomed as well as texts grounded in social science. We also seek book reviews, including reviews focused on trade books and children’s literature, as well as scholarly texts, focused on SOGIESC.

Proposal deadline: April 10, 2024

>> Details and submission information

HRE USA Steering Committee Member and D.C. Regional Representative Jess Terbrueggen recently published this article with the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) December 13, 2023.

As committee members, we have contemplated what it means to be a citizen of the world and how to inspire such a simple yet complex idea in our students. Though Diogenes uttered these words some two thousand years ago, the concept of cosmopolitanism and identifying as a citizen of the world remains an influential—and at times, controversial—concept today. Cosmopolitanism has been interpreted, explicated, reimagined, and even derided; Socrates and Plato were said to have been unimpressed with Diogenes’s declaration. Whether criticized or lauded, Diogenes’s concept of world citizenship has stood the test of time, being revisited and redefined by various thinkers over the centuries. Prominent figures such as Chrysippus, Cicero, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Immanuel Kant, John Rawls, and Martha Nussbaum have all promoted cosmopolitanism in various forms.

>> Read here

Due to the rapid and changing nature of the current crises, HRE USA is currently establishing a committee to vet lesson plans and resources on armed conflicts and displacements. We invite educators to submit human rights education resources to be considered for the forthcoming and/or existing collections

>> Submit a lesson plan or resource