Education – Page 20

Tips for Making Classrooms More Inclusive

by hreusaSeptember 13, 2018September 13, 2018Leave a comment

By the Human Rights Campaign (HRC)

Back to School is a busy time for educators as they set up their students for success — laminating name tags, creating bulletin boards and writing lesson plans. They know that for many children, the first few days back to school can make or break their year. As educators sharpen their pencils, the HRC Foundation’s Welcoming Schools program is working to ensure that schools also take the time to make classrooms a welcoming place for all by cultivating an LGBTQ and gender-inclusive learning environment.

Don’t know where to start? HRC is here to help with these tips for developing LGBTQ and gender-inclusive classrooms and schools.

Use inclusive language on all forms. Back to school means paperwork for families. Educators can make the process welcoming by ensuring all handbooks, forms and other communications are inclusive of all family structures and gender identities (e.g., using phrases such as “families and caring adults” in place of “moms and dads”).
Stock your library shelves with diverse books. Make sure students have access to books that reflect not only their lives but also identities and perspectives outside their experiences. Challenge stereotypes by featuring a Welcoming Schools recommended book as a first-day read-aloud.
Create a welcoming bulletin board. We know displays are important features in every classroom, so why not switch out the apples and school buses for a display that shows diverse family structures and people of different races, gender expressions, and abilities? Use slogans that encourage respect for all people. For an easy visual, print a Welcoming Schools safe school sign.
Develop clear classroom and/or school agreements. Educators must ensure that bullying policies specifically name groups that are disproportionately bullied or harassed, and then make it clear to students that this means no put-downs about who someone is or who their family is. Preventing bias-based bullying starts on day one.
Prepare for teachable moments. Educators can practice how to respond when they hear students say things like “That’s gay!” or “You act like a girl!” or “You’re not a real family because you don’t have a dad!” Be prepared to interrupt mean teasing about a child’s identity or their family.
Model inclusive language. Instead of addressing classes as “boys and girls,” try using non-gendered words like “students,” “scholars,” or “friends” to be more inclusive of all identities.
Group students according to something other than gender. There’s no need to have boys’ closets and girls’ cubbies. Divide children by number or line them up by birth month, the color of clothing or alphabetically by name.
Try a new lesson plan. Educators can give one of the Welcoming Schools lessons a try and start the year by teaching students how to be allies and learning about what makes each child special.
Plan a family night. Hold an evening event to celebrate all families. Provide information for families and caring adults to help them talk with their children about LGBTQ and gender topics.

>> Learn more about the Welcoming Schools Program

Never Forget – Teaching 9/11

by hreusaSeptember 7, 2018September 6, 2018

Each September brings a flurry of excitement and anxiety for parents, teachers, and students. Beginning in September 2002 another factor was added to the list: how and what to teach about 9/11.

“Never forget” became a national rallying cry after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Yet America’s schools — where collective memory is shaped — are now full of students who never knew. Because they weren’t alive 17 years ago. In fact, most individuals under the age of 30 have limited or no memories of the world before the attacks of September 11,2001 and were certainly not old enough to fully understand how the subsequent U.S. response, including the so-called “War on Terror” and its resulting policies, impacted human rights.

As such, many teachers struggle with whether and how to teach the attacks and their aftermath, but, in order to never forget, our children need to be taught about 9/11. More importantly, they need to understand how changes in U.S. national security policy post-9/11 continue to manifest themselves in new and different ways today, even as public and media attention wanes. These trends are especially apparent among young people, who reportedly demonstrate low rates of awareness of issues such as indefinite detention or drone strikes, and often exhibit lower levels of civic participation around national security and human rights issues.

That’s where Human Rights in National Security: An Educator’s Toolkit comes in. The events of the past seventeen years are highly relevant in a number of academic disciplines: civics, political science, law, literature, film, religious studies, international relations, and more. This toolkit provides educators with lesson plans and resources to address these issues in the classroom and to empower students to assess their developments through a human rights lens. It also aims to increase participation among high school and college students in activism and advocacy around torture, surveillance, anti-Muslim hate, indefinite detention, and other common human rights violations associated with post-9/11 U.S. policy.

>> Download Toolkit

Need support? If so, please email us. Human Rights Educators USA has teamed up with Amnesty International USA to gather feedback and improve this resource.

Teach Reconstruction

by hreusaSeptember 6, 2018August 28, 2018

Reconstruction, the era immediately following the Civil War and emancipation, is full of stories that help us see the possibility of a future defined by racial equity. Yet the possibilities and achievements of this era are too often overshadowed by the violent white supremacist backlash.

The Zinn Education Project offers lessons for middle and high school, a student campaign to make Reconstruction history visible in their communities, and an annotated list of recommended teaching guides, student-friendly books, primary document collections, and films.

>> Learn more

Teach the SDGs

by hreusaAugust 30, 2018August 28, 2018Leave a comment

EOTO World is an official partner of MyWorld2030 that is working to educate global youth about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and amplify citizen voices in the monitoring and evaluation of SDG progress. The 17 SDGs are focused on eradicating poverty, ensuring sustainable development, building peaceful, inclusive societies and leaving no one behind. Want to do more for SDGs? Work with EOTO World to educate others and expand the dialogue.

Start by taking this 5 min survey in your language: www.myworld2030.org/partner/TeamEW.

Get youth involved and have them share their perspective here:
https://goo.gl/forms/BEFqUbc6xiiHCpcr1.

Follow along with #EOTOWorld4SDGs. Your story could be featured!

>> Learn more

Counter Hate in Schools

by hreusaAugust 28, 2018

Since Teaching Tolerance began tracking hate and bias incidents at school in October 2017, they’ve recorded 496 reports spanning 47 states and Washington, D.C. A recent UCLA study found that teachers are seeing increased incivility, intolerance and polarization in classrooms.

“Back to school” shouldn’t mean “back to hate.”

To counter this rise of discrimination, hatred, and bigotry in our society and in our schools, the Southern Poverty Law Center has joined forces with 20 other education advocacy groups, including HRE USA, to counter hate in American schools. This coalition is committed to providing resources and support so schools may effectively respond to hateful acts and create learning environments where every student feels welcome.

Read the full statement and add your name* to the list of supporters who believe hate has no place in schools. If you represent an education organization that would like to add your group’s name to this statement, please email againsthate@tolerance.org.

>> Sign on to the Join Statement
>> Learn more

To counter hate in your school, Teaching Tolerance suggests the following:

Be prepared. Use our Responding to Hate and Bias at School guide to learn what to do before, during and after a crisis. Having protocols in place at the beginning of the school year helps increase administrators’ and teachers’ confidence that they’ll be able to effectively address incidents and alleviate tension.
Develop a zero intolerance policy. Follow our Speak Up at School guide to help respond to prejudice, bias, and stereotypes every day in the classroom.
Take on controversial topics and encourage civil discourse. Civil Discourse in the Classroom lays the groundwork. Let’s Talk! provides strategies to facilitate discussions that might elicit strong emotions.
Create a community where all students can thrive. Use our Social Justice Standards to guide you in the engagement of anti-bias education. Critical Practices for Anti-bias Education ensures teachers can improve academic outcomes by building intergroup awareness, encouraging students to speak out against bias and injustice.

Study Human Rights in Norway

by hreusaAugust 1, 2018July 31, 2018Leave a comment

DETAILS:

When: September 21, 24, & 25, 2018
Where: University of South-Eastern Norway, Drammen campus
Cost: NO FEES. Successful candidates are responsible for travel and living costs.

Education for Social Justice in Education: Human Rights and Intersectionality

Course description
Participants examine how the concepts of human rights and intersectionality inform educational theory and praxis to enable social justice. The course is open to Norwegian and international participants researching educational inequalities in diverse contexts, from a range of disciplinary perspectives. The starting point is that learning communities are not neutral places and educators and other professionals have a choice about whether to work to interrupt or ignore systemic injustice. Human rights present a utopian vision, recognizing multiple identities and offering a moral and legal framework for justice. Intersectionality offers researchers a tool to examine how multiple and interwoven inequalities (related to gender, ethnicity, sexuality, migration status and so on) impact on achievement, citizenship and participation. Through formal presentations, discussions, workshops, guided reading, and preparation for a written paper, participants will have opportunities to discuss research and share experiences in a supportive environment.

Registration Deadline: August 10

Applications are invited from registered students in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Education. Applications should be made as soon as possible as we anticipate a lot of interest. Completed applications should be sent to Liv-Anne Halderaker: liv-anne.halderaker@usn.no who can also answer inquiries on application procedures and accreditation (Tel: +47 31 00 93 59)

>> Learn more and apply

Human Rights Education Review – New Open Access Journal

by hreusaAugust 1, 2018July 20, 2018Leave a comment

The editors of Human Rights Education Review are delighted to announce the publication of the journal’s inaugural issue. HRER is an open-access scholarly journal published by the University of South-Eastern Norway. It provides a forum for research and critical scholarship on human rights as they are practiced, taught, learned and developed in education, law, politics, and in human rights organizations. The journal is dedicated to an examination of human rights in theory, philosophy, policy, and praxis. HRER aims to be global in its reach and this is reflected in the composition of our International Editorial Board.

The first issue includes challenging articles by Walter C. Parker on HRE’s curriculum problem, and by Marta Bivand Erdal & Mette Strømsø on child rights and national belonging; plus Alicia Muñoz Ramírez’s analysis of the recent struggle to remove HRE from the Spanish school curriculum; and a discussion by Sonja Grover on how legal cases brought by children might enhance human rights advocacy among youth. You will also find reviews of several recent books. This issue will be of particular interest to policy-makers, teacher educators, and NGOs concerned with rights and social justice in schooling.

To receive notification of upcoming articles, visit the journal’s online platform and click on the ‘register’ button in the top right-hand corner.

>> Visit online journal

New Lessons and UN Recognition of HRE USA Curriculum Guide

by hreusaJuly 6, 2018June 25, 2018Leave a comment

Two new lessons have been added to the HRE USA Curriculum Integration Guide. Jamie Warner, a middle school social studies teacher at Orange Avenue School in Cranford NJ, created the multi-lesson project Going Global—Investigating Issues of Interest and Importance and Semira Markos, a high school social studies teacher at Hunterdon Central Regional HS in Flemington NJ, created the lesson Human Rights in National Memory Both teachers piloted their lessons after receiving expert feedback from HRE USA educators and her students. The lessons are available in Word and PDF formats for use by educators worldwide.

The Curriculum Integration Guide project was recently contacted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, who requested permission to place 9 lessons of the 15 currently on the HRE USA website on their agency website for use by educators around the world. This UN agency website will go live in mid-June 2018, and authors of the lessons have expressed their gratitude at having their lessons recognized by an office of the United Nations.

Phase four of the Curriculum Integration Guide project will commence this summer. Interested educators who wish to develop lessons focusing on human rights education and who are able to have their lessons piloted with students during the 2018-19 school year, should contract Bill Fernekes for further information about details and timelines.

Teaching Black Lives

by hreusaJuly 4, 2018June 25, 2018Leave a comment

New from Rethinking Schools is Teaching for Black Lives, a classroom resource grown directly out of the movement for Black lives. Edited by Dyan Watson, Jesse Hagopian, and Wayne Au, this book provides articles and lessons that demonstrate how teachers can connect curriculum to young people’s lives. Teaching for Black Lives highlights the hope and beauty of student activism and collective action.

Opel Tometi, co-founder of #BlackLivesMatter and executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration states, “this book is not just for teachers in the classroom, but also for those of us who care about making Black lives matter in the community. It should be required reading for all who care about the future of black youth.”

>> Learn more and purchase

Teach for Environmental Justice

by hreusaJuly 2, 2018June 25, 2018Leave a comment

At the heart of our environmental crisis is the idea that nature is a thing to be used for profit. That’s the bad news. The good news is that social movements across the world are challenging this profit-first orientation, and proposing alternatives. And educators are a part of these movements.

The Zinn Education Project (ZEP) has posted five teaching articles that grew out of a writing retreat sponsored by ZEP and This Changes Everything, the project launched by Naomi Klein’s brilliant book. These articles include role plays, stories of activism and resistance, and ideas for how to implement concepts from This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate in our classrooms.

>> Learn more