1. What were the most effective methods that teachers used in teaching human rights? What would you have done differently? What material was used (if any)?
Our class on human rights is pretty superficial; our religion teacher has a tendency to breeze through the material. He started by teaching us what the UDHR is (year of the declaration); then we had to read a couple of articles which the teacher then explained to us.
This approach is boring and uninteresting and it is not a practical approach. He should have given us examples, shown us examples (visually) or testimonies; this would affect the youth more.
2. Did you find any particular aspect of learning human rights topics difficult? What issue(s) should definitely be covered in any human rights education course?
I didn’t find any particular aspect of learning human rights topics difficult, the subject is very interesting but the way the subject is taught to the students is what is important.
Given the fact that the subject is taught at a fast pace, we were unable to further explore certain areas even though I think this is important: slavery, the way women are treated in certain countries, child soldiers forced to enroll in military service or even children who have to work at a very young age. These are all topics that mean a lot to me and the youth find interesting but we don’t have the chance to learn more on these issues—unless do the research ourselves.
3. What advice can you give to other human rights teachers or students?
This is a subject that affects everyone, but schools and even the Belgian education system in general do not make a priority. Instead of spending an hour teaching a moral or religion course, I think we should have a course on this type of subject (human rights, racism, refugees, etc.) as an elective in school (in high school).