handbook school-based projects - Internationale Schulpartnerschaften

Barbara Helm
Mark Taylor
Rüdiger Teutsch
school network
human
Handbook for
school-based projects
bm:bwk
rights
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2
Editor and
Publisher
Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Culture
Department for International Relations (I.6)
Barbara Helm - Mark Taylor - Rüdiger Teutsch
School Network Human Rights
Handbook for School-based Projects
3
4
Imprint
Editor and Publisher: Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und
Kultur, Abteilung für Internationale
Beziehungen, I/6, Minoritenplatz 5, A-1014 Wien, Austria
Concept: Barbara Helm, Rüdiger Teutsch, Interkulturelles Zentrum,
Bacherplatz 10, A - 1050 Wien, Tel. +43 1 586 75 44,
Fax. +43 1 586 75 44 9, e-mail: [email protected], www.iz.or.at
Author and compiler: Mark Taylor, Strasbourg
Layout:
Andrea Fiala
Printed by BMBWK, Vienna, Austria, 03/2002
5
“Everyone has the right to education.
Education shall be directed to the full
development of the human personality
and to the strengthening of respect for
human rights and fundamental
freedoms. It shall promote
understanding, tolerance and friendship
among all nations, racial or religious
groups, and shall further the activities
of the United Nations for the
maintenance of peace.”
Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, Article 26.
6
preface
introduction
Introduction
by Interkulturelles Zentrum
Students and teachers from Europe,
Africa, Latin America and Asia established the School Network Human
Rights. 41 schools investigated their
own environment in order to find out
if human rights are respected - in their
schools, in their homes, in their communities. Teachers from Argentina to
Cameroon and Uganda, from Ireland
to Russia were trained by Interkulturelles Zentrum in international seminars and monitored the school based
projects.
In recognition of its innovative
nature, the project was selected as a
laureate of the “Worldaware Award for
Global Education 2000”.
This publication summarises philosophy and concept of the networking
project, the pedagogical process and
gives an idea of the activities and
results realised between April 1999
and June 2001.
We want to express our thanks and
gratitude to all teachers and students,
to all organisations and persons who
contributed to this project and made
it a success.
Barbara Helm,
Rüdiger Teutsch
Interkulturelles Zentrum
Wien, January 2002
7
8
Contents
10
Chapter One
The Network: Co-operation Between Partners
17
Chapter Two
24
Chapter Three
28
30
33
35
36
37
Concrete Examples of Activities for Working in Schools
School Network Human Rights on Tour
Chapter Four
Resources
Chapter Five
Setting up International School Projects
Appendices
“Partnerschaftlichkeit und Qualität in Nord-Süd Schulkooperationen”
Checklist “How to start an international school project”
Full list of participating schools
Partners participating or advising on the project
9
the
chapter one network
10
Chapter One
The Network: Co-operation
Between Partners
Human rights education is a serious
business and needs constant dedication and vigilance. Even a short
look at the escalating crises in international relations over the last half
year demonstrates that we need to
look much more carefully at what we
really mean by human rights and how
we want to defend and protect them.
Our efforts to promote human rights
education globally will be needed even
more in the future. Action is needed
at a multitude of levels. With this project, it is possible to draw some lessons about how to link up schools
from across the world in a meaningful
way and make a small contribution to
building a better place for everyone
to live in equal dignity.
Building on
firm foundations
For over ten years, the Interkulturelles Zentrum has been initiating,
coordinating and supporting international educational projects. Of particular relevance here is the Peace
Education and Conflict Resolution
network which staff members coordinated from 1994-1998. This rich well
of experience, contacts and in-depth
skills gave the Interkulturelles Zentrum
the strength to draw on when setting
up the subject of this handbook on
behalf of the Austrian Federal Ministry
of Education, Science and Culture: the
International School Network Human
Rights.
The statistics
alone are impressive; the project
directly involved:
• 42 secondary
schools from 17 different countries: Austria, Argentina,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, India, Ireland,
Italy, Mexico, Palestine, Russia, Sweden, Uganda, Ukraine and Uruguay
the
chapter one network
• 119 teachers
• 1433 school students aged from 14
to 18 years of age
It is estimated that over 42000
people have been reached by the
network members – the majority being
teachers and students in schools, but
also including NGO’s, artists, parents
organisations and youth workers.
Under the guidance of the Austrian
Federal Ministry of Education, Science
and Culture, a steering committee was
brought together which took responsibility for the content and process of
the development of the network. A
carefully balanced and skilled team,
the members were:
Mag. Barbara Helm,
Project coordinator, Austria (Interkulturelles Zentrum)
Beatrice Achaleke,
Sociologist, Cameroon/Austria
(South-North Action Group – SNAG)
Mag. Gerda Grüner,
Teacher, Sociologist, Austria and
Mag. Katrin Wladasch, Lawyer, (Service Centre for Human Rights Education at the Boltzmann Institute for
Human Rights)
Mag. Pete Hämmerle,
Peace Worker, Austria (International
Fellowship of Reconciliation)
Araba Evelyn Johnston-Arthur,
Anti-racism Expert, Austria/Finland/
Ghana
Dr. Rüdiger Teutsch,
Educational Consultant, Austria
(Interkulturelles Zentrum)
What brought all of
these people and
institutions together?
So much is talked about the negative aspects of globalisation (such as
economic exploitation and cultural
imperialism) that sometimes it is
difficult to remember the positive
opportunities especially in terms of
global communication which are part
of it. Networking is one crucial way of
opening up channels with other parts
of the world and this project planned
to make full use of it. In constant dialogue with all of the partners involved,
the main aims of the project were
developed and agreed in late 1998 and
early 1999:
• to contribute to world-wide activities
within the framework of the Decade
of Human Rights Education 1995 –
2004 proclaimed by the United
Nations
• to initiate new fields of experience
for students through international
exchange and co-operation
11
the
chapter one network
12
• students study human rights from
their own perspectives and background
• students and teachers exchange
results and experiences in an international network of schools
Project steps
These aims were worked on further
at the international teachers seminar
held in September 1999 where 26
teachers from all the participating
countries met and agreed upon the
following educational principles for the
project.
The start of year one was characterised by intense activity to get the
network up and running – using all
possible channels in order to identify
specific teachers in specific schools
who would be both willing and
allowed to participate by their respective authorities. Once on board, the
teachers and school students prepared
presentations of themselves and their
schools to be shared across the network. Their reflections were assisted
through the distribution to each
teacher of an education pack of human rights materials and suggested
activities. Opening up access to others
not directly involved in the project was
also a major goal in multiplying the
results of the network’s work and,
here, the financial support of the European Union’s “Netd@ys 99” programme was pivotal in providing the
resources necessary to establish a
website devoted to the project. Providing basic information on the network and giving pointers for interested
parties to go further, the site is still
live on the internet at: http://www.iz.
or.at/humanrights. A series of workshops for students entitled “Human
rights – my rights your rights here now
and today” was organised and facilitated by Araba Evelyn Johnston-Arthur in 14 Austrian member schools of
the network. (See Chapter Two for
further details).
• to learn about dignity and human
values
• to experience that cultures are different but of same value
• to promote solidarity
• to build bridges
• to establish personal contacts and
to enjoy global co-operation
• to integrate theory and practice:
learning by doing – global learning
• to examine human rights in society,
religion, cultural tradition
• to explore different aspects of Human Rights: children, family, school,
living in the community
• to keep in mind: What do Human
Rights mean here and now, for
myself, for the students?
• to initiate long-term, sustainable
learning processes
Now we have seen the bases for
their work, let’s have a look at what
the network members actually did.
in the first year
from April 1999 to
May 2000
the
chapter one network
13
Communicating across vast distances (even with the help of e-mail
and other forms of information and
communication technology) is not
easy and a high degree of motivation
is required to sustain the effort involved. A large part of this motivation
was provided by the chance given to
26 teachers to actually meet each
other in the international seminar
referred to above. In addition to
sharing experiences about human
rights education in their countries, the
teachers found out about each others’
priorities and were then able to move
on to the creation of four thematic
international project groups. These
groups formed the corner stone for
continued work and were set up as
follows:
Participation. As the initial group
was too large for effective communication, the teachers formed two
groups of schools. Their aim was to
create awareness for hidden power
structures in a school and to empower
students to deal with them.
Racism and xenophobia (accept
yourself – appreciate difference). This
group promoted acceptance and
appreciation of differences between
people, including understanding the
concept of stereotypes. Complementary to this, the students were sensitised to each others’ cultures and value
systems.
Human rights – violence/conflict.
This group aimed to make students
aware of different forms of human
rights violations, examine the causes
of violence and conflicts and go on to
develop strategies to overcome them.
Children’s rights and their violations.
In addition to examining the title
theme of the project, this group also
aimed to raise self-esteem and team
spirit among students, thereby encouraging them to take responsibility
the
chapter one network
14
for others and themselves and to
respect each other’s rights.
Step one was always for each school
to examine the local situation and step
two was to share the information and
opinions with the other project group
members. Although methods used to
realise project work differed from
school to school, depending on the
specific needs and social environments
of schools involved, generally it was
found that workshops, questionnaires,
discussions, games and role plays
were the most commonly used. To
facilitate communication between
partner schools, the partners made use
of Internet, e-mail and letter writing,
making videos, tapes and organising
meetings. At local and community
levels, activities such as readings, debates, surveys, artistic work, exhibitions and festivals were popular. This
process was not all plain sailing, and
many of the teachers did encounter
difficulties and challenges in progressing their project work. Amongst
those cited most often were: difficulties in meeting deadlines; integrating the project work into already
full timetables; keeping up communications with each member school of
the (relatively large) project groups;
preparation for exams; and maintaining interest for the full year. Of
factors contributing to the advancement of their projects, the teachers
cited the following: enthusiasm of
teachers and students; the experience
of teamwork between teachers and
students, and teachers and teachers;
cooperation with the Interkulturelles
Zentrum as the general co-ordinator;
support from colleagues and other
authorities; and the international
dimension of the project. These conclusions are drawn from the interim
evaluation of the whole project carried
out by the Interkulturelles Zentrum
with all actors in the network from May
to July 2000.
In recognition of its innovative
nature, the net-work was selected as
a laureate of the “Worldaware Award
for Global Education 2000” which is a
partnership project of the North-South
Centre of the Council of Europe, the
Dutch Committee for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development (NCDO) and the Austrian Society
for Communication and Development
(KommEnt).
the
chapter one network
Project steps
in the second year
from June 2000 to
June 2001
As we will see much more
information about this year
in later chapters, here we
concentrate only on the
outline of the planned developments in the network.
During the interim evaluation, most of the participating schools committed themselves to continue and deepen their
work in the network. Building on the
experiences and results of the first
project year the focus was placed on:
the active and responsible role of
students in the project groups; the
development of a joint students’
charter for human rights (see Chapter
Two for more details); developing
human rights initiative groups in
schools; and - undoubtedly a highlight
of the project - the “Human Rights in
One World” tour through Austrian
schools by student’s representatives
and teachers from Latin America and
Africa in November 2000, (see Chapter
Three for more details). Workshops for
the participating Austrian schools were
organised (see Chapter Two for a
sample outline of the workshops and
examples of the activities). These
workshops focused on specific human
rights topics chosen by the schools
and included work on participation,
violence & conflict resolution, children’s rights, women’s rights and
racism. A very important moment was
15
the second international Seminar for
teachers in April 2001, which brought
together participants from 11 countries
involved in the network. Here they
were able to evaluate jointly their
experiences so far. This evaluation
took place on different levels: personal; project work in the schools; the
co-operation within the international
project group as defined during the
first seminar in September 1999; and
the overall implementation of the project. During this seminar the teachers
agreed upon future networking and
diversifying their co-operation through
such methods as student exchanges,
ICT based co-operation and teacher
exchanges. Many more ideas were
expressed, and those wanting to find
out more can receive the seminar
report from the Interkulturelles Zentrum.
And finally, this handbook is the
most visible sign of the overall
evaluation which was carried out by
the Steering Committee at the end of
the project during the summer of 2001.
Some conclusions
drawn from the life
of the network
Clearly, the project has local, national and international effects. The
project was designed as a pilot to be
used as a model for project work in
schools and international school cooperation for schools in Austria and
the other participating countries. The
integration of national educational
the
chapter one network
16
authorities (in Austria), schools and
NGO’s provides a sound concept for
this pilot project. A communication
strategy has been designed to share
the experiences gained with a broader
public.
Participating schools have raised
awareness of human rights and their
violations among the target group and
the public. The network has disseminated the project idea in schools (in
project partner schools and other
schools), where it is possible to see
developing integration of human rights
education and global education in the
school’s curricula. Importantly, the
network has been the springboard for
many initiatives in teacher training
with seminars and workshops on human rights education and international co-operation being organised for
schools in Cameroon, Russia and other
participating countries.
Chapter Five goes further into the
conclusions drawn about good practice
in designing international school
projects
Future
developments
As a result of this project which has
been involving partners from many
parts of the world, including teachers,
students and NGOs in Africa, Latin
America and Asia, Interkulturelles Zentrum is putting a special focus on the
aspect of Global Education through
• the co-organisation of the annual
Global Education Week in Austria,
an initiative by the North-South
Centre of the Council of Europe;
• a follow-up project “International
School Network Global Citizenship”
further information can be obtained
at Interkulturelles Zentrum.
examples of
chapter two
activities
17
Chapter Two
Concrete Examples of Activities
for Working in Schools
Some things
to think about
It cannot be said too often: you
don’t have to be a lawyer to work on
human rights education! Human rights
belong to everyone and teachers are
ideally placed to introduce the concepts and the practice to the young
people with whom they work. Progress is being made in many countries
in integrating human rights education
within the curriculum – often as a
result of initiatives linked to the United
Nations Decade of Human Rights Education.
Introducing human rights topics into
the classroom is rarely something
teachers can do on their own: they
will need permission from the relevant
authorities (usually the school’s
director); they will need to talk with
their students and they will sometimes
need to cooperate with other teaching
colleagues. So it is always wise to
consult widely before starting.
Long experience has demonstrated
that human rights education needs a
three-dimensional approach to be
effective:
1. It is knowledge-based (about human
rights)
Content consists of information and
understanding about: types of
rights; the history of rights; international legal instruments; how
democracy functions.
2. It is skills-based (for human rights)
Personal and social skills: self-knowledge and self-awareness; assessing
and understanding your own motives with regard to others; realising
your own prejudices.
Interactive skills: listening; resisting
group pressure; expressing opinions.
Problem-solving skills: locating
information; making decisions;
using judgement; conflict resolution.
3. & it is environment-based (in or
through human rights)
Creating a learning environment
where the structures, methods and
relationships operating in the
teaching and learning situation (environment) reflect the values of human rights and its learning objectives; creating a ‘whole-school policy’; democratic working methods
which demonstrate mutual respect
between teacher and student.
In summary, human rights education
facilitates students learning what human rights are and how to live in a
spirit of human rights. This chapter is
designed to give some ideas about
examples of
chapter two
18
activities
ways to start such processes, you will
find references to further publications
in Chapter Four.
A human
rights workshop
In October and November of 1999,
Araba Evelyn Johnston-Arthur ran
workshops in 14 of the participating
Austrian schools for students and she
called the workshops: “Human rights
– my rights your rights here now and
today”. (A full report of the workshops
is available from the Interkulturelles
Zentrum). This part of the report gives
you a taste of what can be achieved.
The aims of the workshops were:
• to awaken interest of human rights
in young people
• to give students space to articulate
themselves, give voice to their own
views, perspectives, experiences and
interests
• to create an environment in which
their own contribution and opinion
is highly appreciated and taken
seriously
• to provide a practical approach
which aims to integrate human
rights in the reality of young people
• to provide an approach which offers
a sense of identification, that is
human rights as self-empowerment:
my rights, your rights
• to motivate and mobilise young
people for the cause of human
rights: here now and today
The workshops varied in length and
content depending on the time available and on agreements with the
teachers and students with whom
Araba was working. Still, the basic
outline for a four hour workshop went
as follows:
a) Icebreaking: personal introduction,
introduction of the workshop, students’ presentations of themselves and their expectations for the
workshop.
b) Human rights – a basic introduction: what are rights and what are
they for? different concepts of
rights.
c) My rights, your rights, our responsibility: students set up their
own charter for students rights.
d) Struggles for human rights: the gap
between declarations and their
implementation; struggles of various personalities from around the
world in the past and the present.
e) Human rights in Austria – theory
and practice: topics included antisemitism, discrimination against
people with disabilities, homophobia, racism, sexism, religious
freedom, children refugees.
f) Actions for human rights: Austrian
examples; speaking out – experiences of racism; presentation of
a self-empowerment project
against racism by PAMOJA (Movement of the young African Diaspora
in Austria); action groups.
examples of
chapter two
activities
19
Here are two of the activities used
by Araba; the first is called “Planting
a human rights tree”
you need:
markers
a large piece of paper (at least 1m x
1m)
place the paper in the middle of the
circle
sticky tape
time:
a few minutes
The time may vary extensively according to size of class/group and level
of involvement, since every class
reacts differently to this activity.
process:
1. Ask the group what a tree needs to
grow?
(for instance water, minerals and so
on)
2. Find out who likes drawing in class
Ask this student to draw a very big
tree on the paper, concentrating on
the roots and to write “human
rights” on the trunk.
3. Now explain to the group that this
is the human rights tree they are
planting.
Ask them what this human rights
tree needs to grow?
4. Write the answers next to the roots
of the tree, representing the ground
on which the human rights tree
grows and by which it is nourished
(examples, for instance, could be:
respect, peace and so on)
5. To complete the exercise draw the
group’s attention to the human
rights tree and read the answers out
loud.
6. You could go on to ask them to
compare the roots to the situation
in their own country.
The second activity is called “The
Action Teams”
aim:
to motivate young people for the
action for human rights and to foster
the creativity and the development of
skills in the promotion of human
rights.
time:
20-25 min.
you need:
the initial starting point is a very
inspiring as well as practical input from
your side, reflecting on possible
actions to promote human rights
within a classroom
examples of
chapter two
20
activities
process:
1. Students choose the issues they
would like to involve themselves in
2. Students split into teams according
to the chosen topics
5. each action team presents their
action to the class
A human rights
timeline - Putting
human rights in their
historical context.
Every country has its own human
rights history: in Hungary, for instance,
there was a history of uprisings by
slaves (1514/1710), culminating in 1848
in a law which outlawed serfdom and
introduced freedom of the press.
Going even further back in time to 1215
in England, the Magna Carta signed
between the English barons and King
John used constitutional means to limit
his tyrannical use of power. From more
recently, there are numerous examples
throughout Europe of movements
campaigning for freedom and human
rights.
3. You refer to your input on actions
for human rights and now ask the
students to think of the strategies
that have been used, and which of
them or which strategies in general
they find most effective to promote
their issue to the class. Some suggestions: sketch, poster, speech and
so on
4. Now you give the action teams
about 10 min. time to discuss
amongst each other
(you can advise the action teams to
think of an expressive name for their
team)
Working in groups, allocate the
students research tasks to look at
people, publications, the arts, events
and movements which contributed to
examples of
chapter two
activities
21
the development of human rights in
your country. One or more groups can
be asked to look at human rights
influences from other countries.
Human Rights – starting points for
teachers”. See Chapter Four for further details.)
The results can be used in a wide
variety of ways:
Each group presents its results to
the rest of the class.
If a group has found songs which
are related to human rights, learn to
sing them.
Individuals can write essays based
on an aspect of their group research.
Organise a display of “human rights
and our country” for other classes to
visit.
Students’ Charter
(This activity is taken from the recent
Council of Europe publication “ Die
Europäische Menschenrechtskonvention – Einstiegshilfen für den Unterricht / the European Convention on
on Human Rights
During the second year of the network, it was decided to intensify the
cooperation between all schools and,
in particular, the students. One way
was to introduce the idea of a Students Charter on Human Rights. Agreement was reached on the form, the
content and the timescale.
examples of
chapter two
22
activities
School Network Human Rights
Students’ Charter on Human Rights
This is an activity for all participants in School Network Human Rights
With this proposal we invite you to continue and deepen your work in the
field of Human Rights education in your school. We also want to stimulate
international exchange and discussion among the different partner schools in
the project.
The task:
1. Develop your students’ own charter of Rights
January/February
This activity allows to build on the previous HR education work you have
done together with your students. It also allows newcomers to join in and to
start getting involved with the topic: to think of Human Rights and their
importance.
Please focus on the theme of your international project group (participation/
children’s rights/racism & xenophobia/violence/women’s rights).
It is up to you to decide upon the appropriate methods, the duration and
intensity of this activity.
What we want you to do is to summarise the outcome and to come up with a
list of 5 - 10 rights, which are, from your students’ point of view and for their
local environment and lives the most important, the most relevant ones.
2. Share your results
Deadline: End of February
• send the list to your partner schools in the network AND
• send the list to me
(If you want I can forward it to the others for you - but let me know!)
3. Compare your results with
• the lists of the partner schools
• the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”
February/March/April
examples of
chapter two
activities
23
What are the similarities? What are the differences?
Are the rights which are important to us included in the Universal Declaration
of HR?
Are they included in any other international HR document?
Are the rights which are important to us respected? In our lives, countries?
What about the situation in our partner countries?
What can we do to defend Human Rights?
4. Give feedback to your partner schools
March/April
Summarise your discussion and findings. Inform your partner schools about
what you have found out. Please do not forget to put the Project coordinator
on your mailing list. Thank you!
You may also want to ask them further questions. Do it!
In case of any questions, comments - please contact me! Good luck!
Barbara Helm
We hope this chapter has whetted your appetite for more. As Araba says, “it
needs passion to be engaged in human rights”. Again, please check Chapter
Four for further sources useful for human rights education activities.
on
chapter three tour
24
Chapter Three
School Network Human Rights on Tour
“We have learned
about their culture,
the educational
system, some of
those human rights
problems, which
they think, they
don’t have, but
which they have.
We have learnt,
that we are all different, but yet we
are all the same.”
Project coordinator
from Cameroon
“For the students
it was a very interesting experience
to see that the guests were very well
informed about what is going on in
the world. They found it difficult to
ask more personal questions for
example the feelings of living in a
country, where a civil war is going on.
To establish a closer contact is not
always easy and depends very much
on the person and the experience in
these kinds of intercultural exchanges.”
Teacher and
two students from Austria
“I think Austrian students and
teachers learned about the political
and social situation, about violation
of human rights in Colombia and
Cameroon. About drugs, guerrilla, paramilitary. They learned about how
people from southern countries think,
and how they see the world and about
our project of the schools of peace.”
Student from Colombia
Taking advantage of important
dates in the calendar is one method
of increasing relevance of your activities. And so it was with the Global
Education Week, 10-21 November
2000: a highlight of the second year
of the project was the invitation to
students and teachers from Cameroon,
Argentina and Colombia to participate
in the “Human Rights in One World”
tour.
The main aims of the tour were:
• to initiate a long-term, sustainable
learning process, Intercultural
Learning
• to establish personal contacts
between students & teachers in
partner schools, confrontation of
on
chapter three tour
25
own values and those of the other
cultures
• to motivate all partners involved, to
strengthen international co-operation
• to ensure active participation of at
least 5 Austrian project schools
• to evaluate project activities and
development of strategies for
project continuation
On arrival in Austria, the guest delegations had an orientation seminar
which allowed them to get to know
each other personally and to be
briefed on the general situation in the
country. A total of 11 schools from all
over Austria offered to host the visitors, which meant that two groups had
to be formed – one travelling West
from Vienna and the other going
South. The tour proved to be a great
motivation for the guest delegations
and the Austrian schools to develop
their contacts, organise exchanges
and, in one case, to donate computers
for use in joint research projects.
The tour and
human rights
education – some
reflections
Human rights education is a very
sensitive subject and needs a global
and intensive pedagogical concept,
which means it is not enough only to
teach it at a rational level. The idea is
to enable students to develop competences, abilities such as forming
opinions, analysing, reflecting, handling crisis and conflict resolution empowering education. In the learning
process teachers have to pay attention
to the needs of students, their personal history, ambivalence in their
school careers and daily school life.
The “Human Rights in One World” tour
was initiated as a measure to enlarge
personal experiences for students.
Looking at the personal background
of students was used as a starting
point to go into the topics and animate
students to be critical, to get a feeling
for injustice in their personal environment and their own society. This is
not an easy task. Successful human
rights education needs a long term
concept and every measure is one little
part of a puzzle. Perhaps this puzzle
cannot be finished in a school career.
What is essential is to know about the
importance of starting and continuing
this process. Basically, the tour was
seen as a motivating factor, to give
credit to the work already done and
to create interest in human rights
issues.
At a stage when young people have
to find their place in the society,
reflecting the norms of society and
on
chapter three tour
26
their peer groups can rock the foundations of identity. One of the aims
of the tour was to facilitate and to
create an atmosphere, where students
could feel well and save. But this has
to be authentic, a guide line for the
work in class rooms and the relations
students. Teachers of the participating
schools tried to assign their students
to particular tasks in the organisational
process, to decide together about the
activities to be carried out, the topics
to talk about, and finally tried to
activate them - to give them the
possibility to turn from spectators to
actors.
Practical tips
for organising a
School Human
Rights Tour
between students and students as well
as students and teachers. Of course
this cannot be forced, but abuses of
this rule should be discussed and reflected. Human rights education is a
great challenge not only for students,
it should be one for teachers, too.
“What we try to teach our students
should also be valid for us” - to reflect
on our own activities and attitudes.
Becoming a responsible person needs
spaces, opportunities to take responsibility. This means to break out of
the conventional role of teachers and
These tips are drawn from the evaluation made of the tour. They do not
pretend to be an exhaustive list.
General tips
Think carefully about the number of
participating schools. There should be
enough time for the official and
cultural program. Keep in mind that
participants need time to relax.
Try to keep a gender balance in the
international delegations.
Our tour experiences showed that
host families and guests are very
interested to spend time together.
Staying for two nights at every host
family seems to be a good compromise.
Leave time and space for the international delegations to reflect upon
their experiences and to co-ordinate
their presentations.
Take into consideration that finances
played a big role, fund raising needs
a lot of time.
on
chapter three tour
27
Tips concerning project management
Take the pedagogical process in all
steps of the project into consideration:
planning, organising, implementation
and evaluation.
Enable students to contribute to the
whole project process.
Soften up the teacher’s role: give
responsibility to students.
Tips concerning the programme in
schools
Think about the possibility of inviting competent experts to give inputs
about the human rights situation in
the host country.
Make sure that there is enough time
for project presentations. Try to ensure
a time balance in the presentations
of guests and your school. Host
students are very much interested in
the experiences of the guests and the
international participants in those of
the host students and the host country
situation in general.
At least one teacher should be
discharged from their normal duties,
to be able to attend the whole
programme and to have time for practical matters.
A good working environment improves the learning process and
atmosphere. For example seating
arrangements: change the normal
seating arrangement, form a circle of
chairs.
Reserve leisure time for participants.
Enough time to relax is the secret for
power and vitality for the next day.
Use the time before the start of the
tour to work with your students on
principle data and facts of the countries involved. Keep in mind, that the
guests may have to present similar
topics in the other schools visited. Ask
colleagues of other schools what
issues they want to discuss. Make the
programme flexible.
If you organise such a tour, we
would be very glad to hear about your
experiences!
re
chapter four sources
28
Chapter Four
Resources
Amnesty International:
First steps - a manual for starting human rights education. 1996
Evans, Gräßler, Pouwels (eds.):
Human Rights and Values Education in Europe: research in education law,
curricula and textbooks (with the support of the European Commission).Freiburg i. Breisgau: Fillibach 1997.
Susan Fountain, UNICEF (Herausgeber/Editor):
German edition: Wir haben Rechte ... und nehmen sie auch wahr. Kinderrechte kennenlernen und verwirklichen. Eine Aktivmappe für Jugendliche ab
10 Jahre. Mühlheim an der Ruhr 1996.
English edition: “It’s only right”, UNICEF 1994.
Walter Suntinger und Barbara Weber:
Alle Menschenrechte für alle. Luwig Boltzmann Institut für Menschenrechte.
Wien 2000.
Mark Taylor:
German edition: Die Europäische Menschenrechtskonvention – Einstiegshilfen
für den Unterricht. Europarat 2000.
English edition: The European Convention on Human Rights - Starting points
for teachers. Council of Europe 2000.
Teaching Human Rights - Newsletter. Servicestelle für Menschenrechtsbildung
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für Menschenrechte (in German).
Council of Europe - Human Rights Information Centre and the Directorate of
Education, Culture and Sport:
“Stand up NOW for Human Rights!” Video.
re
chapter four sources
Selected
Links
www.iz.or.at/humanrights - School Network Human Rights - documentation of
the project
www.ifor.org - International Fellowship of Reconciliation
www.humanrights.at - Servicestelle für Menschenrechtsbildung, Ludwig
Boltzmann Institut für Menschenrechte Wien
www.handl.net/snag - South North Action Group - Development Consulting
www.hrea.org - Human Rights Education Associates (HREA)
www.amnesty.org
www.humanrights.coe.int - Council of Europe Directorate General of Human
Rights
www.oneworld.net - OneWorld is a community of over 1000 organisations
working for social justice.
www.eumc.at - European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia
www.un.org/rights - United Nations and Human Rights
www.unicef.org - United Nations Children’s Fund
www.unesco.org - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
www.ecri.coe.int - “All equal - all different” Combating racism and
intolerance. Council of Europe
www.unhchr.ch/udhr/navigate/alpha/htm/ - Universal Declaration of Human
Rights - translations
www.unhchr.ch/html/intlinst.htm - International Human Rights Instruments –
original texts in many languages
29
international
chapter five
30
school projects
Chapter Five
Setting up International School Projects
After over 10 years’ experience of
co-ordinating and/or initiating international school projects we have learned
some lessons – and we still make
“mistakes”. And then we try to learn
from them too and from others. This
chapter presents some of the major
principles we work from and poses
some essential questions.
Things
to think about
Establishing your school project at
international level can be a highly
interesting and stimulating experience.
Above all, the opportunities for intercultural learning and exchange are rich
and varied. There are a number of
sources of information and databases
which can help you find partners for
such projects. See Chapter Four for
further details.
Many avenues are opened up for
exploring similarities and differences
between the cultures involved in the
project or network. Questions which
may be used to explore this area:
How is the issue of language
handled within the schools?
How are minorities catered for?
What role (if any) does religion play
within school life?
What is the culture of the school?
How is it organised? How are decisions
made?
To what extent are subjects related
to human rights integrated into the
curriculum?
There are many advantages in
having more than one teacher or class
from one school involved in the
project. This allows you to: share
tasks; gain additional support; increase interest and curiosity amongst
other school members. And why not
widen participation to local NGO’s,
local authority departments, etc?
Deciding with whom to cooperate
will depend on a number of considerations. It is important to arrive
at common agreements (which both
parties really understand) about:
•
•
•
•
•
•
goals and aims of the project
target group(s) to be reached
the content of the project
responsibility for separate tasks
deadlines
how and what to evaluate in the
project (including at least a mid-term
evaluation to check all partners are
working in the same direction, or
whether the direction needs to be
changed)
Perhaps the crucial elements to keep
in mind are these:
monitor and keep up motivation!
ensure that there are people in the
project who act as “motors” for the
international
chapter five
school projects
31
project: who remind, push, cajole,
encourage and help the project keep
alive!
if something happens that seems
strange to you, check your perception
with the other project partners – they
may well see things differently!
remember to tell others about your
experiences!
See also, Appendix One, which gives
some further points for reflection.
The Soesterberg
Declaration
Originating in an international seminar co-ordinated by the Agency for
Global Education (LSO) in the Dutch
town of Soeseterberg (hence the
name) in May 2000, this declaration
sums up many of the conditions
necessary for quality and advantages
of communication between schools in
the North and the South. It sums up
many of our own conclusions and can
be used as a powerful tool for convincing others of the necessity and
attraction of such projects. Here is the
main body of the text:
The principles of North-South School
Linking
North-South School Linking:
• is, in the first place, about communication and understanding between (young) people in the North
and South (or: economically developed and less economically developed countries);
• is about equality and reciprocity.
North and South should learn from
each other. To think of school linking
as a way for the North to bring the
advantages of their culture to the
South is a mistake. School Linking
is not missionary, but about
listening to each other;
• is connected to every subject in
school. It should not be seen as an
extra-curricular activity. It should be
integrated into the everyday practice
of teaching, whether the lesson is
geography, economics, language,
physics or culture, as a transcurricular matter;
• should be supported by authorities
and carried out by pupils and
teachers.
The importance of North South
School Linking
North South School Linking:
• means sustainable international
communication, not only between
students and teachers, but also
between parents, head teachers,
local authorities and communities;
• creates international and crosscultural friendships in a relatively
cheap, quick, simple and informal
way;
• creates opportunities for young
people to increase their awareness
international
chapter five
32
school projects
about the world they live in and the
role they can play as world citizens;
can stimulate the adoption of new
methodologies and values in educational systems;
can stimulate interaction between
communities towards a local sustainable development;
helps to find solutions for environmental and social problems;
helps to create understanding
between different cultures, worldwide.
• can create opportunities for the
exchange of educational methods,
ideas and teaching materials;
• also gives schools a reason for the
further development and usage of
new communication technologies,
like the Internet. It can enable
access to new technologies in both
the North and South through shared
project planning and expertise.
• can help to create opportunities for
the exchange of pupils, teachers and
others.
Practical advantages of North-South
School Linking
School linking already exists in many
countries. There are hundreds of bilateral links both between Southern and
Northern, Eastern and Western
schools. Several international school
Around ninety educational workers,
teachers and policy makers from Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Ghana, Zambia,
Lebanon, Russia, Belarus, Belgium,
Ireland, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Denmark, England, Scot-land,
Austria, Norway, Sweden, Indonesia,
India, Guatemala and Ecuador participated in the Soesterberg seminar.
For further information see www.
schoollinking.net
•
•
•
•
Final
words
linking organisations are in the process
of establishing triangles and (eventually) networks of school links, which
provide websites, ideas, written experiences, reports, etc..
North-South School Linking:
• can be done relatively cheaply.To
start communication one only needs
addresses, pens, papers and stamps
or email;
The Interkulturelles Zentrum will
continue to act as a facilitator, advisor
and co-ordinator for international
educational projects. As a result of this
and previous pilot projects, we plan
to continue to place special emphasis
on North-South school-linkings and
Global Education.
We wish you well in your efforts to
increase respect for and protection of
human rights - for everybody.
appendices
33
Appendices
“Partnerschaftlichkeit und Qualität
in Nord-Süd Schulkooperationen”
1. „Partnerschaft“ ist eine Qualität, die
in der Verantwortung aller beteiligten Schulen liegt. Sie bedarf der
systematischen Förderung durch alle
Akteur/innen der Schulgemeinschaft.
Die Nachhaltigkeit mit Enthusiasmus
begonnener Projekte kann durch
fächerübergreifende Zusammenarbeit zwischen Lehrer/innen und
Schüler/innen gesichert werden, insbesondere dann wenn auch Direktion und Elternvertretung die Partnerschaft unterstützen. Die Verankerung
im Schulprogramm trägt zur Stabilität von Partnerschaften bei.
2. „Partnerschaften“ brauchen Zeit
Partnerschaftliches Lernen braucht
wechselseitiges Vertrauen, das sich
nur langfristig entwickeln und vertiefen kann. Erfahrungen zeigen,
dass internationale Bildungsprojekte
langfristig geplant werden müssen,
um tatsächlich zu zufriedenstellenden Ergebnissen kommen zu können. Kooperationen zwischen Schulen benötigen etwa ein Jahr für das
gegenseitige Kennenlernen von
Schüler/innen, Schule und Land bevor Schüleraustausch sinnvoll erscheint. Soll die Themenauswahl
nicht einseitig definiert sondern kooperativ vorgenommen werden, so
sind – auch bei Verwendung elektronischer Medien – mehrere Wochen dafür einzuplanen. Ebenso
brauchen begleitende Reflexion und
Evaluation, die Erfahrungen erst zu
Bildung machen, ausreichend Zeit.
3. „Partnerschaften“ brauchen vielfältige Unterstützung und Förderung,
wie etwa rechtliche Rahmenbedingungen, curriculare Verankerung,
Zustimmung der Schulbehörden, Zugang zu Unterrichtsmaterialien und
Kommunikationswegen und finanzielle Mittel.
Obwohl es sich in der Praxis als
schwierig erweist, auch in organisatorischer und finanzieller Hinsicht
Gleichwertigkeit zwischen den Partnern herzustellen, lohnt sich doch
der Versuch, Beiträge und Unterstützung partnerschaftlich einzubringen.
Dabei geht es nicht um eine exakte
Aufteilung von Kosten, sondern um
der jeweiligen Landessituation angepasste Formen der Beteiligung
(Freistellung von Lehrer/innen, Seminarorte, rechtliche Unterstützung
usw.). Nach Möglichkeit sollten beteiligte Länder die Verantwortungen
und das Engagement miteinander
vereinbaren.
4. Die Gestaltung einer Schulpartnerschaft sollen in gemeinsamer Absprache vereinbart werden, damit
den spezifischen Bedürfnissen aller
Beteiligten Rechnung getragen werden kann.
34
appendices
Erfahrungen zeigen, dass Partnerschaftlichkeit und Stabilität von
Schulkooperationen dann entstehen, wenn alle am Bildungsprozess
Beteiligten (Lehrer/innen und Schüler/innen aus Ländern des Südens
und des Nordens) an der Entwicklung des pädagogischen Konzepts
mitwirken. Durch die Einbindung in
alle wichtigen Entscheidungen entwickeln sich Identifikation mit den
gemeinsamen Zielen und Motivation zur Zusammenarbeit.
Ansätze. Was in einem Wiener Gymnasium als akzeptables pädagogisches Handeln akzeptiert wird, kann
schon Schüler/innen in Sarajevo entmutigen, was Jugendliche in Rosario (Argentinien) bewegt, läßt kids
in Salzburg kalt, usw. In jedem Falle: es gibt kein richtiges oder falsches Unterrichten – aber Kooperation mit Lehrer/innen aus anderen
Ländern kann neue Ideen und den
Mut erzeugen, andere Lernformen
auszuprobieren.
5. Partnerschaft und Partizipation sind
eng miteinander verknüpft.
Das Prinzip der „Partnerschaft“ zwischen Schulen verschiedener Kontinente baut auf der Qualität der Partizipation von Schüler/innen und
Lehrer/innen in ihrer jeweiligen eigenen Schule. Damit die Schüler/
innen “ownership” am Projekt erlangen können, müssen Lehrer/innen auch “Platz machen”, die Verantwortung tatsächlich aufteilen.
8. Die Vielfalt der Sprachen nutzen
Was für Schulpartnerschaften allgemein gilt, kann auch für Nord-Süd
Partnerschaften empfohlen werden:
Die Kommunikation soll im Mittelpunkt stehen, deshalb sollten neben der Arbeitssprache auch andere Sprachen verwendet werden, die
entweder in der Schule unterrichtet
werden oder in der multikulturell
zusammengesetzen Klasse sowieso
gesprochen werden.
6. Global relevante Themen leiten die
Kooperation
Nord-Süd Bildungskooperationen
brauchen einen inhaltlichen Fokus,
um den sich die Zusammenarbeit
der Schulen organisiert. Erfahrungen
zeigen, dass Themen, die für alle
Beteiligten relevant sind, wie etwa
„Menschenrechte“, „Ökologie“,
„Frieden“, „Zukunft“, „Demokratie“,
„Kunst“ sich am besten eignen.
9. “Message“ statt Medium
Nicht die technologische Potenz
neuer Kommunikationstechnologien
macht die Qualität internationaler
Bildungskooperationen aus, sondern
der transportierte Inhalt. Obwohl zunehmend mehr Schulen über E-mailZugänge verfügen, die Kommunikation direkter und schneller machen,
sollte diese Medium nicht als selbstverständlich vorausgesetzt werden.
Traditionelle Formen der Korrespondenz (Briefe und Packerl) haben als
verlässliche Kommunikationsmittel
längst nicht ausgedient.
7. Didaktische Vielfalt ist notwendig
Globale Projekte brauchen je nach
gesellschaftlicher und kultureller Situation unterschiedliche didaktische
Source: Barbara Helm/Rüdiger Teutsch: Durch Partnerschaft zur neuen Lernkultur. In: ZEP - Zeitschrift
für internationale Bildungsforschung und Entwicklungspädagogik. Themenheft: Nord-Süd Partnerschaften - ungleiche Partner. Hannover 2000.
appendices
35
Checklist
“How to start an
international school project”
Having an idea
Information of students, colleagues, headteacher/administration, ...
Þ
Defining ressources:
Who is going to co-operate/support the idea in what way?
(colleagues - students - parents - NGO’s)
Þ
Looking for and finding international partners
Establishing contact to international colleagues
Þ
Joint planning of project:
What to do together?
Aims & expectations
Activities
Responsibilities
How are we going to communicate?
Timeframe and deadlines
Do we plan to meet? Teachers? Students?
How to evaluate?
Documentation & presentation of project at school level and outside school?
Þ
Realisation of the plan
Þ
Evaluation
Documentation
Þ
Planning of next steps
In case of a students’ exchange:
Checking of legal framework
Keeping relevant persons informed
(students and colleagues, parents, school authorities, the public, ..)
Logistics
(travel arrangements, board & lodging, travel documents, insurance,
finances, ...
36
appendices
Full list of
participating schools
Austria
Austria
Austria
Austria
Austria
Austria
Austria
Austria
Austria
Austria
Austria
Austria
Austria
Austria
Argentina
Argentina
Bosnia H.
Brazil
Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon
BG/BRG Rainergasse, Wien
BRG VII Kandlgasse, Wien
Vienna Business School
Augarten, Wien
BRG 23 + UBS Draschestr.,
Wien
BG/BRG 18, Schopenhauerstrasse, Wien
HAK SZU-Wien III
Ungargasse, Wien
BG/BRG Gmünd
BRG Abrunnerweg, Linz
International School (LISA)
BHAK II Stelzhamerstrasse,
Wels
ORG Theresianum,
Eisenstadt
BORG Neumarkt, Neumarkt
LFS Mauerkirchen,
Mauerkirchen
BRG Gröhrmühlgasse,
Wiener Neustadt
Graz International Bilingual School (GIBS), Graz
Casilda Agricultural school
Escuela Normal No.1
Rosario
Erstes Bosniakisches
Gymnassium, Sarajevo
Escola Municipal,
Porto Alegre
IPAR – Buea, Parents’
Mountain School
University of Buea
Depart of women’s studies
Baptist High School, Buea
Cameroon Standard Comprehensive
S.S.
Cameroon Presbyteria Comprehensive Secondary School, Buea
Cameroon Bilingual Grammar school
Cameroon Governemental Teacher’s
Training College, Buea
Cameroon Lycee Elig Issono, Yaounde
Cameroon Government High School
Limbe
Chile
Liceo Valparaiso B-29
Valparaiso
Colombia Abraham Lincoln school
Bogotá
India
St. John’s High School
Bombay
Ireland
St. Mary’s Academy C.B.S.
Italy
ITC Rosa Luxemburg
Mexico
Colegio Madrid AC Mexico
DF
Palestine Iskandar AI. Khoury Boys
School
Russia
Secondary School No.5
Vladimir
Russia
Language school 124
Samara
Sweden Lysingskolan Ödeshög
Uganda The Aga Khan High School
Kampala
Uganda High School Kampala
Ukraine Chernihiv English Magnet
School No. 1
Uruguay Liceo No.31 Montevideo
Cuidad
Uruguay Liceo No.36 Montevideo
Cuidad
appendices
Partners participating
or advising on the project
Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Culture/
Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Kultur, Austria
Abteilung für Internationale Beziehungen, I/6
Minoritenplatz 5, A-1014 Wien, Austria
Interkulturelles Zentrum
Bacherplatz 10, A - 1050 Wien, Austria
Tel ++43 1 586 75 44
Fax ++43 1 586 75 44 9
e-mail: [email protected]
www.iz.or.at
in co-operation with:
International Fellowship of Reconciliation, Austrian branch
Service Centre for Human Rights Education of the Boltzmann Institute for
Human Rights, Vienna
SNAG-South North Action Group, Vienna
Further partners:
Austrian Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs Austrian Development Co-operation
European Union (Netd@ys 99)
VIDC - Vienna Institute for Development and Co-operation
KulturKontakt Austria
Wiener Intergrationsfonds
Österreichische UNESCO Kommission
United Nations Staff Council, Vienna
Stadt Wien - MD Internationale Beziehungen
The pilot project “School Network Human Rights” was selected as a laureate of
the “Worldaware Award for Global Education 2000” which is a partnership
project of the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe, the Dutch Committee
for International Co-operation and Sustainable Development (NCDO) and the
Austrian Society for Communication and Development (KommEnt).
37
38
39
40