Part 2 – Teaching democracy and human rights

Students should, for example, not only know their rights of participation, they must also be able to use them. Students therefore need practice and training opportunities within school life by participating in decisions and influencing the school environment in other ways. For example, teachers must give students the opportunity to state their opinions, both on topics in class and on issues related to teaching and running the school. This type of teaching and learning needs preparation. A teacher therefore needs to think beforehand about different elements of his/her profession. This is the case for all teaching. Especially in teaching EDC/HRE this is needed, because the students’ life experience is permanently part of this approach. How do I integrate this? How do I ensure that all students are heard? How can I be sure that I will not overwhelm the students with my opinion? Therefore, we suggest five steps that have to be considered:

• What are the conditions of teaching and learning?
• What are the objectives I have to set and which materials shall be selected?
• What are the specific concepts of politics that have to be considered?
• What is my understanding of processes of learning and which forms of teaching do I choose?
• How can the outcomes be assessed (students, teachers and schools)?

We support the teachers in finding answers to these basic questions by supporting them with work files they can use like tools in case of need.