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##  A Global Perspective on Human Rights Education. ERIC Digest.                 

Human Rights Day (December 10, 1998) marks the 50th anniversary of              the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On December 10, 1948, the            United Nations adopted this document. It is not legally binding on              the signatories, but it has moral force that commands worldwide                 respect. Thus, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human                Rights is a standard by which many people throughout the world judge            the conditions of citizenship and government internationally and                within their own countries. This document, which includes 30                    articles pertaining to various human rights, is also a focal point              of education about human rights in schools throughout the                       world. CONCEPTIONS AND ORIGINS"Human rights are the claims                that all human beings are justly entitled to make merely by virtue              of their being human" (Plattner 1995, 573). In the seventeenth and              eighteenth centuries, when this idea became prominent in Western                Europe and North America, it carried the label "natural rights" to              denote derivation of these rights from the nature of every human                being. Each person, according to the natural rights concept,                    possesses equally certain immutable rights by virtue of her or his              membership in the human species; it is the duty of a just government            to protect these rights. 
The United States Declaration of                     Independence, adopted July 4, 1776, expresses the "natural rights"              idea in these memorable words: "We hold these Truths to be                      self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed             by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these              are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure                 these Rights Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their               just powers from the Consent of the Governed. That whenever any form            of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the right of             the People to alter or Abolish it and to institute new                          Government . . . " 
This Declaration of Independence by and for the            people of a new American nation still has global implications. The              same can be said about the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the             Citizen issued by France's National Assembly in 1789, which                     proclaimed: "The end of all political associations is the                       preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man; and              these rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance of                 oppression." 
The 1787 Constitution and the 1791 Bill of Rights of             the United States of America were designed and adopted to address               the civic values of the 1776 Declaration of Independence. This                  Constitution reflects the understanding among America's founders                that the individual's rights are at risk if a government is either              too strong or too weak. A good government simultaneously is                     empowered and limited. It is empowered sufficiently by the people to            secure their rights against domestic or foreign predators. And this             government's power is also limited sufficiently by the supreme law              of its constitution to protect the people's rights against abuses by            their own governors. 
During the nineteenth and twentieth                      centuries, the concept of natural rights was transformed into the               idea of human rights. This change reflected an expansion of the                 scope or range of rights to include two types of claims. 
The first            and older type is negative; it would limit the power of a government            to protect peoples' rights against its power. The second and newer              type of claim is positive; it would enhance the power of the                    government to do something for the person to enable her or him in               some way. Thus, the late twentieth century idea of human rights,                which incorporates both the positive and negative types, means                  that "certain things ought not to be done to any human being and                certain other things ought to be done for every human being" (Perry             1998, 13). 
The older negative claims on rights are exemplified by             Articles 1-21 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human              Rights. These Articles imply that no government or society should               act against individuals in certain ways that would deprive them of              inherent political or personal rights, such as freedom of speech,               press, assembly, and religion. The newer positive claims on rights              are exemplified by Articles 22-28 of the Universal Declaration of               Human Rights. They imply that every government and society should               act for individual members to enable them to enjoy certain social               and economic rights or benefits pertaining to social security,                  employment, housing, education, health care, and general standard of            living. CONFLICT AND CONSENSUS ABOUT NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE                    RIGHTSThere is general or global agreement among advocates of               human rights that both types of rights, the negative and positive,              must be included in a worthy constitutional government. However,                there is worldwide conflict or disagreement about which type of                 rights is primary and most important in a constitutional                        democracy. 
Advocates for the primacy and predominance of positive             rights claim that "bread is more important than freedom of speech."             They argue that the duties of government to provide social and                  economic welfare benefits for all the people require enhancement of             public power and authority to enter all areas of economic and social            life to promote the common good (Patrick 1991, 622). 
By contrast,             proponents of the negative rights tradition worry about the enormous            increase of centralized government power required to provide                    positive rights through large-scale public programs. This could lead            to a government so powerful and insufficiently limited that it could            arbitrarily deprive particular persons (those out of favor with                 authorities) of their traditional personal and political rights.                Thus, they maintain that human rights generally depend upon the                 primacy of guaranteed negative rights. They assert: a constitutional            democracy that would only recognize negative rights is incomplete;              one that would only or primarily recognize positive rights is                   impossible (Patrick 1991, 623). ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVES ON THE               UNIVERSALITY OF HUMAN RIGHTSUnited Nations documents proclaim               the universality of human rights, as did Enlightenment-era                      philosophers and founders of the United States of America. So, too,             have major world religions recognized the equal worth and dignity of            all persons, a universalist idea that undergirds human rights. For              example, Pope John Paul II has often expressed the global or                    universal relationship between human rights and the worth and                   dignity of each person (Schall 1998, 59). 
These claims to the                 universality of human rights have been disputed by particularists               and historicists, those who see them only as expressions of Western             civilization rather than as global aspirations and standards. They              view the current international surge of constitutional democracy and            human rights as cultural imperialism by the West against the                    non-West. By contrast, universalists see a global destiny for human             rights, a viewpoint supported by the worldwide decline of                       totalitarian regimes during the latter part of the twentieth                    century (e.g., the communist regimes of Central and Eastern Europe).            The universalists claim that people everywhere, if given a choice,              will choose free government and human rights. CURRICULAR                      APPLICATIONS AND RESOURCESThere is a strong international                   movement for human rights education. According to leading educators,            teaching and learning about human rights in age-appropriate ways is             feasible and desirable from kindergarten through grade twelve and               beyond. Schools in most parts of the world have incorporated human              rights education into the curriculum. Further, international                    non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are committed to human rights             education. 
Two important sources of information for human rights              education are (1) Human Rights Watch; 485 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY            10017-6104; T: (212) 972-8400; F: (212) 972-0905;                               E: <[email protected]> and (2) Freedom House; 120 Wall Street, New                 York, NY 10005; T: (212) 514-8040; F: (212) 514-8045. Both                      organizations produce annual reports on the status of freedom and               human rights throughout the world. 
Two university-based centers               that produce first-rate educational materials on human rights                   are (1) Center for Teaching International Relations of the Graduate             School of International Studies at the University of Denver; Denver,            CO 80208; T: (303) 871-3106; F: (303) 871-2456;                                 E: <[email protected]>; and (2) Center for the Study of Human Rights              at Columbia University; 1108 International Affairs Building, MC:                3365, New York, NY 10027; T: (212) 854-2479; F: (212) 316-4578;                 E: <[email protected]>. 
The United Nations, of course, is a key               source of information and curricular materials on human rights. The             United Nations World Wide Web site features "CyberSchoolBus," a                 collection of K-12 curricular materials and other resources for                 teaching and learning about human rights and related topics,                    at <http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/>. For other United                   Nations educational resources, contact the United Nations Office of             Communications and Public Information, New York, NY 10017; and                  contact UNESCO's Education Information Service, 7 Place de Fontenoy,            75700 Paris,                                                                    France; <http://www.education.unesco.org/>. CONCLUSIONDuring              the second half of the twentieth century, support of human rights               has become prominent throughout the world, and the flagrant abuse of            those rights anywhere is likely to become a global concern. Most                governments in the nation-states of today's world recognize the                 legitimacy of international interest in the inherent rights of every            person, even if some do it grudgingly or superficially. Given the               global primacy of human rights, there should be pervasive and                   systematic human rights education in schools throughout the                     world. REFERENCES AND ERIC SOURCESThe following list of                   resources includes references used to prepare this Digest. 
Hatch,             Virginia and Others. HUMAN RIGHTS FOR CHILDREN: A CURRICULUM FOR                TEACHING HUMAN RIGHTS TO CHILDREN AGES 3-12. Alameda, CA: Hunter                House, 1992. ED 395 869. 
Patrick, John J. "Individual Rights." In             Charles F. Bahmueller, Ed. CIVITAS: A FRAMEWORK FOR CIVIC EDUCATION.            Calabasas, CA: Center for Civic Education, 1991, 612-623. ED 340                654. 
Perry, Michael J. THE IDEA OF HUMAN RIGHTS: FOUR INQUIRIES.              New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. 
Plattner, Marc F. "Human             Rights." In Seymour Martin Lipset, Ed. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF                      DEMOCRACY. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1995,                  573-578. 
Reardon, Betty A. EDUCATING FOR HUMAN DIGNITY: LEARNING              ABOUT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES. University of Pennsylvania Press,            1995. ED 401 187. 
Schall, James V. "Principles of the American                Experiment." CRISIS 16 (June 1998): 59. 
Shiman, David. "An African            Perspective on Human Rights." UPDATE ON LAW-RELATED EDUCATION                   47 (Fall 1992): 40-47. EJ 469 724. 
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This publication was              prepared with funding from the Office of Educational Research and               Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, under contract                       RR93002014. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the               positions or policies of OERI or ED.                                         **Title:** A Global Perspective on Human Rights Education. ERIC Digest.                 **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education,                 Indiana University, 2805 East Tenth Street, Suite 120, Bloomington,             IN, 47408; phone: 812-855-3838; toll-free phone: 800-266-3815..              **Descriptors:**  Civil Liberties, Constitutional Law, Democratic Values, Global                 Approach,  Global Education,  Government Role, History,  Human                  Dignity, Individualism, Political Attitudes, Social Responsibility           **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests                                                                 
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