Human Rights Pedagogy: Practices and implications for teachers in a South Africa context

Abstract

In this research Human Rights practices of secondary school teachers across the curricular in their different schools’ settings are explored. The importance of Human Rights Pedagogy is advocated for. A qualitative interpretivist research paradigm was used in this study employing Ubuntu as a research framework. An Ubuntu research framework assumes the importance of equality, fairness and justice among the researcher and the participants in the research setting. The participants in the study comprised of 10 secondary schools’ teachers which were conveniently sampled. A focused group was used to collect data on issues of human rights in particular the rights of learners using an Ubuntu framework. Data was analysed thematically. The findings of this research showed that teachers have not changed their mind-sets regarding the rights of learners as enshrined in the Constitution (Republic of South Africa) stating that the rights of the learners should be respected and promoted. The study therefore argues for a debate on the training of teachers on Human Rights Pedagogy for professional development.