International Human Rights Day: interview with Felisa Tibbitts
Felisa Tibbitts played a role in the passage of the new citizenship education law in the Netherlands this year. This important success was the result of many actors, including the Ministry of Education, teachers, university specialists, curriculum developers and representations of the Human Rights Education Network, including the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights (College voor de Rechten van de Mens) and Amnesty International.
How does the new Dutch citizenship education law promote human rights education?
Felisa Tibbitts: The bill strengthens the mandate for human rights to be taught in primary and secondary schools, which offers the opportunity also for human rights education to be offered systematically. This is very heartening for those of us who consider that international human rights standards and principles offer a useful lens for shaping the culture of schools and providing students with competencies for active citizenship. Such norms include non-discrimination and equality for all, civic engagement and support for democratic processes and rule of law.
What are some of the added values that the human rights dimension brings to citizenship education?
Felisa Tibbitts: The human rights dimension of citizenship education provides a rationale for young people to analyze and engage with difficult topics such as climate change and anti-immigrant sentiment, to recognize and resist hate speech. To put it more positively, the human rights dimension of citizenship education encourages the development of competencies for students to live together, to listen to and assess viewpoints different than their own, to recognize and resist ‘othering’ of people in their schools and societies, and to claim their rights and the rights of vulnerable others.
Human Rights Education should invite the learner to appreciate that human rights is about human dignity - ours and others. It is something that should be respected, promoted and protected by our government but also realized interpersonally and applied in our daily lives.
Recently, the chair in human rights education was renewed. A good moment to take up the balance.
Where do we stand in the field of Human Rights Education in the Netherlands, compared to other countries?
Felisa Tibbitts: The recent 2016 cross-national study carried out for the International Study of Civic and Citizenship Education (ICCS/IEA) revealed that Dutch citizenship education emphasizes knowledge of concepts but not values or skills associated with citizenship. This is distinctly different than citizenship education in the other 23 countries included in the research.
The ICCS/IEA study over time has consistently identified features of schools positively associated with civic mindedness, meaning an intention to engage in one’s community, to vote and other forms of traditional and participatory forms of citizenship. These features are open dialogue in the classroom and opportunities to participate in civic activities in school. The research shows that Dutch students are much less likely to have the opportunity to participate in civic activities at school as compared with students in other countries included in the study.
In terms of human rights-related results, Dutch 14-year-olds showed a slightly higher support for gender equality than the international average. However, Dutch schoolchildren had a significantly lower level of endorsement of equal rights for all ethnic and racial groups. These differences held regardless of students’ level of civic knowledge. So this also suggested a pressing need to offer citizenship education that is applied, encouraging ‘active citizenship’ and addressing human rights values.
Human Rights Education: the ‘Gold Standard’
Human Rights Education (HRE) is a transversal approach that links with all subjects and also the entirety of school life (known as the ‘whole school approach). Human rights principles and standards can apply to teaching in the social sciences, the humanities and even the natural sciences. Quality HRE involves three dimensions: content knowledge, behaviors/ skills, and values/attitudes. HRE should not only provide us with a foundational knowledge of the international and regional human rights standards but an appreciation of their relevance today, an internationalization of such values in our lives, and skillsets for encouraging that our human rights, and those of others, are ensured by state actors. HRE is about, through and for human rights, as defined by the United Nations. This is the ‘gold standard’ that I, and others, want to continue to endorse.
Where do you see room for improvement in Human Rights Education internationally?
Felisa Tibbitts: It is difficult to summarize the status of Human Rights Education internationally, and the criteria are also quite varied. For example, UNESCO research has shown a steadily increasing presence of references to human rights and women’s rights in textbooks globally. This suggests that these concepts are also more present in national curriculum frameworks since textbooks generally follow the lead of curriculum policies.
However, oftentimes explicit references to human rights are restricted to the founding of the United Nations after World War II and the publication of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. This historical treatment of human rights does not allow students to engage with the framework as a dynamic set of legal and normative principles for both governments and citizens in addressing challenging issues of our day. Human Rights Education should invite the learner to appreciate that human rights is about human dignity - ours and others. It is something that should be respected, promoted and protected by our government but also realized interpersonally and applied in our daily lives.
Human Rights Education is about, through and for human rights, as defined by the United Nations. This is the ‘gold standard’ that I, and others, want to continue to endorse.
Soroptomists
The Chair in Human Rights Education was initiated and funded by the Union of Soroptimist Clubs in the Netherlands, Suriname and Curaçao. Soroptimist International is a global volunteer movement with a network of around 72,000 club members in 121 countries. Soroptimists promote gender equality. They have historically engaged in activities to promote the wellbeing of girls and women – originally those who were in the work force and facing discrimination - and now concentrating on the status of vulnerable females in both the global north and global south.
What does the collaboration with the Soroptimists look like?
Felisa Tibbitts: When I was appointed Chair, I was given a great deal of latitude to develop my activities. These are primarily focused on the academic sector. However, I collaborate with other actors in the Dutch and international environments engaging in Human Rights Education. The Dutch chapter of the Soroptimists does awareness-raising and fundraising around pressing human rights issues, such as violence against women and lack of access to education. I try to enrich this existing agenda by bringing a focus on teaching and learning of human rights as part of a strategy for empowerment and social change. I do this through my public presentations, writing and a dedicated section of their website. I have a great working relationship with the Soroptimists in the Netherlands and truly enjoy working with them. Recently, the chair has been prolonged for five years (2022-2026).