The National Human Rights Commission of Korea expands human rights education initiatives for primary and secondary school teachers across the nation.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) held recently a human rights education program for primary and secondary school teachers from all over the country from July 30, 2007 to August 10, 2007. The program was held in various regions of the country, including Seoul, Busan, Gwangju, Daegu, among others. Over 160 teachers attended.
By request of the Commission, the Human Rights Peace Center of Seong-gong-hoe University headed this ‘2007 Human Rights Sensitivity Improvement and Awareness Course for Primary and Secondary School Teachers’ (‘Course’, or ‘2007 Course’) These programs expose teachers to human rights issues in our society and encourage them to foster human rights-friendly school environments, as well as challenge teachers to think about human rights in their personal lives.
The participants met with sexual minorities and persons with disabilities during the training, and learned about the discrimination and emotional suffering these minorities faced daily. Before the live Course, the teachers participated in a session titled, “Protection against Discrimination” through the “Cyber Learning Class” on the Commission’s website. “Blended learning” (online and off-line education) is a new pedagogical technique for the Commission, starting with this 2007 Course. These meetings and cyber sessions were intended to encourage teachers to empathize with the harsh realities of those that live on the outskirts of Korean society.
The teachers were also given the chance to learn about the plight of teenagers from a human rights perspective—something new that most teachers had never considered before.
Five universities nation-wide were selected to disseminate the Course. The training was not designed to be theoretical training, but rather it was designed to stimulate teachers to think about what human rights are and how to establish human rights in their workplaces. Through this method of training, teachers are challenged to expand their perception of human rights by hearing the experiences of persons with disabilities, sexual minorities, juveniles and other minorities in person.
Other programs following this pedagogy are the “Human Rights through Music with Baek Chang-oo (Seong-gong-hoe University),” “Human Rights Sensitivity Program (Gwangju National University of Education),” “Human Rights through Theatre (Silla University),” “Human Rights Sensitivity through Dialogue (Youngnam University),” “The Difference Between ‘Different’ and ‘Wrong’ (Jeonnam University)” and others.
The Commission plans to establish a location for participating in intensive human rights education training, and plans to share this training with teachers that participated in the basic course, teachers that have attempted human rights education during the fall term, or with teachers that have attempted human rights education on a personal level to enhance human rights sensitivity even more in society.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea was established in 2001 to promote human rights education and defend those who have experienced discrimination, or have had a right violated, in Korea. The Commission offers counseling, full investigation and protection for citizens, along with educational initiatives for organizations.
