Children's rights and the Year Five classroom

Abstract

The first part of the dissertation reviews children's rights and human rights education. The research which consists of questionnaires, interviews, and classroom observation, focuses on the year five primary classroom and has been conducted in six different local primary schools. The study is on teaching in human rights, that is, learning within an atmosphere and climate which reflect a concern for the ideal and practice of human rights. The study examines teachers' awareness of children's rights and human rights education and how this affects their relationships with their pupils and their way of teaching. The children's attitudes and perspectives are also considered to achieve a more comprehensive picture of the situation. The results show that although teachers are aware of children's rights, some still do not think that these are of any relevance in the classroom. A considerable number of teachers still use corporal punishment and other negative measures to keep control. Children do not seem to be very conscious of their rights and almost 20% of the 236 pupils who filled in the questionnaire are not happy and more than one fourth feel nervous in the classroom. The study shows the need for more awareness and observation of children's rights and of human rights education in the Year-5 classroom. Two ways to address this need are to develop a teacher training programme in human rights education and to introduce more information on human rights in the curriculum.