Human Rights Education Association
Human Rights Education (Amnesty International) -- www.amnestyusa.org/aikids/ This site provides resources including syllabi, sample lessons, and resource guides.
The Human Rights Education Association (HREA) and Amnesty International-USA has published a manual on human rights and service-learning. Service-learning is a method whereby students learn through active participation in services conducted in their communities. Usually it is coordinated with an elementary or secondary school, institution of higher education, or community agency and the community. Service-learning fosters civic responsibility and is integrated into and enhances the academic curriculum. The publication is Human Rights and Service-Learning: Lesson Plans and Projects by Kristine Belisle and Elizabeth Sullivan
To review the document: www.hrea.org/index.php?base-id.105 or the full text is available in pdf form is at www.hrea.org/pubs/AIUSA-HREA-ServiceLearning.pdf
The Table of Contents provides a comprehensive overview of this resource:
INTRODUCTION
Why Human Rights and Service-Learning?
Using this Manual
Outline of Lesson Plans and Service Projects
HUMAN RIGHTS
What Are Human Rights?
A Brief History
Why Human Rights Education?
A Human Rights Collage
Creating a Country
Comparing the Bill of Rights with the UDHR
SERVICE-LEARNING
What is Service-Learning?
A Brief History
Why Service-Learning?
How to Set-up a Service-Learning Project
Creating a Service-Learning Project Checklist
Reflection Activities
LESSON PLANS
Environment and Human Rights
Poverty and Human Rights
Discrimination and Human Rights
Children’s Rights to Education and Health
Law and Justice and Human Rights
APPENDICES
Human Rights Documents
Handouts
Human Rights Resources
The Lesson Plans section contains six subsections and over 20 plans. The introduction includes a detailed description of how the plans are organized, tips on how to implement them, and a grid that lists Human Rights and Service-Learning Activities. The grid provides examples of how teachers can combine different human rights lessons and service-learning activities.
The lesson plans are divided into five human rights topics: Environment, Poverty, Discrimination, Children’s Rights to Education and Health, and Law and Justice. Each topic can serve as a stand alone unit that will take teachers from introductory human rights education through the implementation of a service-learning project. Although each section can stand on its own, the authors encourage teachers to pull lesson plans and project ideas from other sections to create individualized human rights service-learning projects. At the end of this introduction, a chart outlines all of the lesson plans and service learning projects
The following items are excerpts from the lesson plan on Freedom of Speech and Assembly:
• The objectives are to familiarize students with the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and how they are impacted by poverty; to engage learners in exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly while advocating against conditions of poverty; to strengthen learners’ public speaking, writing and communication skills and to develop skills for working as a group; and to improve skills for researching, formulating and presenting an argument.
• Ask these questions to start a discussion: What is freedom of speech? What is freedom of assembly? Identify examples of when you have practiced your rights to freedom of assembly or freedom of speech. What role does artistic expression play in the freedom of speech and assembly?
• Turn to Articles 18, 19 & 20 of the UDHR and the First Amendment to the Constitution. Make sure that the students are aware of the key elements of the rights to freedom of expression.
• Information for teachers on the Right to Freedom of Expression. The right to freedom of expression includes freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of association, assembly, and petition. The Supreme Court has written that the freedom of expression is “the indispensable condition of nearly every other form of freedom”. The Court has recognized a few exceptions to First Amendment protection: words that inflict injury or incite a breach of the peace are not protected; defamatory falsehoods about public officials are not protected; and legally “obscene” material is not protected.
• Examples of violations of the right to freedom of expression. After telling a rally of workers to realize they were “fit for something better than slavery and cannon fodder”, labor leader Eugene V. Debs was sentenced to 10 years in prison under the Espionage Act. After trying to read the text of the First Amendment at a union rally, author Upton Sinclair was arrested in 1923.
• Continue the discussion with these questions: Why is it important to have freedom of speech and assembly? What would happen if we did not have these rights?
PROJECT 2
• Ask these questions: Are there groups of people in the USA who have barriers to exercising their rights to freedom of speech and assembly? Have you ever been denied your right to free speech?
• Ask students to consider how living in poverty impacts ones’ ability to speak out about the issues that affect their lives and to influence the political process. For example, are people in poverty more vulnerable to being arrested or harassed if they exercise free speech? Without funding to help get your message across, will politicians pay attention? What other resources besides money do people have to get their message across?
• Ask students to think of examples of how the right to freedom of speech and assembly can be used to combat conditions of poverty. E.g., labor unions are a mechanism for freedom of association and assembly that have been used for decades to fight against low wages and work practices that contribute to poverty. Identify an article about how protests, labor organizing and other forms of free speech have been used historically or in the present to combat conditions associated with poverty.
•Ask students whether they think there are ever any circumstances when the rights to freedom of expression and assembly should be curtailed. Should censorship ever apply to groups or individuals who are promoting negative thoughts about other groups?
• On Freedom of Speech and Assembly. There are two options. First, students can exercise their right to free speech to speak out against poverty using whatever means of speech they choose, e.g., speaking at a town hall meeting, writing op-ed columns. Arts or drama can be used as artistic forms of speech including painting, sculpture, murals, plays, informational skits and song. Second, students can assemble in partnership with a community group to fight conditions of poverty or choose any service-learning project to exercise their right to assembly through a group service project.
• Students can exercise their right to freedom of speech by speaking out on an important human rights issue related to poverty. Decide which issue you are going to speak in support of, e.g., homelessness, health care, education, violence against women, etc. Students should reach out to a community leader or organization that works on the issue in order to learn more about what rights are at stake and how to collaborate.
• Select the audience to hear the message. Should we direct our message to the public because the community needs to know more about this issue or are policy makers the best audience? Research the issue/group they have decided to speak about and narrow down that information.
PROJECT 2. POVERTY
• You may want to invite a representative of an organization that works on this issue to speak to the students.
• Decide how you are going to practice your freedom of speech. Ask students what method of delivery they will use. Will they hold a debate, a town hall forum, deliver a “stump” speech, write op-eds, take out an advertisement, organize informational tables at a community event? Students can be creative and incorporate art or skits into their delivery.
• Implement the project. Discuss what the outcomes were, who was affected, and how the students felt when expressing their beliefs and opinions?
• Exercising the Right to Assemble through Service-Learning. During all service projects while students are working to guarantee the rights of people in their community, they are practicing their right to assemble. Students can decide to assemble around an issue related to poverty or take this opportunity to engage in a service project. By taking action through service-learning, the students will exercise their right to assemble.
• As before, students should identify an organization to work with. Important questions to consider: Why do you want to assemble around this issue? What do you hope to accomplish? If you select a group to assemble with or on behalf of, work with that group to make certain their voice is heard and that you are addressing issues of importance to them.
• Additional questions to consider: Why are you assembling: to raise awareness, get media attention, or make a statement? Who will be the audience? Are you targeting the public or policy-makers? Where are you going to assemble? Will you hold a rally or demonstration in a public space? Will you call a meeting to speak to your audience? What is the best time and location to reach the most people?
• Implement your project. After you have held your assembly, discuss the outcomes, who was affected, and why it was beneficial to work in groups?
• A second option for the project provides flexibility to carry out any service project in this manual or elsewhere. For this you can engage in protecting any right you would like while at the same time practicing the right to assemble as a group. As you prepare for the project, and after you have implemented the project, discuss why it is important to practice the right to assemble in ways as simple as doing a project and what would happen if that right was taken away.
• The last step is to conduct a reflection on and celebration of the accomplishments.
