The Right to Education
Grades 6-12
2-3 Class Periods
Objectives
1. Students will deepen their understanding of the necessity and interconnectedness of human rights, in particular the right to education
2. Students will become familiar with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
3. Students will understand the importance of education for the realization of all other human rights
4. Students will understand the influence of education for an individual’s future health, economic security, political participation, and physical environment.
5. Students will understand the importance of providing evidence when voicing an opinion.
6. Students will actively practice their leadership and persuasion skills by collectively creating a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Description
Students participate in a class discussion about the importance of education for their future. Emphasis is placed on four sectors: health, economic security, political participation/ representation and the environment. Students follow on initial brainstorming by looking at the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and analyze which rights require education in order to be fully realized. In smaller groups, students research and write one paragraph about the necessity of education for a positive future in each of the four sectors. Students are asked to research and cite three facts, statistics or quotes from reliable sources that support their opinions. Students share their opinions on the GCYP wikispace (http://gcyp.wikispaces.com) and use the information to collectively write a letter to the UN Secretary General emphasizing the importance of education for their future.
Materials
Blackboard
Computer with internet access
MS Word or PowerPoint
Email access to participate in forums (not needed for every student, but at least one teacher, student, or administrator address is needed for each school group)
Copies of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Opening:
1. On the blackboard, teachers write the quote “knowledge is power” (Francis Bacon, English philosopher, 1561-1626).
2. Initiate a full-class discussion about this quote:
Is this a true statement? Why or why not?
What kind of power does Bacon mean?
Is education important in other ways? For your health? For your future economic security? For your participation or understanding of politics? For the environment you live in?
Is education a human right (That is, is it necessary for living life with dignity)? Does everyone deserve an education?
3. Hand out copies of the CRC (suggested: student-friendly version).
4. Explain to students that the CRC was written as a way to specifically protect the human rights of children in international law.
Although children are protected under all other human rights law, this document puts all of those laws and ideas into one place so
that lawmakers are aware of the special protections that children deserve
5. Explain to students that under the CRC, a child is any person under the age of 18. Ask students: why would people under 18 need
special protections?
6. Teachers: for more information regarding the CRC, see UNICEF’s website at: http://www.unicef.org/voy/explore/rights/explore_148.html
7. Give students 10 minutes to skim the CRC.
Which articles/rights do children need education in order to attain?
How does education help an individual realize all human rights?
8. Read Article 28, which says that all children have the right to a good primary education and should have equal access to secondary
education. Explain to students that despite the fact that the CRC protects every child’s right to education, over 115 million children
world wide cannot go to school.
9. Ask students to brainstorm, as a class, why children around the world may not be able to attend school (security, poverty, health,
distance, etc…)
Group Work:
Divide students into four groups. Assign each group a specific theme – health, economic security, political participation or environment – that is affected by education
Explain to students that the goal of this month’s project is to reaffirm to the UN that young people believe education is important for their future.
Each group has been assigned a part of life that will be greatly affected by education in their futures.
Distribute the Guiding Questions hand outs to each group (see below).
As a group, ask students to brainstorm why education is necessary for their futures within each theme (for example, the Health group should explore why education will be important for their future health, while the environment group should explore why education is important for the environment they will live in in the future).
Using the internet, students should find at least three facts, statistics or quotes that provide evidence supporting their opinions. (Teachers may choose to have a quick conversation about reliable sources on the internet first. See resource list below)
Students should cite the source of each statistic/fact/quote.
Wikispaces
Using the GCYP wikispace (http://gcyp.wikispaces.com) Right to Education pages, students should collaborate on creating a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon about the importance of education for their future. All four themes should be emphasized.
Facts/quotes/statistics used in the letter should all be referenced appropriately.
Students should sign the letter on the wikispace. A copy of the letter along with the names of all the students and a link to the site will be sent to the UN Secretary General by RI-SOL at the end of February.
Alternatively, students may create PowerPoint presentations about the importance of education using the information they have gathered. These presentations may be traded directly with their partner students in order to gather enough information to write a letter. As the wikispace increases both teacher and student technological capacity, however, we encourage you to try this new technique!
Suggested Follow-up
Students may consider creating their own letter (or using a copy of the letter created on the wikispace) and sending it to influential organizations in their own community or nation.
Students may choose to research the needs of their own community in regards to education.
Are there any populations in our community that could use better education?
What could we do to help?
Is there anything we could do to help our own school meet our needs?
Are there any projects we could think of putting together in time for Global Youth Service Day (April 20-22, 2007)?
All groups should complete their wikispace contributions by Friday, February 23, 2007.
Teachers are asked to contact their partner teachers, Naama Haviv (naama@ri.org) AND their RI-SOL country representative when students have completed their contributions. If completing presentations, teachers should email the presentations to their partners, AND the RI-SOL representative so they can be posted on the website. Presentations should be sent no later than Friday, February 23, 2007.
“The Right to Education” forum will be held Monday, Feb 23 – Friday, March 2.
This is an opportunity for your students to ask questions about their partner schools’ findings and contributions. Please have your students go online to your partner country’s wikispace and view their partners’ contributions before participating in the forum.
February 2007 Lesson Plan
The Right to EducationGrades 6-12
2-3 Class Periods
Objectives
1. Students will deepen their understanding of the necessity and interconnectedness of human rights, in particular the right to education
2. Students will become familiar with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
3. Students will understand the importance of education for the realization of all other human rights
4. Students will understand the influence of education for an individual’s future health, economic security, political participation, and physical environment.
5. Students will understand the importance of providing evidence when voicing an opinion.
6. Students will actively practice their leadership and persuasion skills by collectively creating a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Description
Students participate in a class discussion about the importance of education for their future. Emphasis is placed on four sectors: health, economic security, political participation/ representation and the environment. Students follow on initial brainstorming by looking at the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and analyze which rights require education in order to be fully realized. In smaller groups, students research and write one paragraph about the necessity of education for a positive future in each of the four sectors. Students are asked to research and cite three facts, statistics or quotes from reliable sources that support their opinions. Students share their opinions on the GCYP wikispace (http://gcyp.wikispaces.com) and use the information to collectively write a letter to the UN Secretary General emphasizing the importance of education for their future.
Materials
Suggested Procedure
Opening:
1. On the blackboard, teachers write the quote “knowledge is power” (Francis Bacon, English philosopher, 1561-1626).
2. Initiate a full-class discussion about this quote:
- Is this a true statement? Why or why not?
- What kind of power does Bacon mean?
- Is education important in other ways? For your health? For your future economic security? For your participation or understanding of politics? For the environment you live in?
- Is education a human right (That is, is it necessary for living life with dignity)? Does everyone deserve an education?
3. Hand out copies of the CRC (suggested: student-friendly version).4. Explain to students that the CRC was written as a way to specifically protect the human rights of children in international law.
Although children are protected under all other human rights law, this document puts all of those laws and ideas into one place so
that lawmakers are aware of the special protections that children deserve
5. Explain to students that under the CRC, a child is any person under the age of 18. Ask students: why would people under 18 need
special protections?
6. Teachers: for more information regarding the CRC, see UNICEF’s website at:
http://www.unicef.org/voy/explore/rights/explore_148.html
7. Give students 10 minutes to skim the CRC.
- Which articles/rights do children need education in order to attain?
- How does education help an individual realize all human rights?
8. Read Article 28, which says that all children have the right to a good primary education and should have equal access to secondaryeducation. Explain to students that despite the fact that the CRC protects every child’s right to education, over 115 million children
world wide cannot go to school.
9. Ask students to brainstorm, as a class, why children around the world may not be able to attend school (security, poverty, health,
distance, etc…)
Group Work:
Wikispaces
Alternatively, students may create PowerPoint presentations about the importance of education using the information they have gathered. These presentations may be traded directly with their partner students in order to gather enough information to write a letter. As the wikispace increases both teacher and student technological capacity, however, we encourage you to try this new technique!
Suggested Follow-up
Resources
· UN: www.un.org· UNICEF Voices of Youth: www.unicef.org/voy
· Biography of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon: www.un.org/sg/biography.shtml
· Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
· Human Rights Watch: www.hrw.org
· BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/
· CNN: www.cnn.com
· Washington Post: www.washingtonpost.com
· New York Times: www.nytimes.com
· United Nations Environment Programme for Youth: http://www.unep.org/tunza/youth/
· World Health Organization: www.who.org
Handouts
Our Future: Education and Health
Our Future: Education and Economic Security
Our Future: Education and Political Participation
Our Future: Education and the Environment
All groups should complete their wikispace contributions by Friday, February 23, 2007.
Teachers are asked to contact their partner teachers, Naama Haviv (naama@ri.org) AND their RI-SOL country representative when students have completed their contributions. If completing presentations, teachers should email the presentations to their partners, AND the RI-SOL representative so they can be posted on the website. Presentations should be sent no later than Friday, February 23, 2007.
Please send your completed presentations to:
US teachers: naama@ri.org
Tajikistan teachers: gulshan@shoolsonline.org
Bangladesh teachers: eather@ri.org and nazrul@schoolsonline.org
Palestine teachers: Davina@ri.org
Afghanistan teachers: mumtaza@ri.org
“The Right to Education” forum will be held Monday, Feb 23 – Friday, March 2.
This is an opportunity for your students to ask questions about their partner schools’ findings and contributions. Please have your students go online to your partner country’s wikispace and view their partners’ contributions before participating in the forum.
You can find the forum through the online country website:
www.connect-afghanistan.org
www.connect-tajikistan.org
www.connect-bangladesh.org
www.connect-middleeast.org