The university curriculum is not very flexible in Russia. The most sensible way to introduce a new subject, (CP, in the frameworks of our discussion) seems to be to integrate its parts into another subject.
Teaching CP issues is possible, and, what is more, expedient, within the English class which, for its part, is the most natural environment for teaching human rights in comparison with any other subject.
It is a fact that nowadays teaching foreign languages is mainly targeted to developing communicative competence. Besides, students acquire other competences that allow them to use their language skills, understand foreign mentality, and be tolerant towards the representatives of foreign societies and their cultures. Having a good command of English, pre-service teachers are able to
a) deal with an extensive layer of information given in a foreign language for personal and professional growth;
b) teach young students by forming a number of skills to keep up with the constantly changing environment.
Globally, today teaching foreign languages is primarily based on communication-oriented approach. Communication implies understanding of a foreign culture alongside and of the place of one’s own culture in the multicultural world. Therefore, teaching foreign languages implies psychological aspects of intercultural communication such as adaptation, tolerance, acceptance and integration20. Clearly a foreign language class can be viewed as a natural setting for teaching human rights issues and understanding of diversity.
English, as commonly the first foreign language, studied far and wide in the world, can become a solid platform to introduce child policy issues. Besides, there are a lot of published or freely available materials in the Internet for the teachers to use. These materials may be divided into two groups. The first group requires a certain adaptation of the material to the English class and its linguistic goals, the second group is ready for using in the classroom. In both cases, there is a need to design a specific methodology that will certainly take into account the target group of students, i.e. their age and level of English proficiency.
The “ABC: Teaching Human Rights” guide-book, written and recommended by the UN, highlights how to teach human rights to children of primary and secondary schools. It also suggests a step-by-step-program for teachers (see table 2), while the approaches on how to teach pre-service teachers at the universities remain untouched.
Nevertheless, the program for teachers in this book can serve as a basis
20 Elizarova 2004, pp. 149-167
for development of a methodological approach for educating pre-service teachers.
Generally, the methodology of teaching of CP during English classes can be based on three stages.
The first stage implies introduction to the issues of CP and UN’s activity. Specifically, at the first stage the students learn the “core content of human rights education”21, i.e. the UDHR and CROC.
“These documents – which have received universal recognition [...] – provide principles and ideas with which to assess experience and build a school culture that values human rights. The rights they embody are universal, meaning that all human beings are entitled to them, on an equal basis; [...]”22.
Familiarization of children with human rights concepts and a step-by-step approach is described in Appendix 1. It shows how all new concepts and activities are based on something learned earlier. Thus the teachers can build a clear structure during the school years.
The second stage of teaching university students implies using methods aimed to teach children in accordance with their age.
However, prior to teaching university students human rights it is reasonable to begin with lectures on child policy issues (see Teaching Child Policy) as an introduction to the course. After the students acquire the necessary knowledge and understanding of human rights they become ready to be taught on the methods of teaching schoolchildren.
The first stage:
As it was previously mentioned the first stage is based on introduction of the two main documents for students as a part of the information about the field of CP. Besides the informational goal, the course has additional objectives related to the development of vocabulary, critical thinking, analytical and practical skills of using English language.
21 Ibid., p.11
22 Ibid., p.11
As the text of the documents presents the main material23, it is important to teach pre-service teachers to understand the specific language of a formal text and to infer the idea that is implied. Further there are some examples of the assignments for students.
Vocabulary:
Task 1. After reading the text of the Convention of the Right of the Child, explain in English how you understand the terms: state party, NGO, ratification, convention, normative acts, legal guardians, juvenile justice, judicial involvement, refugee, abused children.
Task 2. Consult the dictionary. Did you guess the meaning correctly?
Task 3. Find the terms that caused considerable difficulties in understanding for you and discuss them in the groups.
Task 4. Select and present a glossary of the terms related to the topic “Rights of the child”.
Questions to consider:
a) In the text of the convention, find definition of the word
“child”. Why do you think it is used with the definite article
“the”? Did the word “the child” receive a new sense?
b) According to the Convention, who is responsible for the child?
c) What protection and rights are especially needed by children?24
Problem solutions:
Situation 1: One of the children in the class seems to be especially intolerant towards children from the former Soviet Union. The child always fights with them and swears. What would you do to solve this problem?
Situation 2: Refugee parents do not want their child to have extra-curricular activities with other children at school or kindergarten.
What would you do about that?
23 An additional material for the class with university students can serve clustering cards, role cards and responsibility cards
(http://www.unicef.org/teachers/protection/only_right.htm#clustering)
24 First Steps – A Manual for Starting Human Rights Education, chapter 6
Practical skills:
Task 1. Prepare a seminar for parents on children’s rights.
Task 2. Deliver a presentation on the rights of children adapting the terms of the Convention.
The second stage:
When teaching pre-service teachers, have them examine Appendix 1. It displays the particular principles of work with children of different age. The most important thing, for example, for pre-school educators is to follow the goals of the ages 3-7: to form respect for self, respect for parents and teachers and respect for others. So on the second stage, when constructing a pedagogical technology for pre-service teachers; we should keep in mind these goals.
The “ABC: Teaching Human Rights” suggests the following pedagogical strategies that either a professor can use for university students or a teacher can use when working with children:
a) brain storming;
b) case studies;
c) creative expressions;
d) discussions;
e) field trips/community visits;
f) interviews;
g) research projects;
h) role play / stimulations and i) visual aids.
They are all described and the tasks are presented in the book.
When working with university pre-service teachers, it is important not only to give the examples of already developed tasks, but also to have them develop their own instructional materials that they can use for interaction with children.
One of the examples of the material that can be used for pre-service teachers’ class from methodological point of view is the clustering cards25. They include a picture and an article from the CROC. There are different ways of using them. The cards can be
25 Fountain 1993
spread among students in order to offer their ways on how to convey the ideas of the articles to a child. In class pre-service teachers may try to present in English the similar cards adopted for pre-school aged children. Such work during the English class will encourage student’s analytical thinking, stimulate expressing themselves in the foreign language, improve their awareness of children’s rights and enhance creativity for implementation of gained knowledge in their future profession.
The next example demonstrates another activity for students.
Using the “ABC-Teaching Human Rights” book, students work with the tasks offered for children. For instance the activity, called “Wishing-circle”26. All students should arrange in a circle and make the following wish27:
If I could be any animal, I’d be ___ because ...
If I could be a bird, I’d be ___ because ...
If I could be an insect, I’d be ___ because ...
If I could be a flower, I’d be ___ because ...
If I could be a tree, I’d be ___ because ...
If I could be a piece of furniture, I’d be ___ because ...
If I could be a musical instrument, I’d be ___ because ...
If I could be a building, I’d be ___ because ...
If I could be a car, I’d be ___ because ...
If I could be a street, I’d be ___ because ...
If I could be a town/province/region, I’d be ___ because ...
If I could be a foreign country, I’d be ___ because ...
If I could be a game, I’d be ___ because ...
If I could be a record, I’d be ___ because ...
If I could be a TV show, I’d be ___ because ...
If I could be a movie, I’d be ___ because ...
If I could be a food, I’d be ___ because ...
If I could be any color, I’d be ___ because ... .
2626
ABC: Teaching Human Rights 2003, p.22
27 The tasks corresponds with UDHR article 19; CRC articles 13, 14
After this exercise, the students may be asked to think how they can improve and adapt the task for pre-school children, or even for early learners of the English language.
As we see the techniques of teaching students vary to a great extent. But the two described stages are the backbone of the pedagogical technology of teaching students.