Education

p-ISSN: 2162-9463     e-ISSN: 2162-8467

2011;  1(1): 12-20

doi: 10.5923/j.edu.10110101.03

Transcending Time to Redeem Humanity: Human Rights Education and the Holocaust

Copyright © 2011 Scientific & Academic Publishing. All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

This article presents the results of a qualitative, phenomenological case study focused on teachers’ perceptions about human rights education in light of the Holocaust. Results are based on interviews with six participants in a professional teacher program upholding human rights education. Data analysis reveals three core perceptions about human rights education: (a) human rights education is excluded from the curriculum, (b) focus on human rights is supported by Holocaust survivor testimony, and (c) teachers’ perceptions about human rights education are strengthened through the “Freedom Writers Institute”. This work is grounded in critical theory linked to social and educational justice. The study has relevance for secondary teachers of literature and history, and particularly for those who work with disenfranchised students.

Keywords: Human Rights Education, Holocaust, Critical Pedagogy, Moral Reasoning

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