Teachers' resources

The New Zealand curriculum states the importance of values which result in students "respecting themselves, others, and human rights".

Amnesty International believes that learning about human rights will mean that students will "understand the importance of balancing rights, roles and responsibilities and of contributing to the quality and sustainability of social, cultural, physical and economic environments" (NZ Curriculum).

Through our Youth Network, we also offer young New Zealanders the chance to actively engage in the burning human rights issues of the day.

While we offer resources from other Amnesty International sections worldwide, we are also seeking funding to create New Zealand-specific material and resources for schools. In the meantime, the resources outlined below offer teachers exercises and ideas which can easily be adapted to a New Zealand classroom.

Primary education resources

Amnesty International UK (AIUK) has produced a series of activities for Primary School Teachers wishing to cover Human Rights with children aged five to eleven. These are available on their website.

Human Rights in Education

Human Rights in Education, Mana Tika Tangata, is a collaborative initiative for better education and effective citizenship, by developing schools and early childhood education centres as communities that know, promote and live human rights and responsibilities. See more at www.rightsined.org.nz

Frequently asked human rights questions by teachers

www.liftoffschools.com/Teachers/FAQs.aspx

Our World, Our Rights

Teaching about rights and responsibilities in primary school. This book is designed to introduce primary school children to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It offers children a simple way of remembering the rights embodied in the UDHR, and also helps them to identify rights and responsibilities which accompany them. This book includes classroom activities and lesson plans, case studies, quizzes, and games. This book is linked to the national curricula of the UK but can be applied and adapted to a New Zealand audience.

ISBN 1 873328 64 8 Publisher Amnesty International UK
Date 01 Aug 2007 Format Illustrated Price £18.50

You can order this from Amnesty UK directly via www.amnesty.org.uk/books_details.asp?BookID=54

Compasito

Developed by the Council of Europe, Compasito is designed for educators working with children aged 7-13. It familiarises the reader with the key concepts of human rights and children’s rights and provides background on 13 key human rights issues such as democracy, citizenship, gender equality, environment, media, poverty and violence.

The 42 practical activities are designed to engage and motivate children to recognise human rights issues in their own environment. They help children to develop critical thinking, responsibility and a sense of justice, and help them learn how to contribute to the improvement of their school or community.
This resource can be easily used in a NZ classroom especially as it covers issues such as equity, community, participation, respect, ecological sustainability all of which are highlighted in the NZ curriculum page 7 under directions for learning.

Download Compasito at www.eycb.coe.int/compasito

Lift Off

Lift Off is a cross-border primary human rights education project in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which promotes an understanding of human rights issues among primary school children. See more at www.liftoffschools.com

Secondary education resources

Human Rights in Education

Right Here, Right Now – teaching citizenship through Human Rights (For pupils ages 11-14 years)
This is a wonderful resource book that contains 12 lesson plans and ideas for homework as well as providing teachers with useful background on human rights and a human rights timeline with key dates and facts. Some of the lesson plans are UK specific but the following are not and can be easily applied to a NZ classroom:

Lesson 2- The Human Rights story; this covers the history of human rights
Lesson 3- Human Rights in Focus; This covers different human rights and exercises on which ones are low and high priority which gives the pupils an appreciation for their indivisibility.
Lesson 5- The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; this raises pupil’s awareness about this convention.
Lesson 6- Balancing rights; students learn what absolute and non-absolute rights are.
Lesson 7- Responsibility for human rights; this looks at different levels of responsibility: personal, school, community, national and international.
Lesson 8- Identities, Diversity and Common Values; this allows pupils to explore their own identity and the differences and similarities between people.
Lesson 10- Human rights Issues, Focus on Participation; this encourages pupils to think about why it is important to participate in society.
Lesson 12- Taking Action on human rights; students will explore ways to take action for human rights issues.

Download this book here for free here.

Film Curriculm Guides

These film guides were created by Amnesty USA but provide a useful framework for educating, discussing and debating these human rights issues in a secondary school setting. The guides provide discussion questions; quizzes; introductions and historical overview into the different countries discussed; case study questions and ideas.

The Kite Runner - (Set in Afghanstan, covering issues of discrimination and sexual violence)
Blood Diamond (Set in Sierra Leone, covering issues of child soldiers and ethical mining of diamonds)
Darfur Now (Set in Sudan, covering issues of genocide and refugees)
Hotel Rwanda (Set in Rwanda, covering issues of genocide, refugees, impunity)

Download Tips for Using Film in Educational Settings (In PDF), a helpful list of ways to make the most out of using film to support your educational and advocacy goals.

Human Rights in Focus DVD

"Human Rights in Focus" includes three short films about human rights. A copy of this DVD was developed by Amnesty International in the UK in 2007. See more here.
To download accompanying resources, click here.

Other useful links for teachers

Troy Davis Youth Dialogue - An Amnesty International resource to guide discussion on the critical events regarding the Troy Davis case and execution. A key resource for World Day Against the Death Penalty on 10 October.
Youth Challenge, developed by HREOC – An Amnesty International Australia resource for secondary schools which helps to raise awareness of rights and responsibilities of students.
Lesson Plan on UDHR Article 16 Right to Marry Romeo Juliet – An Amnesty International Australia resource and can be used in English Literature classes.
UN model debate on the death penalty - An Amnesty International Australia resource for secondary schools which introduces students to the death penalty debate.
UN Cyber School Bus - The United Nations Cyber school bus was created in 1996 as the online education component of the Global Teaching and Learning Project, whose mission is to promote education about international issues and the United Nations. The Global Teaching and Learning Project produces high quality teaching materials and activities designed for educational use (at primary, intermediate and secondary school levels) and for training teachers.
Who has Signed What? - Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights list of status of ratifications of the principal International Human Rights Treaties.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Plain Language Version
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - Plain Language Version
Take your schools human rights temperature - Participants evaluate their school's human rights climate using criteria derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The subsequent discussion builds towards identifying areas of particular concern and developing an action plan to begin addressing them.