ABSTRACT

Using as a starting point Sen's theorisation on going beyond a purely legal approach to human rights (2005), this contribution advocates for the crucial role of education as an enabler of a public discussion to encourage the realisation of human rights. Learning about, for, and through human rights has the potential to be a transformative experience in which they are recognised and enacted by all of those engaged in the process – educators and learners alike. One way of looking ‘outside the box’ of human rights-related legislation (Sen, 2005) is developing and implementing human rights education (HRE) initiatives, in order to provide learners with the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to foster a social change consistent with a culture of human rights. However, several scholars have pointed to the limitations of introducing human rights education in formal schooling beyond nominal curricular and textbook reviews. In an effort to illustrate some of these challenges, this contribution discusses recent scholarship from the European region, using a three-pronged perspective inspired by the vertical case study approach proposed by Bartlett and Vavrus (2006, 2009 and 2014). Among the findings of this contribution, a salient issue is that the state-level decision to provide HRE in formal education is not always aligned with the recommendations stated on the international legal frameworks, depending on factors such as the current political agenda, the education system's structure, and the strength of the civil society. Further, the classroom practice is most likely affected by teachers’ perceptions of the concept of human rights and their understanding of the written policy. Therefore, teacher agency could be considered a crucial aspect when studying the introduction of HRE in formal education, as it would provide further insights on the limitations of teaching human rights in the classroom and how to overcome them.