Page 19 - Šolsko polje, XXXI, 2020, 3-4: Convention on the Rights of the Child: Educational Opportunities and Social Justice, eds. Zdenko Kodelja and Urška Štremfel
P. 19
z. moody ■ children’s rights to, in and through rducation ...
a handicap to be overcome, rather that the diversity of the attending chil-
dren can become a resource for the entire school community (Lafortune
and Gaudet, 2000; Sliwka, 2010). The concept of the inclusive school is
based on:
The premise that diversity is the norm and that to ensure equity for
everyone, schools must adapt to the realities and needs of the pupils, not
the reverse. It advises ‘starting with the needs’ and rights of pupils in or-
der to adjust the services or practices of an institution so that all pupils
can succeed. (Potvin, 2014, p. 102, translation by the author)
In her plea for education to be adapted to children, Tomasevski
mentions their “right to be regarded as different” (2006, p. 21) and, we can
add, to be respected and valued as such. Such a call does not have to lead
to a relativistic position. All differences cannot be valued in the same way
in school: for instance, attitudes threatening the school’s functioning or
the common-good should be channelled and controlled.
In addition, reaffirming the rights of the child on a day-to-day basis,
tackling deep-seated discrimination in the education system and striving
to ensure that every schoolchild can find their place means addressing all
of the other threats to children’s rights, such as bullying, school violence,
civil rights violations etc.
Children’s rights at school
There are genuine challenges in creating the above-mentioned ‘threat-
free space’, to promote as described hereafter the minimum conditions
in which children can calmly engage in their day-to-day learning and
reach their full potential. Using education to promote the spirit of hu-
man rights, fundamental freedoms and equality of sexes, tolerance among
peoples and cultural diversity is another obligation of the Convention’s
States parties (1989, Art. 29, paras. 2 and 4) and it is referenced in several
international instruments (most recently in United Nations Declaration
on Human Rights Education and Training (UNDHRET), 2011). There is
also a legal and academic consensus that promoting this spirit of openness
and inclusion in the educational sphere leads it to develop through both
the learning content and processes (Brantefors, Quennerstedt and Tarman,
2016; Gerber, 2017; Thelander, 2016). If pupils are expected to acquire
skills about the standards, principles and values of children’s rights, and
human rights in general, then the States must also provide the schooling
conditions to guarantee the rights of the learners and teachers through
learning and teaching, giving them the means to exercise their own rights,
17
a handicap to be overcome, rather that the diversity of the attending chil-
dren can become a resource for the entire school community (Lafortune
and Gaudet, 2000; Sliwka, 2010). The concept of the inclusive school is
based on:
The premise that diversity is the norm and that to ensure equity for
everyone, schools must adapt to the realities and needs of the pupils, not
the reverse. It advises ‘starting with the needs’ and rights of pupils in or-
der to adjust the services or practices of an institution so that all pupils
can succeed. (Potvin, 2014, p. 102, translation by the author)
In her plea for education to be adapted to children, Tomasevski
mentions their “right to be regarded as different” (2006, p. 21) and, we can
add, to be respected and valued as such. Such a call does not have to lead
to a relativistic position. All differences cannot be valued in the same way
in school: for instance, attitudes threatening the school’s functioning or
the common-good should be channelled and controlled.
In addition, reaffirming the rights of the child on a day-to-day basis,
tackling deep-seated discrimination in the education system and striving
to ensure that every schoolchild can find their place means addressing all
of the other threats to children’s rights, such as bullying, school violence,
civil rights violations etc.
Children’s rights at school
There are genuine challenges in creating the above-mentioned ‘threat-
free space’, to promote as described hereafter the minimum conditions
in which children can calmly engage in their day-to-day learning and
reach their full potential. Using education to promote the spirit of hu-
man rights, fundamental freedoms and equality of sexes, tolerance among
peoples and cultural diversity is another obligation of the Convention’s
States parties (1989, Art. 29, paras. 2 and 4) and it is referenced in several
international instruments (most recently in United Nations Declaration
on Human Rights Education and Training (UNDHRET), 2011). There is
also a legal and academic consensus that promoting this spirit of openness
and inclusion in the educational sphere leads it to develop through both
the learning content and processes (Brantefors, Quennerstedt and Tarman,
2016; Gerber, 2017; Thelander, 2016). If pupils are expected to acquire
skills about the standards, principles and values of children’s rights, and
human rights in general, then the States must also provide the schooling
conditions to guarantee the rights of the learners and teachers through
learning and teaching, giving them the means to exercise their own rights,
17
