Topic: Human rights

Author: Anna Rabiega

Addressee:

high school / technical school student

Core curriculum:

• old curriculum:

standard level:

5. Human rights.

The student:

1) briefly presents the history of human rights and their generations; lists the most important related documents;

2) lists fundamental human rights and freedoms; explains what it means that they are universal, natural and inalienable.

extended level:

36. Human rights.

The student:

1) presents the idea and historical origin of human rights.

• new curriculum:

standard level:

IV. Human rights and their protection.

The student:

1) lists the „general principles” and the catalogue of human rights included in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.

extended level:

XII. Human rights and their international protection.

The student:

1) presents the idea and historical development of human rights; distinguishes between generations of human rights, applying the concepts of negative and positive rights and indicating a different level of protection.

The general aim of education:

Student explains the specificity of human rights and freedoms as well as the basic mechanisms of their protection.

Learning outcomes:

The student:

• defines the concept of human rights and explains their origin.

• analyses different generations of human rights.

• classifies and presents international systems for human rights protection.

Key competences:

• communicating in a foreign language,

• digital competence,

• learning to learn,

• social and civic competences.

Teaching methods:

• discussion,

• fishbone diagram,

• WebQuest,

• timeline,

• teaching conversation using interactive scheme, recording, interactive exercises.

Forms of work:

• self‑learning,

• group work,

• whole‑class activity.

Material & equipment needed:

• computers with loudspeakers/headphones and internet access,

• multimedia resources from the e‑textbook,

• interactive whiteboard/blackboard, felt‑tip pen/a piece of chalk.

Lesson plan overview (Process):

Introduction:

1. The teacher presents the goal of the lesson: You will analyse the history of the human rights protection idea.

2. The teacher informs the students that they will work using the fishbone method and, if necessary, explains this method. The teacher draws a fishbone diagram on the board. The teacher places a problem to be solved „What do I already know about human rights?” in the head of the fishbone. Students present their proposals of entries to complete the main and smaller fish bones. In the teaching conversation, the teacher may ask guiding questions, e.g.

• What is the source of human rights? How should this term be understood?

• What features of human rights do you know? What do the particular terms mean?

• Which documents regulate the issue of (national, international) human rights?

• What types of human rights (generations, families) do you know? Can you list examples of rights that origin from these generations?

Implementation:

1. The teacher presents the students with an interactive scheme “The development of human rights”. Then, the teacher informs students that together they will create a timeline illustrating the most important events (legal acts, factors that led rulers/states to regulate the issue of human rights protection) of each of the periods presented. The teacher divides students into three groups, assigns to each group one of the three periods of development of the idea of human rights protection and gives them a few minutes to talk in groups about three points that should be placed on the timeline in the selected period. During this task, students can use Internet sources or the abstract.

2. After this time, the teacher draws the timeline on the board and marks the three discussed periods. Then the students from each group give suggestions for entries and the teacher puts them on the timeline. Students from the other two groups evaluate and complement the suggestions of their colleagues.

3. If it did not happen at the beginning of the lesson (during the creation of the fishbone), the teacher reminds students what particular generations of human rights cover. The teacher asks students about the meaning of the word “generation”, and when students determine that it is related to the order in which the families of human rights and regulations are formed in particular areas, the teacher asks them what relationship they see between the formation of the next generation of rights and the historical moment in which it was formed. Willing/selected students give their suggestions, other students and the teacher comment on and complement them.

4. The teacher asks the students to do Exercise 1. Students work independently, asking questions in case of doubt. The teacher explains any doubts to all students.

5. The teacher presents the students with infographics „Systems for the protection of human rights”, displaying it on the interactive whiteboard. The teacher asks students to explain the following issues (additional leading questions that the teacher may ask during the teaching conversation are presented in brackets):

• What is the difference between national and international systems? (Do all national systems contain the same human rights regulations? Who creates each system? What are the advantages and disadvantages of national and international systems of human rights protection, e.g. with regard to the scope of regulation and the effectiveness of assertion of one's rights?)

• How should the terms „universal”, „regional” and „specialised” system of human rights protection be understood? (What does the term “universal/regional” mean in the context of human rights protection? Which area does it concern? What can specialisation in the field of human rights protection concern? What can you “specialise” in here?)

6. The teacher informs the students that they will work using the WebQuest method and, if necessary, explains it. The teacher asks students to focus on specific organisations that guarantee the protection of human rights in the European, African, Inter‑American and Arabic systems. The teacher draws a table on the board, and asks the students to decide what to write into the blanks (numbers 1–21):

Students should have access to the Internet while searching for answers. The teacher rewards the students who will be the first to find the necessary information with a grade in participation in the lesson.

7. When the table is completed, the teacher asks willing/selected students to present each of the distinguished systems one by one (by giving information about this system contained in the table).

8. The teacher informs students that one example of specialised systems is the protection of rights of the child. Then the teacher plays a fragment of the abstract containing a recording of selected provisions of the Convention for the Protection of the Rights of the Child. The students’ task is to note down the rights guaranteed by the convention. Willing/selected students present their answers. The teacher verifies and completes them.

Summary:

1. At the end of the lesson, the teacher asks the students a question: What else do you think you need to learn about the human rights in order to be satisfied with the level of your knowledge and skills?

Willing/selected students give their answers.

2. Homework proposal:

a. Nowadays, it is said that the next – fourth generation of human rights – is created Search for information on this topic and describe what this generation includes, what rights it regulates. Do you see a need for such regulations? Justify your answer.

b. Listen to the abstract recording to review the material and new vocabulary. Then do the vocabulary exercise at the end of the chapter.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Human rights

There is no one universally accepted definition of human rights. It may be accepted that „human rights are universal moral norms of a basic nature, attributed to each individual in his relations with the state. The concept of human rights is based on three assumptions: first, that every authority is limited; second, that each individual has a sphere of autonomy to which no authority has access; thirdly, that each individual may demand that the state protects his rights” (Source: W. Osiatyński, Introduction to the concept of human rights, [in:] School of Human Rights, Texts of lectures, n. 1, Warsaw 1998, p. 16).

It is evident that in this definition the emphasis was placed on recognizing human rights as a category of moral laws, not positive ones (stipulated by the state). This is extremely important, because it means that the state (the authorities) does not grant us human rights, but at most confirms them in various documents. We have rights because we are human and they result from our humanity. Human rights are also defined as „freedoms, means of protection and benefits, whose observance as laws everyone should be able to demand from the society in which he lives” (Source: Encyclopedia of Public International Law, vol. 8, Amsterdam–New York–Oxford 1985, p. 268).

The source of human rights is human dignity. It is considered as an inherent and inalienable value of every human being. The principle of respect for human dignity has been confirmed in many international documents, including in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.

The catalogue of basic rights and freedoms is available to everyone, regardless of their gender, race, religion or place of residence. However, we must remember that human rights are not only material (substantive) rights, such as the right to life, to education, freedom of speech, conscience, religion, but also formal (procedural) rights, allowing the individual to demand the exercise of his rights and freedoms. Without procedural rights enabling us to implement substantive rights, the material rights provided for in various documents are illusory.

Human rights:

• material (substantive) – among others: right to life, to education, freedom of speech, conscience, religion

• formal (procedural) – procedures and mechanisms that allow us to enforce our rights and freedoms

Human rights regulate the relations between an individual and a state, at the same time delimiting the limits of power in a democratic society (vertical plane). There is a growing view that human rights also apply to relations between individuals (horizontal plane). An example may be the child‑parents relationship. Rights and freedoms protect the most important values, which include: freedom, equality and dignity.

The Great Charter of Liberties (Magna Charta Libertatum) of 1215 is considered the beginning of British democracy. However, it must not be forgotten that it was established 800 years ago and what we now call „human rights” was then the privilege of only the highest social strata. The document did not grant full rights to women, and people were divided into aristocracy, clergy, free and non‑free.

The Declaration of the Rights of the Man and of the Citizen of 1789 ended the abusive times of absolute monarchy in France and was a great achievement in the field of human rights. However, it was not perfect and did not include women's rights. Therefore, in 1791, the French forerunner of feminism, Olimpia de Gouges, published the Declaration on the Rights of the Woman and the Citizen.

The catalogue of rights and freedoms we currently have can be divided into three generations (families). They were created as a result of the evolution of the concept of protection of human rights.

The system of protection of human rights can be defined in two ways: legal and institutional. In the legal sense, it is a set of legal norms regulating issues related to the protection of human rights; in the institutional sense – it is a set of bodies responsible for the implementation and control of the adopted standards. Systems for the protection of human rights can be divided into national and international. International systems include: universal, regional and specialized.

National systems are the most important for the protection of human rights. The state is primarily responsible for the implementation of fundamental rights and freedoms. It creates legal norms that confirm the catalogue of human rights, has means of coercion to enforce these rights and appoints institutions guarding them. Ombudsmen, courts, and personal data protection officers are examples of institutions of particular importance for the protection of human rights.

International systems for the protection of human rights were created only after the second world war. A universal system was created within the framework of the United Nations. It covers almost all modern countries. In addition to the universal system, regional and specialized systems operate. Regional human rights protection systems are complementary to the universal system. Thus, the documents (conventions, declarations) adopted within them constitute a kind of development, and sometimes duplication, of the norms adopted at the UN. In practice, however, regional regulations often have a higher standard of protection and better control mechanisms. The most developed system among regional systems is the European system. It consists of as many as three organizations: the Council of Europe, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. In this system, the best control mechanisms were also adopted. The activity of the European Court of Human Rights is of particular importance. Specialized systems operate to protect certain categories of rights or groups of people. These include, for example: the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement – specializing in humanitarian law, the International Labor Organization – dealing with labor law or the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund – UNICEF – acting for the rights of children.

Over the course of history, human rights have evolved, resulting in three generations of human rights. After 1945, international systems for the protection of human rights also developed. Today, we recognize that human rights are universal, belong to each individual and serve to protect human dignity.