3.1 “I would like my students to be able to …”
Living Democracy » Textbooks » Educating for democracy » Part 1 – Understanding democracy and human rights » Unit 3 – Educating for democracy and human rights » 3. Competences in EDC/HRE » 3.1 “I would like my students to be able to …”“After we practised techniques of presentation, I would like all my students to be able to address the class without reading out their notes.”
“After we have spent six lessons on the basics of our constitution, the least I would expect from all my students is that they can explain how our election system works, and what parties are running the government at the moment.”
“A few months ago, we had problems in our class with students who wouldn’t listen to each other in discussions and interrupted students they disagreed with. We have talked a lot about our right of free expression and that this only works for all of us if we treat each other with respect. By the end of the year, I hope most students will have understood this and know how to behave in discussions.”
These examples show the kind of thoughts that an EDC/HRE teacher has in mind when planning lessons: they define objectives. They decide what their students should be able to do, and what is in their reach if they make an effort: they decide what objectives they would like their students to achieve, and then look at the process of learning and the students’ learning needs at the starting point – their difficulties and abilities, their strengths and weaknesses.
This way of thinking is nothing new for teachers – it is a common practice. Most teachers do not only think about the topic and subject matter – “I’ve got to finish the 19th century before the next holiday break” – but also have in mind what kind of performance they want to see from their students.
Objectives that focus on the students and what they should be enabled to do refer to students’ competences. In adult life, all students will have to cope without a teacher, coach or monitor beside them. The traditional teaching model – formal instruction, delivering a tight curriculum of knowledge – does too little to support students to become independent, confident and competent across the dimensions of skills and values/attitudes.
The three examples also point to different dimensions of competence development:
- The first – establishing eye contact with the audience and speaking freely – refers to skills that are not content-specific, but provide the tools that students permanently need to make use of any piece of knowledge and information. This is skills training, or teaching “for” democratic citizenship and human rights – to enable students to exercise their human rights and take part in democracy.
- The second – understanding the basics of the election system and who has won the last election and therefore formed the present government – is a case of teaching “about” democracy and human rights. Young citizens must know what human rights – for example, taking part in elections – have been integrated as a civil right in their country’s constitution and what effect their vote has in their country’s election system.
- Finally, the last example shows the importance of values and attitudes. Democracy relies on a political culture that is formed by the attitudes and values that citizens adhere to, in this case mutual respect and tolerance for views that they may disagree with. Students must be willing to accept that their right of liberty must take into account the rights of others. Therefore freedom carries responsibilities. A human rights culture reflects both the empowerment of individual learners and their teachers but also an understanding that we share mutual respon-sibility to respect the human rights of others. Values are learnt though experience and convincing role models – teaching “through” democracy and human rights.
