A MODEL FOR DEVELOPING TEACHERS’ CAPABILITIES TO FOSTER STUDENTS’ HUMAN RIGHTS COMPETENCIES

Abstract

Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and relating human rights violations, a heightened emphasis on human rights education is pivotal both inside and outside of Ukraine. Since teachers have an enormous influence on the young population and, consequently, on society in general, it is crucial that they are capable of fostering students’ human rights competencies. Therefore, human rights education is essential in teacher training, so prospective teachers can positively impact future generations. With this article, we aim to analyse the current state of human rights education both in Ukrainian society and its formal education system. On this basis, we create a model for developing teachers’ capabilities to foster students’ human rights competencies. Ukraine has ratified the majority of international normative legal documents on human rights education. The accomplishment of the concept of the New Ukrainian School as well as changes in legislation have created a foundation for the implementation of human rights education in the formal education sector. This article analyses the Ukrainian program of human rights education by focussing on the sociological research study “Human rights in Ukraine” (2016) and the survey “Human right in school” (2016). The results show that Ukraine does not have a national strategy in form of an integral system of human rights education. Moreover, educational methods in human rights education remain a ‘terra incognita’ for a significant number of teachers because there is a lack of effective tools for teachers to foster students’ human rights capacity. However, Ukrainian teachers in general understand the need for human rights education. Therefore, we suggest a model for developing teachers’ capabilities to foster students’ human rights competencies.