Incorporating human rights into the teaching of History: teaching materials.

Abstract

The Institute for Justice and Reconciliation has commissioned the publication of a series of books intended for FET teachers under the title Turning Points in Human Rights (forthcoming 2008). They are individually, The Struggle for Constitutional Rights, The Struggled for Land Rights, The Struggle for Workers' Rights, The Struggle for Gender Rights and The Struggle for Youth Rights in South Africa. I was asked to write the Teacher's Guide to the series. Although the series and guide were not written exclusively for history teachers, History is the subject that pays, arguably, the most attention to human rights. This article, which has its origins in a workshop at the 2007 conference of the South African Society for History Teaching, discusses some of the issues raised in this work and the classroom materials and approaches used.