Protecting the human rights of persons with disabilities requires collective effort to build a society in which every individual is respected without discrimination. However, public interest and participation in disability-related human rights issues ...
Protecting the human rights of persons with disabilities requires collective effort to build a society in which every individual is respected without discrimination. However, public interest and participation in disability-related human rights issues remain limited. Addressing this issue calls for education that emphasizes practical advocacy for the rights of persons with disabilities. During adolescence, a key stage in the development of personal values, human rights education related to disability should be delivered effectively. Among school subjects, social studies (a central part of citizenship education) is well suited to carry out this role. Social studies promotes the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes necessary for participating in society. As such, the subject has a responsibility to provide education that directly addresses the human rights of persons with disabilities. In practice, social studies has often treated persons with disabilities as one of several marginalized groups, which has resulted in relatively limited attention to the specific area of disability rights. There has also been a limited number of instructional cases designed to actively engage students in addressing human rights issues faced by persons with disabilities.
This study examines ways to support non-disabled students in developing the intention to advocate for the human rights of persons with disabilities through social studies instruction. Problem-Based Learning (PBL), structured to include the perspectives of persons with disabilities, is used as a central teaching and learning method. ‘The PBL class utilizing the perspective of persons with disabilities’ is designed to encourage students to take on the role of human rights advocates by understanding the concrete realities of the lives and environments of persons with disabilities, empathizing with their experiences and emotions, and actively engaging in the resolution of human rights issues through self-directed and collaborative problem-solving processes. This class is grounded in the principles of contextual construction and social justice orientation, and it guides students to actively apply the perspectives of persons with disabilities when exploring and resolving human rights issues. Through this process, students are expected to deepen their empathy toward persons with disabilities and develop practical qualities essential for responsible citizenship.
The dependent variable of this study is the advocacy intention for the human rights of persons with disabilities, comprising four subcategories: individual advocacy intention, collaborative advocacy intention, indirect advocacy intention, and direct advocacy intention. The independent variable is PBL classes utilizing the perspective of persons with disabilities. To examine the effectiveness of this class, which was developed to enhance students’ advocacy intention for the human rights of persons with disabilities, the following hypotheses were proposed.
[Hypothesis 1] The group that received the PBL classes utilizing the perspective of persons with disabilities is expected to show an increase in personal advocacy intention.
[Hypothesis 1-1] The group that received the PBL classes utilizing the perspective of persons with disabilities is expected to show an increase in individual advocacy intention.
[Hypothesis 1-2] The group that received the PBL classes utilizing the perspective of persons with disabilities is expected to show an increase in collaborative advocacy intention.
[Hypothesis 2] The group that received the PBL classes utilizing the perspective of persons with disabilities is expected to show an increase in institutional advocacy intention.
[Hypothesis 2-1] The group that received the PBL classes utilizing the perspective of persons with disabilities is expected to show an increase in indirect advocacy intention.
[Hypothesis 2-2] The group that received the PBL classes utilizing the perspective of persons with disabilities is expected to show an increase in direct advocacy intention.
[Hypothesis 3] The group that received the PBL classes utilizing the perspective of persons with disabilities is expected to show a greater increase in personal advocacy intention than the group that received the PBL classes focused on understanding disability rights.
[Hypothesis 3-1] The group that received the PBL classes utilizing the perspective of persons with disabilities is expected to show a greater increase in individual advocacy intention than the group that received the PBL classes focused on understanding disability rights.
[Hypothesis 3-2] The group that received the PBL classes utilizing the perspective of persons with disabilities is expected to show a greater increase in collaborative advocacy intention than the group that received the PBL classes focused on understanding disability rights.
[Hypothesis 4] The group that received the PBL classes utilizing the perspective of persons with disabilities is expected to show a greater increase in institutional advocacy intention than the group that received the PBL classes focused on understanding disability rights.
[Hypothesis 4-1] The group that received the PBL classes utilizing the perspective of persons with disabilities is expected to show a greater increase in indirect advocacy intention than the group that received the PBL classes focused on understanding disability rights.
[Hypothesis 4-2] The group that received the PBL classes utilizing the perspective of persons with disabilities is expected to show a greater increase in direct advocacy intention than the group that received the PBL classes focused on understanding disability rights.
To verify the above hypotheses, third-grade students from three middle schools in the Seoul and Gyeonggi regions were assigned to either an experimental group or a control group. The procedure followed a sequence of pre-test, three instructional sessions, and post-test. The experimental group received PBL classes that applied the perspectives of persons with disabilities, while the control group received PBL classes focused on understanding disability rights.
To test Hypotheses 1 and Hypotheses 2, paired-sample t-tests were conducted. The group that participated in the PBL classes utilizing the perspective of persons with disabilities showed statistically significant post-test across all domains of advocacy intention—individual, collaborative, indirect, and direct—at the p<.001 level.
To test Hypotheses 3 and Hypotheses 4, an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and a word network analysis using the NetMiner program were conducted. First, the ANCOVA results indicated that even after controlling for pre-test scores, the experimental group showed a significantly higher mean score than the control group in individual advocacy intention at the p<.10 level (p=.069). In direct advocacy intention, a statistically significant difference between the groups was observed at the p<.01 level. Second, word network analysis showed that students in the experimental group described their intentions to advocate for human rights in open-ended responses with greater specificity and contextual relevance compared to those in the control group.
Based on the findings of this study, the following educational implications and significance are identified.
First, from a theoretical perspective, the study defines the concept of advocacy intention for the human rights of persons with disabilities, a central goal of human rights education, and presents a tool for measuring this construct.
Second, from a practical perspective, the study introduces a PBL class that applies the perspectives of persons with disabilities and can be used in disability rights education within social studies. By developing a detailed lesson plan based on this approach, the study addresses the shortage of teaching and learning materials related to disability rights education in school settings.
Third, statistical analysis indicated that the PBL class utilizing the perspective of persons with disabilities contributed to improvements in non-disabled students’ advocacy intention for the human rights of persons with disabilities, supporting its instructional relevance and offering implications for future research.
Learning activities that involve examining human rights issues from the perspectives of persons with disabilities contribute to enhancing students’ empathy and strengthening their sense of collective responsibility in addressing social issues. Through such educational experiences, students are more likely to pay attention to the rights of others and take action as responsible members of a democratic society.