It is imperative to meet the demands for human rights education and protection against social problems such as infringement on privacy and human rights, and disrespect for life due to rapid social changes and development in material civilization.
For...
It is imperative to meet the demands for human rights education and protection against social problems such as infringement on privacy and human rights, and disrespect for life due to rapid social changes and development in material civilization.
For this reason, the purpose of this study is to suggest effective approach to human rights education through curricular integration which breaks down barriers between subjects and incorporate social studies and ethics which are most closely related to human rights education in terms of contents' constitution. In other words, such human rights education is expected to take place by using hours secured through reducing overlapped contents between subjects on human rights, and leading classes which consist of various activities via teaching-learning methods that encourage hands-on experience and class participation.
For this purpose, this study focused on social studies and ethics of the 6th grade, analyzed contents on human rights, selected topics that could be used for curricular integration, and finally designed teaching-learning methods according to features of the topics. Among the learning methods applied for human rights education were concept analysis, value clarification, role playing, group inquiry, and problem solving. In addition, brainstorming, case study, creative expression, discussion, field study/community trip, interview, project study, and employment of visual aids were also used.
The expected results of this study are as follows.
First, it is possible that a teacher, who has a leading role in applying teaching methods in classes, can increase the effectiveness of study and reduce time for preparation and class hours by integrating common topics extracted from different subjects.
Second, integration of study topics contributes to students' concentration on study and improvement of comprehensive thinking ability. Since human rights are to be considered from various perspectives, students are expected to increase the ability to think comprehensively and to find solutions through the analysis of related issues.
Lastly, integrated curriculum consisting of topics on human rights can be designed and diverse activities which are appropriate in each study stage can be planned. In ethics classes, unique and internal value is considered important, while in social studies classes, human rights education tends to put emphasis on the relationship between individual values and social values. Therefore, teaching by integrating these two subjects can lead to raising awareness of human rights in a practical sense.