Todd, Sharon (2007) Promoting a Just Education: Dilemmas of rights, freedom and justice. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 39 (6). pp. 592-603. ISSN 0013-1857

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Abstract

This paper identifies and addresses some dilemmas to be faced in promoting educational projects concerned with human rights. Part of the difficulty that human rights education initiatives must cope with is the way in which value has been historically conferred upon particular notions such as freedom and justice. I argue here that a just education must grapple head-on with the conceptual dilemmas that have been inherited and refuse to shy away from the implications of those dilemmas. To do this I address the fundamental fictions upon which rights are based and view those fictions as nonetheless useful for opening up the ethical terms of human rights education. With reference to the work of Arendt, Lyotard and Levinas, I conclude that the real potential of human rights education lies in its capacity to provoke insights that help youth live with ambiguity and dilemma, where freedom, justice, and responsibility cannot be dictated to them, but rather involve tough decisions that must be made in everyday life.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Arendt; ethics; freedom; human rights; justice; Lyotard; Levinas; responsibility; language game;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Education
Item ID:	8553
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2007.00310.x
Depositing User:	Prof. Sharon Todd
Date Deposited:	02 Aug 2017 09:15
Journal or Publication Title:	Educational Philosophy and Theory
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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