This edited collection from Alter and Fernekes introduces and expands on the history, theory, and application of human rights education (HRE). Chapters reinforce the basic tenets of teaching about, through, and for human rights and how they are integrated internationally. Frameworks for application are demonstrated in various contexts, while challenges to HRE implementation are also addressed. The contributing authors focus on the development of current human rights educators and strategies for better training teacher candidates globally. Human rights are defined through the overarching conventions, declarations, and guidelines put forth by the UN. The contributors do not ignore problems regarding how to responsively handle these principles in localized environments. Essays also demonstrate how HRE is used to discuss issues such as LGBTQ+ rights, global migration, and Indigenous peoples' rights. Each chapter includes helpful resources for further study, and many also provide additional classroom resources and professional development suggestions. Readers will come away with a deeper knowledge of HRE and how they can incorporate human rights in their educational settings, whether in PreK–12, higher education, or informal spaces. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals.

Choice Reviews

As teachers contend with a world marked by continued racialized and gendered violences, the proliferating climate crises, increasing totalitarianism, and stark, deepening wealth disparities, all amid an ongoing global pandemic, this timely volume makes the case for integrating human rights education (HRE) into teacher education. By unpacking the historical trajectories and theoretical orientations of HRE, and providing practical case studies of its application in teacher practice, this volume not only inspires but also provides the critical tools to navigate this complex world with young people across all grade levels. This book is a must-read for scholars and practitioners concerned with dignity, justice, and human rights in schools and beyond.

Maria Hantzopoulos, Vassar College, author of Restoring Dignity in Public Schools: Human Rights Education in Action and (with Monisha Bajaj) Education for Peace and Human Rights: An Introduction

This book offers insightful perspectives as well as a blueprint for further integrating human rights into education in the United States and globally. This book not only informs and inspires, but is also an essential resource for teachers and teacher educators to align their work with the principles of human rights.

Monisha Bajaj, University of San Francisco

This pioneering book is a major contribution to the burgeoning field of human rights education around the globe. The editors have assembled a comprehensive and cutting-edge volume on human rights in relation to teacher education, bringing together prominent scholars from an impressively wide range of perspectives. This is an essential resource for teacher educators, teachers, researchers and students committed to the urgent task of human rights education.

Michalinos Zembylas, Open University of Cyprus and Nelson Mandela University, South Africa

The important contribution of this book is that it combines the argument for human rights education, the foundation and context of HRE, and curricular materials that can be immediately implemented. The distinct sections of the book provide a thorough grounding in HRE and teacher education in a global context, pedagogical considerations when bringing HRE into the schools, and practical examples of human rights-focused curriculum for different age levels in K–12 schools.

Isabel Nuñez, Purdue University, Fort Wayne

The United Nations declares education a human right, but what if human rights were themselves the complex subject matter of serious curricular and pedagogical attention in teacher education? I cannot imagine critical pedagogy for justice and planetary sustainability without such, and this volume is a major contribution to exactly this end. Needed now more than ever!

Richard Kahn, Antioch University