Safe Spaces Human Rights Education in Diverse Contexts

CORNELIA ROUX
I draw on Dewey’s (1938) conception of the relationship between experiences
and education. As an educationist, I argue that lived cultures and real experiences
are important because they influence the social construct of curriculum
development, and social constructs influence the function of whole school curricula
(Grundy, 1987; Cornbleth, 1990; Slattery, 2006). Cultural and religious practices
and the experiences of its recipients will impact on how the curriculum is
interpreted and the hidden curriculum is portrayed. One needs to embrace the fact
that every person is worthy of respect therefore rational thinking should be capable
of acting individually and choosing freely, which is the democratic right of every
child and adult. The question however is, if social choices are satisfied by social
procedures and/or practices of a tradition, can these choices be described as
rational and democratic?
Kant’s notion of human dignity (in Sandel, 2009) informs present day notions of
universal human rights. Human dignity can be defined as a supreme notion and
principle of morality. Human dignity also “connects justice to freedom” (Sandel,
2009:104). This should be an integral part of the moral obligation of any human
rights project, namely to indentify not only the injustices, but to enhance the
process of the “moral fiber that must strengthen the justices of society” (ibid).
Sandel (2010:7) further argues that a “just society respect(s) each person’s freedom
to choose his or her own conceptions of a good life.” The notion is that one should
also interrogate the moral fiber of a religious and cultural upbringing and its impact
on the next generation. The “enculturation” into a cultural community has the
propensity to indoctrinate and to accept injustices as part of culture. Booth and
Dunn (1999:39) argue that the danger of culturalism lies in “its propensity to
propagate traditionalism and that the main problem with culturalism is
traditionalism.” The propagating of traditions and its practices to serve
conservative powers and their interests can have regressive consequences for the
theory and praxis of human rights and human rights education. The influences of
religious and cultural rituals and practices on the understanding of and implications
for human dignity of the next generation are reflected in many biographies and
ethnographic research (Litorp et al., 2008; Ahmed et al., 2005; Gill et al., 2010).
Women and girls, who should be at the core of a just society, are in many cases the
victims who dare not to speak out on their life experiences. Restrictions on women
and girls to voice their needs cannot be justified on the grounds of fixed cultural
and religious values, which disallow them a voice and keep them inferior in the
name of tradition. Access to education and being permitted to question traditions
should not be denied on the basis of religious beliefs or cultural values, where
individuals adhere to a code of conduct and behavior, to conform to their societal
positions and sexist roles.
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THE POWER OF PRACTICES AND RITUALS
According to Bloch (1992) in McAllister (1997:279) a “ritual is an instrument
through which power relations in society are maintained and the reality of
domination and exploitation hidden while presenting an image of an ideal political