Facilitating human rights values across outcomes-based education and Waldorf education curricula

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The facilitation of human rights values might be considered a means to rethink and redefinevalues education in South Africa. This study aimed at determining how human rights valueswere addressed in the context of independent Waldorf Education and government initiatedoutcomes-based education in South Africa, and how educators facilitated these values invarious circumstances. In exploring the philosophies, theories and practices of theseeducation models against the background of paradigmatic and post-paradigmaticphilosophies in support of the socially constructive curriculum theory, important notions werehighlighted that have preceded, and might follow, the facilitation of human rights values. Theepistemologies, ontologies and methodologies of the emancipatory paradigm and postparadigmaticframework appeared to provide appropriate philosophical departure pointsregarding the facilitation of human rights values.This study anticipated the theoretical clarification of the concept human rights values andincluded a discussion on the importance of these values in various school contexts. Valuesidentified from the Manifesto on Values, Education and Democracy (2001), that were alsopresent in the Curriculum: Waldorf Schools in South Africa (1995), were discussed aspossible human rights values. Empirical research was conducted to explore how humanrights values were attended to in good practice scenarios in order to provide insight into thequestions posed regarding the facilitation of human rights values.Through systematic ethnographic observations and semi-structured interviews it appearedthat in both school contexts human rights values were more frequently addressed inincidental situations than in formal curriculum contents. This is interesting seeing that theoutcomes-based education model has a number of documents to guide the facilitation ofhuman rights values within formal curriculum contents, whereas the Waldorf approach hasno such supportive documents. One might question the value and influence of numerousdocuments if basic knowledge that is required for the meaningful interpretation of suchdocuments is not communicated from the outset. Moreover, it became evident that sinceWaldorf educators are adequately trained in Anthroposophy, the philosophy to which Waldorfschools adhere, they deal with curriculum matters such as socially constructing a curriculummore effectively. The training of outcomes-based education educators can be questionedregarding the philosophy, theory and methodology of outcomes-based education in view ofthe hasty implementation of this new model for government schools. As a result of thishurried process, educators of outcomes-based education are experiencing numerousuncertainties when they have to manage curriculum matters such as socially constructing acurriculum.Recommendations and related examples were provided after the completion of the study.This included, among others, the notions of dialogically facilitating human rights values topromote learners' understanding of their rights, and the rights of others; to transformincidental facilitation of human rights values into worthwhile teaching-learning experiences; touse human resources - including learners - to convey human rights values; and to focuseducators' training (both in-service and pre-service) toward the inclusion of human rightsvalues and promoting an understanding of socially constructing a curriculum.The study was concluded with the remark that human rights values might be an appropriatemeans to redefine values education, provided that the facilitation of human rights values arebased on suitable theoretical and philosophical premises; and that those held responsible tofacilitate such values are assisted in this task.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University