Teaching for human rights in Cambodia Student Activites Case Study Teacher's Notes Student Activities Choose a partner or form a small group and play the 'rights balloon simulation game'. Select any ten to twelve human rights from the class list or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) available at the United Nations Cyber School Bus website http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/ humanrights/index.html. Write each 'right' on a piece of paper. Imagine you are travelling high in the sky on a beautiful day in a hot air balloon. Each right is a 'weight' keeping the balloon comfortably aloft. Suddenly, the balloon begins to rapidly lose altitude and balance. To resume altitude and balance, your only choice is to throw one weight or 'right' overboard. Which 'right' will you throw away first - in other words, which right is 'least important'? Place this discarded right away from the others. Keep playing the game in the same way until only one right remains - that believed to be 'most important'. Record the order in which you discard each right. At the end of the game, discuss as a class which rights were considered to be most and least important. What criteria did different pairs or small groups use to determine the priority order of rights? How difficult or easy was it for teams to reach agreement on rankings, and why? How did rankings compare across the class? What do you think was the purpose of this activity? Through the library, Internet or recommended resources, research Cambodia's recent history of war and conflict. Identify the ways in which Cambodia's people did not, or do not, experience their rights as a result. Also investigate the devastating impact of land mines. Draw a flowchart or concept map showing the ways in which the Human Rights Teaching Methodology (HRTM) Project is spreading positive messages about human rights. Begin with senior teachers training teachers and follow through to the wider community. Are their links between the wider community back to the senior teachers? Using statistics in the case study, calculate approximately: how many Cambodian teachers there were between 1995 and 1998 how many students were taught about human rights how much it cost to train the 22,775 teachers. What do the above statistics highlight about the project? Imagine the project was about to cease operating. Write a 'letter to the editor' stating why the project should continue. Imagine you are one of the following people. List what information, ideas or activities you would build into the task you have been assigned. What resources would you use? a senior teacher devising the HRTM course for teachers a Cambodia Institute of Human Rights (CIHR) television programmer planning the next television episode a CIHR radio programmer planning the next radio show a CIHR human rights quiz expert devising questions for the next quiz show a journalist writing a brief article on human rights. Research the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path and other Buddhist teachings, and how they influence daily life in Cambodia. What are the similarities between these values, attitudes and behaviours and either 'human rights' in the UDHR or what are considered to be positive values, attitudes and behaviours in Australian society? Identify and research some 'people and processes' in Australian history or in contemporary Australia that have either contributed to more Australians or more of the world's citizens experiencing their rights. Who's Who guides will help start your search. We must not forget that rights and responsibilities belong as a pair. Individually, with a partner or in a small group, brainstorm four lists of examples of people behaving responsibly towards: other people (including people they know and do not know) public property (begin by considering property in the school or local community) the natural environment (begin by considering either your favourite Australian natural environments or those for which Australia is famous, or the rights of plants and animals to a safe, clean or natural environment) themselves (begin by considering personal health and safety issues). Devise small role plays or brief scenarios, with or without dialogue, for any three of the above responsible behaviors. Perform the plays or scenarios and have others in the class identify the responsible behavior to which each is referring. Write a story about what the world would be like if everyone behaved responsibly and all people were allowed to enjoy their human rights. Educate others. Use what you have learned from this case study to guide either your choice of photographs and artwork from overseas aid and Australian weekly magazines or your own artwork for a poster on one of the following situations. Display the poster in a common area of your school, a local shopping centre or a community meeting place: people experiencing their human rights people not experiencing their rights, with clever headings, captions or dialogue boxes either asking or stating what can be done to help the people people behaving responsibly towards other people, public property, the natural environment or themselves. At least once today, consciously act responsibly to allow some one or something experience his/her/its rights. Think about doing the same tomorrow, and the day after, and... Top © Commonwealth of Australia