Scholars and diplomats gathered to mark the publication of Nordic Perspectives on Human Rights Education: Research and Practice for Social Justice (Routledge), first book to discuss human rights education across all five Nordic countries.
Norwegian ambassador in Argentina, Halvor Sætre, joined USN’s Professor Audrey Osler and Dr Beate Goldschmidt-Gjerløw, representatives of the Finnish and Swedish embassies, and leading Argentinian scholars to debate the book’s significance.
The edited volume includes ground-breaking work by USN’s Dr Marta Stachurska-Kounta, discussing the involvement of the Nordic countries in the nineteenth century European colonial project and its implications for both children’s social science textbooks and learning to live together in ways that respect everyone’s human rights.
USN’s first professional PhD candidate, Kjersti Draugedalen, also contributed a chapter on teachers as human rights defenders, exploring the support that teachers in primary schools need to safeguard children against harmful sexual behaviour in school.
Nordic Perspectives on Human Rights Education showcases USN’s interdisciplinary Master’s programme on human rights and multiculturalism, reporting on the research of one of its graduates, Jon Arne Skarra, who highlighted gaps between the official Norwegian curriculum’s emphasis on human rights and the everyday pedagogical practices of middle school teachers.
Professor Audrey Osler, one of the book’s editors, says: ‘The Nobel Peace Prize and the emphasis that the Nordic countries give to human rights through international aid and their foreign policies are known across the globe. At a time of increasing authoritarianism in all regions, where we observe governments undermining international human rights standards, education is more important than ever. The contributors to Nordic Perspectives on Human Rights Education don’t paint an over-rosy picture. Instead, they highlight the human rights challenges we are facing in the region and discuss ways of empowering children and adolescents through human rights education’.