Children's rights in schools: what do teachers know?

Abstract

The human rights of children are fundamental international human rights that protect all children against abuse by adults and caregivers as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This study examines teachers' and teacher trainees' knowledge of children's rights as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations General Assembly, 1989), the Public Service (Disciplinary) Regulations (Statutory Instrument 65 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, 1992) and the Secretary of Education and Culture Circular P35 of 3 May 1993 on the administration of corporal punishment by teachers in Zimbabwean primary schools. Data were collected using the Teacher and the Teacher Trainees Questionnaires on 300 primary school teachers and 150 teacher trainees, respectively, in Masvingo Province. Teacher trainees used in this study were attached to experienced primary school teachers during their teaching practice. The study found that the majority of teachers (76.3%) were exposed to the Public Service (Disciplinary) Regulations during their teacher education training. On the other hand, the majority of teacher trainees (60.0%) were not exposed to these Regulations during their training. The Public Service (Disciplinary) Regulations are used to charge teachers who violate children's rights within the school. The majority of teachers (59.3%) feel they are useful, while the majority of teacher trainees (60.0%) feel they are outdated and need to be changed. On the other hand, the majority of teacher trainees (55.3%) indicated that they were exposed to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child or the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/24.9/49, 1990), while the majority of teachers (56.7%) were not exposed to either of these during their teacher education training. The study also found that the majority of teacher trainees (63.3%) were not exposed to the Secretary of Education and Culture Circular P35 on corporal punishment by teachers within schools during their teaching practice. It is clear from the findings that the teacher education curriculum needs to be revised to take account of current trends and contemporary issues in education in the new millennium. Therefore, there is a need for the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture to conduct in‐service programmes for teachers who are not familiar with local and international laws concerning the protection of children against child abuse within the school. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Development of a Scale for the Attitude Towards Children’s Rights Education

“…In addition, researchers state that teachers experience lack of knowledge regarding children's rights and education (Howe & Covell, 2005;Jerome et al,. 2015;Öztürk, Eren, & Topçu, 2017;Shumba, 2003) and that they are unwilling to teach children about their rights (Howe & Covell, 2005;Öztürk, Eren, & Topçu, 2017). In this regard, it can be stated that teacher candidates who have a positive attitude towards children's rights education should also have a positive attitude towards acquiring knowledge on children's rights education as well as towards children's rights education applications.…”

“…The following stages were followed in light of this review. First of all, a review of the related literature was conducted (Brantefors & Quennerstedt, 2016;Covell et al, 2010;Flowers, 2007;Hodgkin & Newell, 1998;Karaman-Kepenekçi, 1999, 2006Öztürk & Doğanay, 2017;Rogers & Wrightsman, 1978;Robson, 2016;Shumba, 2003; United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child [UNCRC], 1989, as cited by Hodgkin & Newell, 1998). An item pool for the attitude scale related with children's rights education was generated using the acquired results.…”

“…Children's rights education is the teaching of the rights set out in the UNCRC in an environment where these rights are actualized and respected (Howe & Covell, 2005;Males & Stricevic, 2001). Children's rights education is an important part of global education and citizenship education (Shumba, 2003). At the same time, children's rights education is important in provide the social behavior and fundamental knowledge requirements for creating a democratic society based on the respect of human rights (Uçuş & Dedeoğlu, 2016).…”

“…In this regard, it is suggested to make regulations regarding children's rights education in teacher education programs (Jerome et al, 2015;Shumba, 2003). The beliefs and attitudes of teachers are important factors for practicing their careers lovingly, and for being more successful as well as for the quality of the education they provide.…”

Attitudes of the Teacher Candidates of Mentally Handicapped Children About Children’s Rights

“…Engelli çocuklara öğretmenlik yapan ya da onlara hizmet veren kişilerin bu konuda bilgilendirilmeleri hem engelli çocukların istismarını görmezden gelme eğilimini (Cooke ve Standen, 2002) azaltacak hem de öğretmenlerin bu konudaki bilgisizliklerini (Casas ve diğerleri, 2006;Cooke ve Standen, 2002;Karaman, 1993;Shumba, 2003) gidererek, engelli çocukları kendi hakları konusunda bilgilendirme, istismara karşı kendilerini korumayı öğrenme vb. konularda öğretmenlerin etkin rol almalarını sağlayacaktır.…”