Section 1
Setting The Stage
Setting The Stage
1.1. Introduction
This curriculum on students' rights and responsibilities will be welcomed by educators interested in enhancing an environment in which students can learn to understand, respect and promote basic human rights for all. It is based on the belief that all students have a right to be taught in a positive, physically safe, and emotionally secure environment which exemplifies respect for the dignity and worth of each individual. It is also based on the premise that with human rights come responsibilities.
The implementation of this curriculum will be most effective in a school atmosphere which makes the human rights principles of equality, justice, democracy, freedom and peace central to its philosophy and practice. Educators who endorse these principles will recognize their responsibility to promote and expect a school climate and culture in which students have equality in learning opportunities, in which students can fully participate, and in which fairness prevails. It is equally important that educators recognize the assistance individual students will require to develop a responsive and responsible approach to learning, respecting themselves, and others.
The resource "Balancing Students' Rights and Responsibilities" has been designed and organized to promote greater understanding of fundamental rights and responsibilities for both educators and students. Three main components have been developed to achieve this aim:
1) background information for educators;
2) self-awareness activities for school personnel; and
3) classroom learning activities for students at the primary, elementary, intermediate and senior high levels.
A Rationale for Students' Rights and Responsibilities Curriculum
This curriculum has been developed as a means to educate students of their rights and responsibilities with respect to their interactions with others. Positive interactions are desirable between student and student, student and teacher, student and support staff, and student and all community members. This will rpovide opportunities for learning and achievement which will foster and contribute to a student's sense of personal identity and nurture a student's self-esteem in a mutually respective atmosphere.
Students' rights and responsibilities activities at the primary, elementary, intermediate, and senior high levels will assist educators in establishing learning environments which are more conducive to learning. These environments are achieved because students are given the opportunity to develop skills and insights which will enable them to interact positively with others and to fully participate in equal and fair learning opportunities.
The rationale for such a curriculum is further articulated in the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Education Mission Statement, which reads as follows:
To enable and encourage every individual to acquire through lifelong learning, the knowledge, skills, and values necessary for personal growth and the development of society.