Teaching for global citizenship: a case study on the challenges of implementing a human rights course

Abstract

Human rights education (HRE) is increasingly finding its way into social studies curriculum in the U.S. In this growing field, there is little research on the challenges facing schools in the instantiation of HRE in relation to citizenship education (CE). This case study explores how a U.S. school is approaching and adapting to the growing presence of HRE within the context of CE and examines the research question: what challenges do educators tasked with CE face when implementing and maintaining a HRE programme? Three broad challenges emerged across the data; educators grappled with: (1) imbuing global citizenship into the curriculum; (2) maintaining relevance and connectedness; and (3) striving towards cosmopolitan citizenship.