Guide on Human Rights Curriculum in Teacher Education: Supporting the Achievement of SDG 4.7.

Schools are key players in mainstreaming human rights norms and standards to the younger generation. However, to do so requires that teachers are equipped to teach about, through and for human rights. A recent global study by UNESCO and Education International showed that 1 in 4 teachers do not feel prepared to teach human rights and gender equality. Moreover, 31% feel only moderately prepared.
This potential lack of human rights teaching can have a great impact on future generations’ knowledge of and support for human rights.
The obligation to provide human rights education (HRE) in both schools and teacher training programmes is emphasised in several international human rights standards. Building knowledge and skills on human rights and gender equality are thus part of States’ international human rights commitments that must be progressively realised,and States are held accountable for this implementation through various global and regional conventions, resolutions, declarations, programmes and follow-up mechanisms. Further, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable SDG indicator 4.7.1 measures the progress on this by assessing whether human rights is mainstreamed in teacher education curricula as well as national education policies, school curricula, and student assessments.
The guide has two parts:
1) Practical guidance with a step-by-step suggestion on how to seek impact on curriculum processes in teacher education programmes.
2) Conceptual guidance that unpacks the various concepts concerning human rights education and teacher education.