The purpose of this study is to analyze the contents of human rights education in the moral education curriculum and textbooks of elementary school and to seek directions for improvement in situations where the importance of human rights education is emphasized in the school field.
In order to achieve these research objectives, analysis criteria were established through theoretical review of prior studies and related literature, and the 2015 revised moral textbooks of elementary school were analyzed based on these and was suggested where should be improved.
The analysis criteria for carrying out this study were set up by reconstructing the goals of moral education in the elementary school, three aspects of Lister's human rights education and the contents presented by the National Human Rights Commission.
The subject of analysis was selected as the moral education related to human rights education and the moral education curriculum of elementary school and the moral textbooks for the 3rd to the 6th grade announced under the 2015 revised curriculum are analyzed.
The curriculum is analyzed focusing on the category and scope of human rights education, and the results are as follows.
First, the weighting by category is uneven and it is concentrated on education for human rights. When looking at the weight of each category of human rights education, education for human rights accounted for the largest portion with 54.3%, education on human rights was 28.6%, and education through human rights was the lowest portion with 17.1%. In other words, it deals with the functional aspects of human rights the most, and participation and practice are the least.
Second, the weight of each area is uneven, and it is concentrated on the value and attitude of respect for human rights. Looking at the proportion of human rights education by area, the value and attitude of respect for human rights was 37.1%, the basic concept of human rights was 25.7%, the analysis was and resolution of human rights was issues, and the participation and practice for human rights are 17.1% and laws and systems were 2.9%.
Textbooks were analyzed by categories, areas, and content elements of human rights education. Of the total 128 class hours from the third to sixth grade textbooks for elementary school moral education, 63 were related to human rights education, with 49.2%. The results of the analysis of textbooks are as follows.
First, in terms of proportion by category, education for human rights accounts for the largest 44.2%, followed by education on human rights by 33.7%, education for human rights the lowest of 22.1%. The emphasis on education for human rights showed that elementary school moral textbooks mainly deal with functional aspects of human rights.
Second, in terms of proportion by area, the basic conceptual area for human rights is 24.4%, the laws and institutions on human rights area for human rights is 9.3%, and the analysis and resolution of human rights issues is 20.9%, the value and attitude area of respect for human rights. 23.3%, participation and practice in solving human rights issues were 22.1%, showing a generally even distribution, but the laws and institutions on human rights were significantly lower.
Based on the above analysis results, the following significant improvement measures could be extracted.
First, in the case of education on human rights, it is necessary to supplement the contents of 'Basic Concept on Human Rights' and develop terms. In human rights, aspect of 'Rights' is fundamentally important. Due to the nature of elementary moral education, it may be difficult to list or describe legal terms directly. Therefore, it is necessary to develop human rights terms appropriate to each grade level in moral education and to present them in the moral textbook of the corresponding grade. Among the contents of human rights education in the category of education on human rights, "Laws and Institutions on Human Rights" are the least presented in the elementary moral textbooks, which need to be improved. Laws and institutions on human rights are an important part of the history of human rights and are indispensable in understanding the concept of human rights. As shown in the human rights education system chart prepared by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), various human rights documents and organizations are presented in moral textbooks as areas that can be sufficiently covered in elementary schools.
Second, in the case of education for human rights, various case studies are needed in relation to students' daily lives. Through interviews and surveys, research should be conducted on what human rights issues students are aware of in their lives, and the educational content should be presented so that education can be closely related to the actual situation.
Third, in the case of education through human rights, contents and methods that students can actually participate in should be presented. By taking advantage of creative experiential activity time, on-site experiential learning can provide opportunities for students to participate in human rights issues outside of school. In addition, it would be more effective for human rights education if it is presented as an activity that can be achieved by connecting participation and practice with the family.
Fourth, the contents of human rights education should be arranged in a balanced manner by grade. Taking into an account the development process of students, the contents of human rights education should be properly distributed and presented throughout the third to sixth grades, so that human rights education can be carried out efficiently.
Fifth, for human rights education is conducted integratedly, education on human rights, education for human rights, and education through human rights must be presented in one chapter. Currently, the 2015 revised moral textbook has a capacity-oriented autonomous integration advanced chapter. This is suitable for integrated human rights education, which integrates the contents learned above so that further activities can be achieved. This should be improved so that the contents related to human rights education can be integratedly learned.
Sixth, in relation to the content area of elementary moral education, it is necessary to link the content of human rights education appropriate to the characteristics of the area. In the current system in moral textbooks, moral education expands to oneself, others, society and nature. If human rights education is organized in conjunction with this, closer human rights education can be achieved along with the goals of moral education
Based on the implications obtained through theoretical considerations on human rights education in this study, and the results of analysis of the curriculum and textbooks, the researcher's suggestions for elementary school human rights education are as follows.
First, systematic research on human rights education in the elementary school curriculum should be conducted. It is necessary to study textbook-centered school curriculum so that human rights education in elementary schools is not one-time human rights education such as creative experiential activities. Next, in order to form a culture of human rights in elementary schools, human rights education should be conducted not only for students, but also for teachers so that a culture that respects the human rights of all school members can be formed.
Even if the content of human rights education is improved and presented in textbooks, proper human rights education cannot be achieved if the teacher who delivers it to students has a poor understanding of human rights. Therefore, in order to implement human rights education properly in schools, it is necessary to improve not only textbooks, but also teachers' awareness of human rights.