Human Rights Education A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions Chapter 4: Human rights education theory and principles71 KEY QUESTIONS • How can human rights education be empowering and transformative? • What are some of the theoretical concepts that guide human rights education? • What are some of the principles that guide human rights education? Education is not only political, but it is based on the political sense that emerges from love and the political sense that attempts to build a world of justice and community. ... This love of course is not purely sentimental emotion, but it is the kind of love that is concerned with transforming the degrading living conditions to which human beings are subjected. Politics is the love by which people work together to transform inhumane and unjust conditions; it is part of the noble quest and struggle for dignity and justice.71 This chapter discusses the theory and principles that provide the foundation for the design, implementation and evaluation of an education programme and activity. There are many theories about education. Those that are important to human rights education are about encouraging individual and societal change through developing human rights knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours. Designing, implementing and evaluating human rights education seeks to achieve this result. The first half of this chapter brings together some ideas developed by educators who focus on education that is based on empowerment, equality and justice.72 The human rights education principles outlined in the second half of the chapter have been developed from this thinking. 4.1. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION Education has the potential to empower people, encouraging them to become active and responsible members of society. So it is with human rights education. For human rights education to work toward freedom, justice and peace, it must challenge the conditions that allow and perpetuate violations of human rights. Human rights education works for positive transformation across all sectors and levels of society. Listed below are concepts developed by theorists that are committed to education that is empowering and transformative. A number of these concepts come from the “popular education/educação popula” movement that uses education to improve the conditions of the poorest and most marginalized people. 30 71 Father Fernando Cardenal, Director Literacy Campaign, Nicaragua, 1980. 72 This section is informed by the works of selected education theorists, including Sylvia Ashton-Warner, Augusto Boal, Franz Fanon, Paulo Freire, Michel Foucault, Ivan Illich, Malcolm Knowles, Maria Montessori and A.S. Neil.