A Year of Human Rights Covenants: Great Leap for Taiwan
National Human Rights Commission, Taiwan
Story 2
Reflection on Teaching Aids Production for A Story of
Island Untitled: Building “Memories of Tomorrow” by a
Teacher of National Tainan Girls’ Senior High School
Educational opportunities with
Bringing human rights education
“The more we know about authoritarianism, the
better we know how to build democracy.” This
was the quote from the Stasi Records Archive
website displayed on the projector’s screen
when Executive Secretary Lee Yi-fang of the
Center for Human Rights Education Resources
of National Tainan Girls’ Senior High School
introduced “A Story of Island Untitled: Building
Memories of Tomorrow” human rights education
toolbox in class.
The heated debates triggered by the release
of the films — Detention and Untold Herstory —
suggest that both artists and audience have
begun to look at Taiwan’s martial-law period
from a new angle. However, “human rights” and
“transitional justice” are still sensitive political
issues for many frontline teachers. When
teaching the history of the White Terror, teachers
may face questioning from their schools, peers,
parents, and students about the necessity of
learning about this period of history from a
specific standpoint. Hence, how to continuously
open the space for social dialogue and translate
the history of the country’s persecution of human
rights into teaching resources suitable for
schools has become an urgent issue in human
rights education.
examples of real case studies
into the classroom
National Human Rights Commission 2022 Annual Report
71