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Note to Teachers: Getting Started This PowerPoint presentation accompanies Lesson 11: Making Rights Universal from the Standing Up for Democracy scheme of work. It is important to read the lesson plan in order to understand its rationale, the historical context, and information in the Notes to Teachers section about the UDHR infographic and optional assessment. This presentation includes verbal instructions for the activities in the Notes beneath each slide. Accessing hyperlinks in PowerPoint involves extra steps: select View - Notes Page - right click on the hyperlink - and select Open Hyperlink. Alternatively, you can access the hyperlinks from Lesson 11: Making Rights Universal or by viewing the presentation in Google Slides. While you may need to modify this presentation to meet the needs of your students, please note that Facing History and Ourselves is not accountable for any changes that alter the presentation's content or original layout. Information about Standing Up for Democracy PowerPoint Slides Each PowerPoint accompanies a corresponding lesson plan that includes more detailed instructions about the activities and should be read in advance of teaching the lesson. Wherever possible, we have used images in lieu of writing to encourage the verbal delivery of instructions as a means of boosting focus and to promote active listening skills. The same image is used for each recurring teaching strategy throughout the scheme of work to facilitate recall and promote student independence.

Making Rights Universal

Guiding Questions Is there such a thing as a universal human right? Are the rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights universal? Making Rights Universal: Learning Objective To recognise that not every right included in the UDHR is realised by every individual and group in the world today.

Who is responsible for protecting people’s fundamental rights? What responsibility do individuals have to ensure that everyone’s rights are protected? What makes you say that? What responsibility do governments have to ensure that everyone’s rights are protected? What makes you say that? Who should be included in a country’s universe of obligation? Anyone in the country at a given time? Residents of the country? Citizens of the country? Take a few minutes at the start of class to share from some of the students’ exit cards from the last lesson, Lesson 10: Defining Human Rights. We recommend that you keep the students’ exit card responses anonymous, unless they have given you permission in advance of the lesson to share their ideas.

If you feel that your students need additional historical context for the UDHR and its creation beyond what they learned in the last lesson, lead a brief mini-lecture that draws information from the reading The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and/or the Context section of Lesson 10: Defining Human Rights. Pass out the UDHR Infographic. Explain that this infographic represents a summarised version of the Preamble and Articles 1-30 of the UDHR, which was signed on 10th December 1948. Read aloud the infographic using the popcorn or wraparound variations.

Divide the class into small groups to respond to the questions on the next slide.

Think back to the last lesson in which you were first introduced to the UDHR. Were the three rights that your group believed to be universal included in the UDHR Infographic? Which ones are included? Which, if any, are missing? Which three UDHR rights do you think are the most important? Which UDHR right most surprises you? Which right do you think is missing from the UDHR that should be included in a universal human rights document? Project and/or hand out the discussion questions to each group.

No one has the right to hold you in slavery. Is this right universal? Do you think this right is enjoyed by every human being on earth today? Tell students that they will now examine the UDHR by answering two questions on this slide for four of the rights on the UDHR Infographic. First, model the kind of discussion you would like groups to engage in. Select one of the UDHR rights to discuss as a class, for example, “No one has the right to hold you in slavery.” Ask the class if this right is universal and enjoyed by every human being on earth today. If students say “no” and cite human trafficking (for example), record it on the board. Then ask them who should be in a country’s universe of obligation and what responsibility governments and individuals have to ensure that no one is denied basic human rights.

Universe of Obligation: Government, Nation or World? Is this right universal? Do you think this right is enjoyed by every human being on earth today? If your answer is “no,” where do these individuals or groups fall within a government, nation, or world’s universe of obligation? Assign each group four rights from the UDHR to focus on in their discussion. It is okay if multiple groups have the same set of rights. Instruct students to read the first right out loud and discuss if this right is universal—if it is enjoyed by every human being on earth today. If they can think of examples of individuals or groups who do not enjoy this right, they should record them in their notes. Then they should discuss where these individuals or groups fall within a government, nation, or world’s universe of obligation.

After groups have discussed their four rights, ask each one to present about the right that they found most interesting or challenging with the class.

What are the reasons for this? Why do you think some rights are only sometimes or never enjoyed by some people? What are the reasons for this? Does this suggest a problem with the rights included in the UDHR or a problem with the countries that do not recognise them? What makes you say that? What responsibility do nations who signed the UDHR have to ensure that these rights are realised by every person in their country? What responsibility do nations who signed the UDHR have to the people in other countries if any of these rights are violated? What is the power or potential of a document like the UDHR? What are its limitations? Is there value in having an agreement whose goals may seem difficult or even impossible to achieve? Discuss some or all of the questions in pairs, groups, or as a whole class. If you don’t have time to discuss all of the questions, you can have students choose a few to discuss together or assign one question for each group to discuss then share a summary of their ideas with the class.

What meaning do human rights have for you in your everyday life? Eleanor Roosevelt believed that human rights begin in “small places, close to home,” such as in neighbourhoods, schools, and workplaces. What meaning do human rights have for you in your everyday life? Are human rights valued and protected in your school and community? How do you know? At the end of the lesson, ask students to reflect in their journals in response to the prompt.

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