Human rights education and the conscience of mankind: developing didactics of perplexity

The preamble of the UN declaration of 1948 states that “disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind”. Holding this as our point of departure, we argue that reflections on the interplay between consciousness, thinking and judgement (Arendt 1964; 1978; Parekh 2013, Gündogdu 2011) as well as reflecting on the core concepts such as conscience, freedom, equality, dignity, justice, and peace from a philosophical, political, and religious perspective, can enhance an appropriate balance between the normative framework and a non-affirmative approach to Human Rights Education. As teacher educators we argue that the qualification of teacher students to address the interplay between HRE and RE can gain from philosophical reflection, critical thinking, and individual judgement, as this will enhance the authoritativeness and self-determination of both teachers and learners (Andersen & Sigurdsson, 2019; 2020). In terms of didactics, we consider the potentials of a concept-based approach inspired by the political philosophy of Hannah Arendt and her critical discussion of the perplexities of the rights of man.