Human Rights of the Human Left: Integration of Human Rights Education in the Curricula of SUCs in the Philippines

Abstract As human rights violations abound, Human Rights Education (HRE) seems to be losing its grip in the academe amid efforts of higher educational institutions to fulfil their constitutional mandate of inculcating human rights. Revisiting the curricula is now deemed necessary. This study aimed to determine how HRE is integrated in the curricula of SUCs through a descriptive and explanatory sequential mixed method, utilizing survey questionnaire and interview guide. The study was conducted in the six [6] SUCs in Region I. There were 165 respondents, representing more than half of those assigned to teach in the subjects Readings in Philippine History, Contemporary World, and NSTP. Median, frequency and percentage were used to analyse the data. Instructional mechanisms (IMs) from each SUC were also examined in terms of allotment of topics and time for human rights. Results revealed that the respondents strongly agree on the concept of HRE, it being the ‘training, dissemination, and information efforts aimed at building a universal culture of human rights that is mandatory and essential for life, and that includes discussions on basic human rights. In the survey conducted, it was perceived by the respondents that HRE was included by most respondents as a topic in the syllabus and learning plan, with a great majority of them completing this topic at the end of every semester. The most common pedagogy they use is the lecture-discussion method, which is mixed up with alternative pedagogies depending on the subject taught.