Human Rights Education Now!

Episode 8: Rosemary Blanchard Part Two

May 29, 2023 Human Rights Educators USA Season 1 Episode 8
Human Rights Education Now!
Episode 8: Rosemary Blanchard Part Two
Show Notes

In Episode 2, Rosemary Blanchard continues her discussion of the role of the NCSS Position Statements on HRE; connections between NCSS work and Civic Education coalition; and the problem of eroding civics education in K-12 spaces. Rosemary touches on overcoming the perception that human rights Issues are only “over there,” and the problem of examining human rights as a zero-sum challenge. Rosemary shares her views on avoiding the demonization of opposing views, and the importance of the Council of Europe’s work on democracy and human rights. She goes on to discuss the book chapter she co-wrote with Sandy Sohcot in Mindful Social Studies, and the effectiveness of helping young children create a powerful human rights culture. Rosemary shares her most influential role models in HRE – Nelson Mandela and Thích Nhất Hạnh. Finally, Rosemary shares her belief that HRE should be required in all curriculum standards, at all grade levels and how this belief was influenced by the work of Lawrence Senesh.   

Topics Discussed:

  • Connections between NCSS work and Civic Education coalition
  • Emphasizing “human rights of the playground”
  • Avoiding demonizing opposing views
  • Understanding how a historic legacy of pain too often translates into inflicting
    pain on others
  • Learning fundamental concepts early in one’s education to advance HRE
  • Nelson Mandela, Thích Nhất Hạnh, and Lawrence Senesh


Full topic listing available for PDF download HERE.

Introduction and Closing Music Credit: “Awakening-Spring” by Ketsa, from the Album Night Vision. Available at the Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/night-vision/awakening-spring/

This music is used in accordance with this Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Information about that license is available here https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Human Rights Education Now! is produced and distributed in accordance with Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International. Information about this license is available here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/