New teaching resources launched to mark Human Rights Day
10 December 2010
A child making a football in Pakistan gets paid just 85 pence a day. A professional player kicking that football in Britain can earn £15,000 and beyond a day. The British Council has today released a set of teaching resources using football to explore the human rights of children.
The release of the online resource ‘One Voice for All’ coincides with international Human Rights Day (10 December). The resource has been developed by educational consultant Margot Brown for the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms programme. Taking inspiration from the successful Deloitte Street Child World Cup (DSCWC) held in South Africa in March this year, it focuses attention on the rights of children throughout the world through the international sport of football.
During the DSCWC street children from eight countries, including the UK, gathered in South Africa to learn football and play in their own World Cup, and work on projects to highlight their plight, enabling their voices to be heard and showcasing their potential.
British Council Director of Education and Society, Cathy Stephens, said:
“Education is about teaching and providing an opportunity for all young people to learn more about the world in which they live and to learn that often things are more complex than they first appear. This resource offers the opportunity for teachers around the world to encourage their students to explore one aspect of the inequality of the wider world through the work of the Deloitte Street Child World Cup (DSCWC).”
The 14 activities have been developed to be used anywhere in the world and can be adapted for any age group. The activities focus on the human rights of children and introduce the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. They explore the world of football right from the child labour used to make the footballs in Pakistan through to the players being paid millions of pounds to kick that ball, and everything in between – the flags of the countries the children represent and the history and culture of those countries.
“The concept of the universality of rights is a thread through the resource and of course we hope the students also enjoy learning about the long and varied history of football. Throughout we have used interactive learning styles to encourage young people to take an active role in their learning and to behave in a way that is respectful of everyone’s human rights both within and outside the classroom,” Cathy Stephens said.
The resources are available online at http://cc.britishcouncil.org/one-voice-for-all.
For more information on the One Voice for All resource please contact Sharon Williams on 0207 389 4808 or Sharon.williams@britishcouncil.org
Note to Editors
For more information on the Deloitte Street Child World Cup please see http://streetchildworldcup.org.
Connecting Classrooms
Connecting Classrooms builds lasting partnerships between schools in the UK and others around the world. Through these partnerships, the programme develops understanding and trust between young people in different societies, creating a safer and more connected world for the future. For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org/connectingclassrooms
The British Council
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We work in over 100 countries worldwide to build opportunity and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people. We work in the Arts, English, Education and Society, including science and sport - and in the process contribute to the security and prosperity of the UK and the countries where we work. Last year we engaged face to face with 18.4 million people and reached 652 million. We are a non-political organisation which operates at arm’s length from government. Our total turnover in 2009/10 was £705 million, of which our grant-in-aid from the British government was £211 million. For every £1 of government grant we receive, we earn £2.50 from other sources. For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org
