A Dissertation Entitled Human Rights Education

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A Dissertation Entitled Human Rights Education A Dissertation entitled Human Rights Education in Kuwait: Perceptions, Experiences, and Beliefs of Student- Teachers in Kuwait University College of Education by Mohammad Aljaidyah Submitted to the Graduate Faculty as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Foundations of Education: Educational Philosophy ___________________________________________ Dr. Dale Snauwaert, Committee Chair ___________________________________________ Dr. Lynne Hamer, Committee Member ___________________________________________! Dr. Mark Templin, Committee Member ___________________________________________ Dr. Fuad Al-Daraweesh, Committee Member ___________________________________________ Dr. Cyndee Gruden, Dean College of Graduate Studies The University of Toledo December 2018 Copyright 2018, Mohammad Aljaidyah This document is copyrighted material. Under copyright law, no parts of this document may be reproduced without the expressed permission of the author. An Abstract of Human Rights Education in Kuwait: Perceptions, Experiences, and Beliefs of Student- Teachers in Kuwait University College of Education by Mohammad Aljaidyah Submitted to the Graduate Faculty as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Educational Theory and Social Foundations The University of Toledo December 2018 In an age of modern warfare with its unbridled destructive capabilities, a contemporary approach to education has emerged called human rights education (HRE) that, with its pedagogies based on principles of peace and justice, is potentially capable of slowing and reversing trends of escalating violence and terrorism in the world (Watfa & Alshurai, 2011). The Middle East in particular has gained a reputation for authoritarian governments and sectarian violence, but amidst that, the nation of Kuwait has made progress in promoting peace, humanitarianism, and human rights education (HRE), particularly with its Constitution and Human Rights (CHR) curriculum for high school students. Despite modest progress in this area, Kuwaitis seem to lack knowledge of human rights and HRE. This study focuses on Kuwaiti student-teachers in the College of Education at Kuwait Universities to better understand the current perceptions of, experiences with, and beliefs about human rights and HRE among them. To address this purpose, this study adopted a quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional descriptive survey design using a questionnaire based on a modified and translated version of the Human Rights Education Attitude Scale (HREAS) (Kepenekçi, 1999). A sample of 292 iii! Kuwaiti student-teachers completed the questionnaire, and the results showed that the students were most aware of rights relevant to them (e.g., right to education), but less aware of those that were less relevant to them perhaps because of their age and lack of real-world experience (e.g., worker, property, and political rights). Additionally, almost half of the student-teachers reported not being aware of the United Nation World Program for Human Rights Education. Moreover, around one-fifth of student-teachers reported being unaware or unsure of the right to life and surprisingly 5.5% found the right to life to not be important, which is considered a fundamental right related to the security of person. This findings have implications’ for future HRE-based curricula for Kuwait, which are discussed at the end of the dissertation. iv! Dedication I would like dedicate this dissertation to my father’s soul. He always encouraged me to continue my studies and to one day earn my PhD. ! v Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank Allah for the grace to see me through this long journey that was full of challenges, excitement, and interesting discoveries. I must also acknowledge my gratitude to my family: To my mother who always supports me with her kind words and prayers, and my late father, to whom this dissertation is dedicated; to my wife, who showed immense patience while bearing with me throughout the ups and downs of this big academic achievement and took good care of our children while I was busy with my studies; to my siblings who supported me and took care of affairs in Kuwait; and to my children, who give me a reason to work hard to be a father they can be proud of. I am extremely thankful for my advisors, Dr. Lynne Hamer and Dr. Dale Snauwaert. Without their assistance and advice, I never would have completed this project. Along with my advisors, I am grateful for the rest of my dissertation committee: Dr. Mark Templin, whose his comments helped me to improve my project and especially the methodology chapter, and Dr. Fuad Al-Daraweesh, who assisted me a lot in understanding the theories of human rights education. I would also like to thank my editor, Clay Chiarelott, who helped me with editing, formatting, and polishing my dissertation. Finally, I would like to say thank you to the College of Education at Kuwait University, who awarded me the scholarship that allowed me to earn my Master’s and Ph.D. degrees. vi Table of Contents Abstract iii Dedication v Acknowledgements vi Table of Contents vii List of Tables x List of Figures xi List of Abbreviations xii I. Introduction 1 A. Problem of the Study 5 B. Objectives and Research Questions 6 C. Significance of the Study 7 D. Scope and Limitations of the Study 8 E. Organization of the Study 9 II. Literature Review and Theoretical Framework 11 A.! Social Foundations of Education 11 B.! Definition of Human Rights 13 C.! Definition of HRE 16 D.! History of Human Rights and HRE 18 a.! Human Rights before the UDHR 19 b.! History of HRE 22 E.! Theoretical Framework 25 a.! Universalism 26 vii b.! Relativism 28 c.! Hermeneutical and Dialogical Approaches 30 d.! Final Note about the Theoretical Framework 34 F.! Approaches to HRE 35 G.! Teaching HRE 37 a.! Teachers Opinions about HRE 40 b.! Student-teachers’ Beliefs about and Experiences with HRE 42 c.! The role of Teachers in Kuwaiti Schools & Society 45 d.! Challenges in Kuwaiti Teacher Education 46 H.! Conclusion 48 III. Methodology 50 A.! Research Design 50 B.! Brief Background of the Study Area 52 C.! Participation 54 a.! Research Population 54 b.! Sampling 54 D.! Data Collection Procedures 55 a.! Instrumentation 55 b.! Administration of the Questionnaire 57 c.! Validity of the Instrument 58 d.! Reliability of the Instrument 59 E.! Data Analysis Techniques 60 F.! Ethical Considerations 61 viii IV. Results 63 A.! Personal Information 63 B.! Human Rights Education Experience 65 C.! Awareness of Human Rights 67 D.! Importance of Human Rights 69 E.! Beliefs about Human Rights 71 F.! Conclusion 73 V. Discussion 75 A.! Discussion about Awareness of Human Rights 75 B.! Discussion about Importance of Human Rights 76 C.! Discussion about Beliefs about Human Rights 77 D.! Discussion about Prior Experience with Human Rights 78 E.! Discussion about Demographics 79 F.! Limitations 80 G.! Implications & Recommendations 80 H.! Conclusion 87 References 89 Appendices A.! Questionnaire (English) 101 B.! Questionnaire (Arabic) 111 C.! Consent Form (English) 120 D.! Consent Form (Arabic) 122 ix List of Tables Table 1 Internal Consistency Reliability Coefficients in Cronbach’s Alpha. ............. 60 Table 2 Demographic Profile of the Participants. ..................................................... 64 Table 3 Subjects Taught by Student-Teachers in Sample Ranked from Most to Least ............................................................................................... 64 Table 4 Year of Study and Nationality ...................................................................... 65 Table 5 Frequencies and Percentages of Where Student Teachers First Heard of Human Rights .............................................................................................. 65 Table 6 Awareness of Human Rights with Frequencies and Percentages ................... 68 Table 7 Participants’ Awareness of Human Rights ................................................... 69 Table 8 Importance of Human Rights with Frequencies and Percentages .................. 70 Table 9 Beliefs toward Human Rights Education with Frequencies and Percentages ................................................................................................. 72 x List of Figures Figure 1 Undergraduate programs in Kuwait University, College of Education (Kuwait University, 2018). .......................................................................... 53 Figure 2 Pie chart of the yes/no response to the question ‘Are you aware of the United Nation World Program for Human Rights Education?’ ..................... 66 Figure 3 Leading questions regarding student teachers’ prior experience with human rights Education training. Questions are in dark gray and responses are in light gray with number of response and percentages out of the total number. Whether a respondent received the answer marked with an asterisk (*) depended on their response to the prior question. ......................................... 67 xi List of Abbreviations CHR.......................... Constitution and Human Rights COE .......................... College of Education HRE .......................... Human Rights Education KU ............................ Kuwait University OHCHR .................... Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights PE ............................. Peace Education SFE ........................... Social Foundations of Education UDHR....................... Universal
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