© 2000, Mariana Mincheva-Rizova, Ilian Rizov,  MODELS FOR TEACHING THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (I-IV grade)

“Every man is entitled to all the rights set forth in the present Declaration without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”
(Article 2 from “ The Universal Declaration of Human Rights”)

ACTIVITY 1

Aims:

• Pupils may think of as many differences between people as they can. This will enhance their sensitivity to perceiving “the other’s differences”.
• To explore the problems that people most frequently encounter because they are different from one another.

• old newspapers and magazines
• flipchart paper, felt-tips and pencils
• scissors and glue (for each group)

Divide the class into groups of 4 -5 people in each and set a task to each group to design its own collage on the topic: “Differences between People”.

In order to produce the collages some old newspapers and magazines are necessary with a lot of photos describing a variety of differences between people (racial, ethnical, sexual, social, related to age, etc.) Each group has to work out its own collage in the following way - to choose and cut from magazines and newspapers the appropriate pictures and photos and then to order and stick them on the flipchart according to their own understanding of how a collage should be arranged artistically.

After the collages are ready, ask each group’s spokesperson to present them. Summarise the results with the help of students trying to point out some of the criteria according to which people differ obviously (e.g. physical, sexual, racial and other characteristics). In pupils’ collages it is not very likely to find characteristics that refer to differences in abilities, qualities and people’s interests. Nevertheless you may draw pupils’ attention to such characteristics as well and to remind them that people are different in their “inner world” as well.

One of the conclusions that pupils could draw is that all people are different from one another and that there are differences which we tend more frequently to consider a sign of imperfection because of which conflicts and problems crop up among us.

Continue with a discussion of the question: “ What problems do people encounter most often in the relations between themselves because of the fact that they are different? For example what problems and conflicts can crop up among:

• people who have different colour, different race
• people who differ in that, that they live in two neighbouring countries (e.g., the Balkan peninsula);
• people who differ in their ethnic origin: Bulgarians, Turks, Romany, Jews, Armenians and others who live in Bulgaria;
• people who differ in social status: some are rich and others are poor;
• people who are representatives of different sex - men and women,
• people who differ in terms of being healthy and others who need support - invalids, blind people, deaf and people with mental problems?”.

You can use the groups that have already been formed in order to ask them one of the sub-questions that has been pointed out. Pupils can again write their answers and draw on a flipchart sheet.

When they summarise the results of the group work, draw the pupils’ attention to the fact that the problems shown on the flipchart sheets by the different groups are similar or the same because they are due to one and the same reason - fear of the difference. Fear exists where the differences are unknown and cannot be understood.

• Students have to develop skills by discovering similarities and differences among themselves.
• They have to provide arguments for the existence of universal human characteristics.

• two flipchart paper sheets and two labels ( tags) with “ Similarities” and “ Differences” written on them
• felt-tips

Ask children to work in pairs and set them the task to find three similarities and differences between them. Remind them that they can give examples with some characteristic features of their appearance (colour of the hair, eyes and complexion) as well as with characteristics which refer to their interests, skills, qualities, etc. If you work with younger children, set the task to the whole class.

Ask the students to share the similarities and differences that they have found out. Follow carefully their answers and write them on two different pieces of flipchart paper. It is good to have the titles: “Similarities” and “Differences” respectively written on special labels/tags.

Having written all suggestions take off the labels/ tags and ask the pupils whether (in case there were no titles on the posters) they would be able to recognise where the similarities and differences have been written. In order to visualise this question even better you may swap the labels. With this activity pupils will be provoked to think about the fact that similarities and differences concern the same things; that the same thing that makes you similar to somebody can make you different from somebody else. In order for this idea to become even clearer, you may offer the following exercise.

The pupils make a circle and each one in his/her turn has to complete the sentence:

“I look like….. ………………in terms of………………………

(a pupil from the class) (quality)

and I’m different from…………………………..in terms of the same quality.

(a pupil from the class)

At the end you can summarise things with the help of the following questions:

• Point out what the similarities between all of you in your class are?
• Point out similarities between all people?

The emphasis of the summary should be focussed on the fact that all people are the same in terms of needs such as: love, food, security / safety, health, etc., i.e. values that are equally important for everybody.