Current Issues in Comparative Education

Editorial Introduction: Human Rights in Comparative and International Education

Sara Pan-Algarra — 2025-03-17

Refugees and the Right to Education: Reflections on International Frameworks and the Australian Context

Tebeje Molla — 2025-03-17

The right to education is universally recognized as a fundamental human right, safeguarded by numerous international declarations and conventions, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Viewing refugee education through the lens of human rights is rooted in the principle that everyone, regardless of citizenship status, should have equal educational opportunities as an integral aspect of their broader human rights. However, such opportunities are variable. Using an interpretive approach to policy analysis, this paper reviews the Australian education policy space in the context of international initiatives, exploring national responses juxtaposed with key global arrangements. In shedding light on the alignment—or lack thereof—between national policies and international obligations, this paper contributes valuable insights to the broader debate on the importance of rights-based refugee education.

Rights Deferred, Sustainable Futures Denied: Indigenous/Adivasi Lessons for Interrogating Tensions in Rights Education

Naivedya Parakkal — 2025-03-17

Human rights have been framed as integral to development. Yet, despite decades of development programming, human rights violations prevail. This article examines Adivasi/Indigenous Peoples’ encounters with development in Attappady, India, especially in relation to their identity and expertise as casteist-colonial India’s Indigenous Peoples. Comparing Adivasi interlocutors’ counter-colonial narratives with a thematic analysis of UNESCO’s recent recommendations on human rights education reveal how interlocutors are noting the disconnect between policy promises of the right to dignity and everyday assaults on Adivasi personhood. Meanwhile, development programs that prioritize profits over ecological balance continue to jeopardize their right to sustainable futures. These findings emphasize the relevance of redirecting gaze in rights education, from the perceived deficits of Global South actors towards those who benefit from sustaining unjust global hierarchies, while legitimizing the rights violations that arise from them. As the often-overlooked experts of relational living in a world rendered precarious by an inherently unsustainable development paradigm, this article’s interlocutors emphasize the significance of centering Indigenous/Adivasi expertise in imagining systemic shifts in rights education.

From Universal to Pluriversal: Transforming Human Rights Education Policies in Colombia

Angela Sánchez Rojas — 2025-03-17

This paper examines Colombia’s National Plan for Human Rights Education (Plan Nacional de Educación en Derechos Humanos, PLANEDH) as a case study to discuss how positivistic, Eurocentric, and Western constructions have influenced a hegemonic understanding of human rights education. While the PLANEDH policy aligns with the United Nations human rights education mandates, its implementation remains largely symbolic, with minimal territorial impact and limited community participation. This paper encourages a shift of perspectives applying the Pluriversal Rights Education framework. It discusses the importance of integrating diverse ways of knowing into human rights education dialogues and fostering participatory, community-driven policy design. The analysis offers recommendations to reenvision a more plural implementation of the PLANEDH policy in the Colombian education system.

Rethinking Emotional Engagement in Human Rights Education through Affective Justice

Michalinos Zembylas — 2025-03-17

This conceptual paper suggests the notion of ‘affective justice’ as a means to critically address the problem of sentimentalism within Human Rights Education (HRE). Originating in sociolegal studies affective justice focuses on how legal frameworks for human rights generate embodied, affective experiences that allow learners to engage deeply with notions of justice. By examining how these affective dimensions shape learners’ understanding of human rights, the paper argues that affective justice offers a valuable framework for countering critiques that emotional engagement with human suffering risks devolving into ‘cheap sentimentality.’ The analysis suggests that affective justice not only enriches HRE theory but also fosters meaningful, reflective practices among learners. The paper concludes by outlining future research directions to further explore how affective justice might be applied in educational contexts to deepen critical engagement with human rights and promote ethically grounded responses to global injustice.

AI Human Rights Literacy

Saah Agyemang-Badu — 2025-03-17

The treatment of artificial intelligence (AI) in the field of education has so far been typically characterized by (a) information about how AI can assist educators in carrying out their work, and (b) concerns about the misuse of AI by learners, for example, concerning plagiarism. The links between AI and ethics within the field of education are much more complex. Beyond the concerns about the organization of teaching and learning with the rise of AI—and the associated rights to privacy and safety—there are legitimate needs for instructors and learners to understand how AI affects their daily lives. What are the wider ethical considerations for using AI, particularly from the perspective of human rights norms? This paper critically analyzes some of the human rights at stake regarding the use of AI and its implications for the organization and content of formal education (K-12 and higher education). The human rights perspective on AI’s dynamic and changing field—AI human rights literacy—is critical to convey to instructors and learners as they navigate these new technological developments. This paper overviews human rights relevant to everyday encounters with AI in education. It proposes an AI Human Rights curriculum to help both learners and educators become critically aware of these human rights implications.

The PeaceJam Foundation: An Analytical Program Review through a Transformative Peace Education Lens

Whitney Hough — 2025-03-17

This article focuses on the PeaceJam Foundation Ambassadors Curriculum, analyzing how its content and structure align with a Transformative Human Rights Education (THRE) approach. A THRE approach centers on creating social change and encourages youth to analyze structures and conditions that lead to injustice. It embraces emancipatory learning strategies and promotes social change through both individual actions to address human rights violations, as well as through collective action to work toward wider community development. In this article, the author examines the strengths and limitations of how the curriculum’s content, structure, and context align with a THRE approach. The analysis includes takeaways for the wider field about developing quality human rights programming centered on community-engaged praxis, youth participation, transformative agency, and empowerment.