Unicef’s Rights Respecting Schools Award as children’s human rights education

Abstract

Children’s human rights education is a complex area for schools to handle. Therefore, it is not uncommon for schools and teachers to seek guidance from actors outside school. This article examines UNICEF UK’s Rights Respecting Schools Award with the aim of shedding light on ways in which the programme can support successful work with children’s human rights education. The programme’s main aims are identified, and research about the programme is examined to determine to what extent the aims seem to be achieved in schools that use it. The analysis shows that the programme holds good potential to support successful work with children’s HRE, but that some areas of the programme need to be developed to provide a full HRE. A lack of strong research evidence for a programme effect is also noted.