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What's Being Done On . . . Civic Education for Democracy ?
Interview with David McQuoid-Mason, member of the Law Faculty and head of the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies' Street Law and Democracy Education Program at the University of Natal in South Africa, and a participant in the World Movement Q: What is the overall mission of the University of Natal's civic education program? What are the advantages of the methodology you use? A: The overall mission of the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies' Street Law and Democracy Education Program at the University of Natal is to enable high school students, school teachers, prisoners and community groups to understand the importance of human rights, democracy and the law, to demystify the law, and to show them how the law can be used to advance and protect human rights. The advantages of the methodology used are that they are interactive and based on experiential learning. Q: As some nations incorporate civic education programs into national policy, what do you find to be the biggest obstacle to formal and informal civic education programs? How does your university program try to overcome such challenges? A: Democracy and human rights education is incorporated into national education policy within the curriculum on human and social sciences as citizenship and civics and as part of life orientation. The biggest obstacle is the lack of trained teachers to teach the subject and the lack of materials. There is also a lack of will by school principals who would rather allocate more time to traditional academic courses than to law, human rights and democracy. The Centre tries to overcome this challenge by training law students to go into high schools, prisons and communities to teach about law, human rights and democracy, by providing training for teachers, and by developing appropriate teaching materials. Q: In what ways does the curriculum at your school form a linkage between democracy and civic education? A: The human and social sciences curriculum specifically provides for the incorporation of democracy and human rights education as citizenship and civics and life orientation skills in each year of the school program. Q: How have the Internet and new communication technology changed civic education programs in South Africa? A: It may have some impact in the well-resourced schools, but the vast majority of schools, particularly in the rural areas, are under-resourced and do not have access to the Internet. The reality is that traditional methods of teaching prevail that do not rely on students having access to the Internet. Q: How can education programs such as yours help civic education groups create an open dialogue to build awareness and increase participation? A: We have good relationships with education departments, the prisons and communities. However, the ability to create open dialogue and build awareness, and to increase participation, is hamstrung by a lack of financial resources. If there was a secure method of funding that was not dependent on donors, far more could be achieved. It is hoped that the program will become accredited by the South African Skills Enhancement Training Authority (SETA) in which case organizations using the program (such as the Department of Education) would be able to pay for the Centre's services and recover the money from SETA. Q: Thank you very much. We wish you the best of luck in your work at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies program. I hope that other participants in the World Movement working with civic education around the world will take advantage of your experience by contacting you to share information and ideas. About "What's Being Done On . . . " For three months at a time, we highlight the activities of various organizations in different global regions, and links to important resources, that are focused on a particular theme or area of democracy work. Each new theme is announced via DemocracyNews, and the information from the previous installment is placed in the archives below. We hope to receive and post information about the work you or others may be doing that is focused on these issues. Send information via e-mail to the or by fax to (202) 378-9889. |
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