Episode 25: Audrey Osler, Part One

Human Rights Education Now!

Note: due to character limitations, this bio and episode details are an abbreviated version. Visit the HREUSA Podcast page for the full version HERE.
Audrey Osler is Professor Emerita of Citizenship and Human Rights Education (HRE) at University of Leeds, and Editor-in-Chief of Human Rights Education Review. She's the Co-Chair of International Association for Human Rights Education (IAHRE) and is known for HRE research addressing policy, curriculum, racial justice, and child rights in established democracies and post-conflict settings. She has worked for 13 years as a professor in Norway, and extended periods in the US, China, and Japan. Her books include Human Rights and Schooling: An ethical framework for teaching for social justice (2016); Where are you from? No, where are you really from? (2023); Nordic Perspectives on Human Rights Education (2024 Beate Goldschmidt-Gjerløw).
In Episode 25, Audrey Osler shares her origins of interest in human rights and HRE and the importance of language working with anti-racist education in the UK. She explains the impact of transnational activities on her approach to HRE and how listening to peoples’ stories and understanding their meanings have enriched her life. She discusses the relationship between universal human rights standards and local experience as critical to advancing HRE and sustaining concepts of humanity in conflict-ridden situations. She discusses educating for cosmopolitan citizenship with Professor Hugh Starkey, the centrality of migration in history and contemporary society, the significance of gathering stories from marginalized groups, legacies of colonialism, and the oversimplification of history taught to students. Topics discussed:

• Importance of human rights language in anti-racist education
• Impact of transnational activities on approaches to HRE
• Universal human rights standards & local experience in conflict resolution
• Educating for cosmopolitan citizenship; migration in history & contemporary society
• Reduction of “othering” with regards to marginalized groups
• Legacy of colonialism on history curriculum

Download PDF topic listing

Introduction and Closing Music Credit: “Awakening-Spring” by Ketsa, from the Album Night Vision. Available at the Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/night-vision/awakening-spring/

This music is used in accordance with this Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Information about that license is available here https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Human Rights Education Now! is produced and distributed in accordance with Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International. Information about this license is available here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/