National Education Association and National Union of Teachers
A Seminar on Using Teaching About the Magna Carta to Promote Human Rights
Concept Note
Introduction
1. It has been proposed that the National Education Association (NEA) and National
Union of Teachers (NUT) jointly hold a seminar for teachers focusing on civil
liberties, human rights and freedom. The NEA and NUT are keen to draw on the
expertise and experience of their highly successful professional development
programmes and to work together to build on this.
2. The seminar would facilitate knowledge and understanding of the Magna Carta. The
Magna Carta is a document of its time, but in it are values that are now seen as the
very embodiment of the ideas of freedom, justice, fairness and human rights. Many
commentators have linked the Magna Carta as having been influential in the
development of values underpinning, for example, the US Constitution, the
Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the 1955 African National Congress
Freedom Charter, the Indian Constitution and the Commonwealth.
In particular
the Magna Carta has influenced the American Bill of Rights in terms of two
critical decisions which have shaped equality in the United States: the 1954
Brown vs the Board of Education; and the Voting Rights Act.
3. The purpose of the seminar would be to develop teaching materials which could be
used to promote equality and human rights based on knowledge and understanding
of the Magna Carta.
Teaching materials to be specifically identified e.g. 10
lessons that might be used in 10 distinct contexts or one cross-circular unit
that contains 10 lessons.
The materials may also include resource
information such as source documents and links to related curricula or
organisations addressing these concepts.
The Seminar Proposal
4. The seminar would be for members of the NUT and NEA.
The format of the
programme would be based on the NUT TeachersTogether programme which is an
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opportunity for individuals or pairs. Teachers work together during a two-day
seminar and are encouraged to follow-up the work through further communication
with a partner teacher. Participating teachers will be 'linked' to provide professional
support to each other (using telephone, e-mail etc) as they try out teaching and
learning strategies in their classrooms.
Participants may be teachers of any
subject and we would hope to attract teachers from across traditional subject
boundaries.
There may also be an extra day prior to the event as preparation
and orientation for the NEA delegation in order to help them famliarise
themselves with the materials, documents and theoretical underpinnings of
the Magna Carta and rights based approach. This may include one of the
speakers/resource people / experts from within the delegation as a facilitator
to map out the current literature and programs in the US. There may also be
an educational program at the end regarding the issues that members of both
organisations face regarding co-existence within a multiethnic society (such
as the shared struggle to defend publish education or the way in which the
NUT works with the Commonwealth, Amnesty, Oxfam or other partners
around issues of human rights, migration).
5. The outcomes from the seminar will be collated as a publication for dissemination in
the UK and the USA. The programme is, therefore, capable of generating a
multiplier effect. The publication may be a compendium of all materials and
lessons or has overlapping materials but age specific and content specific
lessons. The materials to be developed should also be accessible by web.
6. It is proposed that the programme is led by a research/academic ‘expert’ in the field
of equality, Robin Richardson, director of the Insted consultancy, based in
London. Previously he was director of the Runnymede Trust, an independent think
tank on race equality and before that chief inspector for education in a London
borough. He is a member of the Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia
and in 1999-2001 worked as consultant and editor for the Commission on the
Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain. He is the author or co-author or several books,
including Daring to be a Teacher, Inside Stories and Inclusive Society. His two
most recent books are In Praise of Teachers (2002) and Equality Stories (2003).
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7. The programme would also include Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty since
September 2003. Shami first joined Liberty as In-House Counsel on 10 September
2001 and has been involved in the defence and promotion of human rights values in
Parliament, the Courts and wider society.
Advice from the NEA will be sought regarding suitable speakers.
Informal suggestions include Howard Zinn, Gloria Ladson-Billings, bell
hooks, Lisa Delpit, Bill Bigelow, Debra Menkart, Christine Sleeter as potential
speakers/experts.
There are also a number of great resources (human,
programmatic and material) through the Human and Civil Rights department
and the
Minority Community Outreach Office
that may be
useful.
8. The programme would be targeted at a maximum of twenty teachers.
9. The programme would have a particular focus on:

developing knowledge and understanding of the Magna Carta (copy attached);

analysing aspects of the Magna Carta related to human rights, freedom and
democracy; and

developing strategies and materials for teaching and learning about the Magna
Carta.
10. Further development of a successful seminar will include publication of teaching
materials.
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Draft Programme
Day 1
9.30 – 10.30
Welcome, Introduction and Programme Objectives
Steve Sinnott, General Secretary, National Union of Teachers
Reg Weaver, President, National Education Association
10.30 – 11.30
Analysis of the Magna Carta
Shami Chakrabarti and Professor Audrey Osler
11.30 – 11.45
Questions and Discussion
11.45 – 1.00
Initial Planning – Group Work
Facilitator: Robin Richardson
1.00 – 2.00
LUNCH
2.00
Visit to Lincoln Cathedral (including presentation on
the Magna Carta)
Day 2
9.30 – 10.30
Feedback from Visit to Lincoln Cathedral
10.30 – 1.00
Group work – Drafting teaching materials
1.00 – 2.00
LUNCH
2.00 – 3.30
Group work – Drafting teaching materials continued
3.30 – 4.00
TEA BREAK
4.00 – 5.00
Presentations from groups and discussion on content
5.00
Conclusion and forward planning
(Guided follow up activity, including trialling the materials and
dissemination of materials.)
Led by Robin Richardson
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Evaluation
11.
The programme would be fully evaluated. The evaluation process would include
systematic feedback from participants, tutors and evaluation of learning by pupils.
Staffing
12.
The publicity for recruitment to and general administration of the programme would
be incorporated into the normal procedures of the NEA and NUT.
Financial Implications
13.
The NEA would be responsible for the cost of flights for teachers involved from the
USA as well as any additional days requested to stay at Stoke Rochford. The
NUT would be responsible for cost of accommodation and facilities at Stoke
Rochford.
The NUT would additionally be responsible for the cost of the
involvement of Robin Richardson, Audrey Osler and Shami Chakrabarti. The NUT
would also cover the cost of a visit to Lincoln Cathedral for participants to see the
Magna Carta.
The cost of publication of the materials would be jointly shared
between the NEA and NUT. It would be helpful to identify costs for editing,
designing and printing.
Milestones

Summer 2007
–
Agreement on the concept note;

Autumn 2007
–
Planning and development of the programme;

Spring 2008
–
Two day seminar at Stoke Rochford;

Summer 2008
–
Publication of teaching materials

Autumn 2008
–
Dissemination of teaching materials.
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