Bringing Human Rights Education to Schools

OBESSU Study Session 2016

Budapest, Hungary

Jane M. Hayes Nally

On the 24th of April, President Rob and I travelled to Hungary to take part in the OBESSU Study Session “Bringing Human Rights Education School”.We spent a week in the culturally and historically rich backdrop of the city of Budapest, our session taking place European Youth Centre, an amazing venue with a stunning conference room overlooking the beautiful city. The view, over the duration of the week, provided an outlet for me. I used to gaze at the cityscape when we had our coffee breaks and energizers. It was an opportunity to contemplate the new information I had learned, the concepts I had developed, and the ideas I had been inspired by.

 The aim of the session, from an OBESSU perspective, we were told, was to empower school students to be HR advocates by bringing HRE to schools.The objectives were toCreate awareness of HRE and to explore it in practice.To explore current Human Right issues in Europe by linking local, national, European and global levels.To familiarise participants with the COE instruments in Human Rights, (The Charter on EDC/HRE) and how to work with them.Investigate and share participants organizational realities in relation to HR/hre.Analyse the role of SSUs and other stakeholders in formal education in fostering common action regarding HRE.To create a link between Student Rights and HR.To get to know the work and resources of the Youth Department of the COE and how to use the in practice.To provide a space and support participants in planning and implementing HRE actions.On Monday morning we were introduced to our agenda, which was illustrated so well by the “Human Rights Island”. I thought this was such a good idea. The poster hung at the end of the conference room for the entire week, reminding us how much we had learned and how far we had come.We were introduced to human rights, and what the term really meant, but not before we were asked to define it ourselves (also a great idea; asking participants to look at their own understanding before acquiring outside information).The exercise was challenging for sure. My definition is belowThe most basic standards for human beings to achieve physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing and health, and to ensure basic safety and security.During the second day of the Study Session, through a simulation game, we were treated to a very insightful experience on Human Rights and Human Rights. I thought this was such an interactive idea and something we should incorporate into ISSU events if the opportunity presented itself.. The afternoon was dedicated to brainstorming on current violations of Human Rights in our closer communities, in Europe and in the world. We all became “journalists” and shared the stories from different perspectives to raise awareness on the different issues affecting people from all over the world. Groups such as Romas and Refugees came up. I believe myself and Rob used the example of the travelling community in Ireland. During the final session of the day, we explored the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights as well as the European Convention on Human Rights.Here are the posters which the prep-team members used to present on the structures in place to protect human rights. Me and Rob both thought this was amazing! It made a huge difference to not have to sit and watch a powerpoint for 20 minutes, but to listen to a presentation with these really cool stickers and symbols. It personally made me understand the structures a lot more and I can still retain what I learnt on that day!I remember having some reservations about an aspect of this day. I thought the UN Declaration on Human Rights was very open to interpretation. The vast majority of countries have signed it but it isn’t actually implemented in half of those countries. For me this makes the document a little tokenistic. I wondered about how this could be addressed, and have trying to find a resolution ever since.The third day of the conference served to further explore the instruments and mechanisms available to protect and defend Human rights.We were given a document about a clothing factory in Bangladesh which was structurally unfit for purpose. The factory eventually collapsed killing many people. This tragic case led to discussions on where our clothes were produced, and why sweat factories infringed on the human rights of so many people. This was so interesting to me. It shocks me that we are okay with buying our clothes from places like Pennies and completely disregard the conditions of the people who made these clothes.We simulated a case from the European Court on Human Rights and further explored other documents available to them like the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. During the afternoon participants were introduced to the concept of Human Rights Education and they reflected on the competences it tries to promote. At the end of the day, we watched Path to Dignity, an inspiring documentary on the power of HRE to change people's’ lives. It served as food for thought to reflect on the importance of providing HRE. This was an amazing exercise! I have attached the links to the video as I really enjoyed them and couldn’t stop thinking about them after dinner.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahE0tJbvl78“I’m partial to a bit of the Iron Curtain myself”-Rob at the Millennium monument, Heroes Square. Turns out it wasn’t actually a Communist monument. Nice one Rob.The fourth day started with a sharing of experiences from each of the organisations and countries represented at the event, when it comes to HRE. We reflected on our activities as school student unions and discussed how our national curricula include Human Rights Education.Myself and Rob presented mostly on CSPE.I found this session sooooooo interesting. It was for sure one of my favourite parts of the week. I just found it fascinating to listen to how other european SUs go about promoting Human Rights Education. Here are some examples;The fourth day of session ended with a midterm evaluation in which participants reflected on their own learning process and expectations. We spent the rest of the afternoon discovering the beautiful city of Budapest.With recovered energies, the fifth day was dedicated to imagining how educational systems could incorporate Human Rights Education and what were the are obstacles and opportunities on the road to achieving this goal . During the afternoon, Domagoj Moric from the GOOD Initiative from Croatia joined the study session to facilitate the discussion on what are the main stakeholders when trying to bring HRE into Formal Education and to share the experience of an initiative in Croatia. He was a very interesting speaker and myself and Rob soon learned that his proposed initiative was very similar to CSPE in Ireland, but much better The last session of the day was dedicated to introduce different resources available to implement and promote HRE in different settings and environments.This was also a huge favourite of mine. It was at this session that Laufey Maria told us about the Manual for School Students, which is an amazing piece of literature. I am currently in the middle of my study of it and I would recommend it to every Irish student. It can be found here; http://www.obessu.org/publicationsSaturday was the last day of the entire event and it focused on the future.We were asked to reflect on how the week changed us personally, and how we would bring everything we learnt homeA final evaluation was carried out, and the conference came to an end.I can say, at the end of the most amazing week in Budapest, that I am so so inspired by everything I have experienced. Firstly, the Prep-Team. I cannot even imagine the amount of work that went into organizing the topics and mechanisms used during the session. I know it would have been so stressful and very tough going, but they did it fantastically. It was completely unlike any event I have ever been at, and by far the best.They were so inspirational, and I will be taking a leaf out of their book when we organize different events this year. Secondly, the subject matter. This conference completely informed me on the European and global human rights structures. It opened my eyes up to the violations of human rights and why bringing education like this to schools was just so important.One aspect of the week really influenced me however. Speaking to the representatives from SUs all over Europe made me remember why ISSU was so vital in Ireland. I came home to Cork on Sunday evening, my head was spinning it was so full of ideas for the year ahead. The ISSU have such an important purpose and we have amazing potential. I am so grateful that I got to attend this OBESSU event and remind myself of all of these things.

One year on from the Junior Cert

Saoirse Kearney shares her experience & study tips for the Junior Cert

The Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate are both very important and very stressful exams, but a lot of the time the Leaving Cert overshadows the Junior Cert as there’s hype over the CAO and college. This may be the case but the Junior Cert is important in many different ways. It’s the first time that you experience what a State Exam is like and the amount of preparation that is involved. It’s a very stressful and sometimes traumatic experience for a lot of people. I completed my Junior Certificate in June of last year. I chose The Higher Level paper for all of my 10 subjects, and received a total of 6 A’s and 4 B’s. I am proud of my grades but this bothered me as my aim was to get A’s in every subject.In the final weeks coming up to the Junior Certificate I started to panic as I feared that there wasn’t enough time to study every topic in every book for every subject. The thoughts of having to complete 14 exams which totaled to 32 hours in an exam centre, all in 10 days was terrifying. Listening to other peoples study routines and how much they were studying also worried me, but I realised at the end of April last year that the same study plan doesn’t work for everyone and that you’re the only person that can decide the amount of work and study style that is best for you.Study TipsBy this stage in the year all your language orals should be completed and your practicals should be finishing up in the next week, so now all your attention turns to studying. All through 2nd and 3rd Year we are always told different ways to study and what was the ‘most effective’ way of studying. Some of these included spider diagrams, flashcards, buzz words and memory cheats. But again, it’s up to you to find what study method suits you best. I personally found flashcards useful for subjects like Science, Home Economics, Geography and Spanish. For Spanish and Irish I did vocabulary tests every few days on different topics, for example.    For History I found memory cheats very handy. Let’s take the "People in History" Essay question with the topic of Christopher Columbus, I made a cheat to help me remember key points to use in the essay.• My memory cheat would look something like: Columbus Got Frightened In Norway Cos 33 Sailors Captured Him For AttackingAlthough this cheat has no relevance to the topic of Columbus, it’s catchy and easy to remember. Now I knew that the first letter or number of every word in the sentence stood for an important point so in the exam I could develop each into one or sometimes a few sentences. Below is what the letters really stand for.• Columbus Genoa Ferdinand Isabella Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria Canary Islands 33 days at sea San Salvador Cuba Hispanola Failed to find the spice islands Amerigo VespucciI also used cheats for Business and Science and overall found them very helpful.Breaks, Sleep and EatingI know what it’s like when you feel like you can’t afford to lose time to take a break or other times you feel like throwing the towel in and spending the rest of the year on a permanent break, but it’s essential that you have a good schedule for breaks. Last year I made sure I took at least a ten minute break every hour to an hour and a half, this may seem like a lot of time to be wasting but trust me you’ll feel re-energised by taking a few minutes to rest and by doing so you’ll be able to take in more information.If someone was to ask me “what’s the most important thing when studying”, I would say sleep. Study and Homework can sometimes go late into the night but I think it’s essential that you get at least 7-8 hours uninterrupted sleep each night, especially in the last two weeks coming up to the exams. During the exams I would advise to sleep even longer and to take naps after exams if possible. I’m not going to lie, you will be very tired in the last week before exams and during the exams so try to get as much sleep as possible. If you are waking up sweating with the worry over your exams then don’t worry you’re not the only one, a lot of people have sleepless nights coming up to exams. It’s important to talk to a friend or family member if you’re stressed as this may help to reduce stress.Also food is very important. Unfortunately, I turned to sugary foods like chocolate and cakes last year as do a lot of people, but I wish I had stuck with healthy foods. I would suggest having a good healthy breakfast every morning. This can be a problem for a lot of girls especially as many don’t eat breakfast at all but it’s vital that you have breakfast as you will be more alert and be able to take in more information. Porridge is a good choice as it is a carbohydrate and releases energy slowly, therefore it will keep you energised until lunchtime. In addition to porridge also have at least two pieces of fruit for breakfast.Also, try to exercise every day, go for a walk, get fresh air, practice your favourite sport. Taking an hour or even half an hour every day to do something to take your mind off study will help you in the long term.MathsI think overall Maths can be the most daunting exam for people. It’s not like other subjects where you can memorise definitions or points, people fear maths as the questions are unknown and sometimes you can’t really prepare for certain questions. You can memorise your theorems but chances are a theorem may not come up in your exam. The only thing you can do to prepare for maths is to practice, practice, practice! Even if this means doing the same question over and over again, the only thing you’ll do is improve and become quicker at answering questions. I know I sound like a teacher but practicing questions helps. Most maths teachers choose the Edco examination papers, these are helpful but my maths teacher chose to get exam papers from educate.ie, I found this company’s exam papers incredibly helpful as they not only had the past exam papers but they had many practice papers and they also had twice as many questions to practice than the Edco papers.The MocksMocks can be an eye opener for most people, sometimes you may not do so well in a subject that you are good at, in others you might get a better result than expected. What I will say is not to take your mock results for granted, they are only a tester, they don’t symbolise what you will get in June. For example, I got the highest result in my year for Home Economics in my mock, I won the Junior Cert Awards for both English and Home Economics in my school, and I was also praised for my cross stitch project and my cooking by many teachers. When it came to the final weeks of study, I didn’t spend much time on Home Economics as I thought I already had an A in the bag. When results came out, I got a B and I was certain that whoever was correcting my paper had made a mistake, but after getting my paper rechecked my result remained at a B. To this day I regret not spending more time on Home Economics and for taking my mock result for granted.Tips for the exam day• Have a good sleep the night before• Eat a good and sufficient breakfast• Make sure you have all equipment needed for exam eg. Pen, ruler, calculator, etc.• Remember your exam number• Arrive at your exam centre at least 20 minutes before your exam is due to start• Wear a watch- it’s vital that you’re aware of your timing during the exam• Prepare a rough plan in your head for what order you plan to answer the questions in• Stay calm• Read over every question before you hand up your paper as once you hand it up there’s no going backAt the end of the day, just stay calm and know that there is only so much you can do, we’re only human. We’re not supposed to remember absolutely everything we’re told especially when we’re gaining huge amounts of information at one time like in the Junior or Leaving Certificates, but you can work on ways to remember certain material and ways to look after ourselves during an intense time of studying. Talk to your teachers or parents/guardians if you are worrying or stressed, they’re all here to help you.Please note: Blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. If you are interested in becoming an ISSU Exam Blogger, contact info@issu.ie with your name, school year and contact details.

Press Statement: Mental Health Funds

PRESS STATEMENT 20th April 2016

The National Student Executive of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU) is highly concerned in relation to the proposed reallocation of €12 million mental health funds. They are advocating for the reintroduction of guidance counsellors to all second-level schools.Speaking this morning, Rob O’Donnell (President) said;“All efforts should be made to protect every young person within their time in second-level education. The mental health of students is of the utmost concern, and we are deeply concerned with the proposed cutbacks to funding. Guidance counsellors, teachers and school management are already under extreme pressure due to education cutbacks. Adding this cutback will be a huge step backwards in a time when there is wide recognition for the need of adequate nationwide mental health services.”***ENDS***Contact ISSU Main Office 01 443 4461 / communications@issu.ie

ISSU NSE 2016-2017

ISSU National Student Executive 2016-2017Election ResultsInternational Officer: Ellen O' RourkeCampaigns and Communications Officer: Chloe GriffinIrish Language Officer: Liam MorrisStudent Council Support Officer: Kate LehaneWelfare and Equality Officer: Joe MeeEducation Officer: David BoyceSecretary: Alex FogartyHon. President: Rob O'DonnellDeputy President: Cárthach ó FaoláinPresident: Jane M. Hayes Nally Elected at the ISSU AGM, Liberty Hall Theatre, 24/02/2013

AGM 2016

Annual General Meeting 2016 "Creating the Student Proclamation".

Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2016 of Student Councils will be taking place on Thursday 24th of March in Liberty Hall Theatre in Dublin city centre.This is a one day event which will involve Student Council members and other students coming together nationwide!

Our National Student Executive elections will be taking place at our AGM also. This is a fantastic opportunity for any student who wants to represent students on important issues that affect their time within second-level education. The student officers drive the work of the ISSU on a yearly basis, so if you are interested or know someone who is interested make sure to put yourself forward for a position! Nominations and registration for AGM 2016 are now open! Students must register online to attend!

Our first information letters have been sent to all schools. If you would like a hard copy of a registration form or have any other queries, please email us at info@issu.ie or call 01 443 4461.

Each member school can send two voting delegates, and one non voting delegate! Non-member schools can send two non-voting delegates. Any student of a member school can run for any position on the National Student Executive! See below for registration and nomination forms!

[mbuttons color="b_orange" transition="Write buton-1 or ...buton-6" url="https://form.jotform.com/60532531103945"]Register for ISSU AGM 2016[/mbuttons][mbuttons color="b_green" transition="Write buton-1 or ...buton-6" url="https://form.jotform.com/60533389025960"]Nomination Form for National Student Executive[/mbuttons][mbuttons color="b_blue" transition="Write buton-1 or ...buton-6" url="https://form.jotform.com/60533509422955"]Motion Submission[/mbuttons]

1916 Dublin Event

We are delighted to invite students from the Dublin region to our 1916 event "The Student Rising - honouring a past Ireland and changing her future" which is taking place in Trinity College Dublin on Friday the 26th of February.

We extend this invitation to 2 students from each second-level school in Dublin. Student's must complete the registration form below to attend. Make sure to complete the Parental / Guardian consent form which will be emailed to you and bring this with you on the day!

If you have any questions please contact our offices at 01 443 4461 / info@issu.ie

[mbuttons color="b_pink" transition="Write buton-1 or ...buton-6" url="https://form.jotform.com/supportingstudentvoice/1916"]*1916 Dublin Registration*[/mbuttons]