Model Curriculum For Human Rights and Genocide

Published for the California State Board of Education
by the California Department of Education
ISBN 0-8011-0725-3

This Model Curriculum for Human Rights and Genocide, which serves as a guide for classroom teachers, supports the curriculum and instruction described in the framework. Pages 1-5 of this document contain a model that can be used by developers of curriculum. This section provides the philosophical bases for including studies on human rights and genocide in the curriculum, identifies places in the history-social science courses where learnings can be included, and poses questions that will engage students in critical thinking on this topic.

Through the thoughtful interweaving of ideas, events, historical documents, and literature within the planned history lessons, we should help prepare students to be rational, humane decision makers and participating citizens in our democracy, citizens who understand what can go wrong if democratic principles are missing, and citizens who are dedicated to the protection of human rights now and in the future.