Abstract:
This article reports on a theoretical and empirical study exploring
the nature and extent of human rights coverage in the curriculum
in schools of social work at universities in Southern and East Africa.
In a mixed methods research approach, quantitative data were
gathered using an online survey, and qualitative data were collected
using semi-structured interviews and document study. The
findings indicate that countries’ socio-political contexts influence
the freedom of their higher education institutions to discuss human
rights and speak out about human rights abuses. Educators’ personal
viewpoints, training, and experiences influence the human
rights content that they present in the curriculum. Students are
not involved in curriculum design in the schools surveyed. The
study recommends that a new path for cultivating human rights
education for schools of social work in Africa be followed where a
decolonial human rights-infused social work curriculum and locally
relevant pedagogy are adopted. It calls for training for social work
educators to deliver and research a human rights-based curriculum
to be pursued from a decolonial perspective.
