麻豆直播

A case study on 麻豆直播 Guiding Principle 3, Prioritising Human Rights

鈥�It鈥檚 really nice to learn about (human rights) and see how the world can be better and how we can contribute to it, but also what has already been done and how far we have come.“

Yutika, 5th year student

鈥�When you have that taster of the information in school it makes you curious鈥�when you have that kind of curiosity it makes you want to learn more about it and makes you want to solve more things about it.“

Khadijat, 5^th year student

Context

St Joseph’s College, Lucan, is a Catholic school for girls with a diverse student population. As a CEIST school, St Joseph’s is guided by the values of respect and responsibility with a focus on empathy and inclusivity. There is also a passion for prioritising human rights. This is most evident among a group of students from 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th year who, along with their Religion teacher Megan Plummer, come together in room G57 or what they proudly call the 鈥榃omen鈥檚 Empowerment Room鈥�.

鈥�It makes it much easier to talk about the difficult issues when you鈥檙e in a room surrounded by people who will listen, who will be honest, who will talk to you and you feel comfortable with.“

Sienna, Transition Year Student

The sense of empathy among the students in the Women鈥檚 Empowerment Room is palpable. Students consistently highlight how real-life stories and case studies have deepened their understanding of human rights issues; how hearing lived experiences personalises and 鈥�makes it more real鈥� (Kathy, 5^th year) allowing learners to emotionally connect and empathise with people suffering human rights abuses. This learning environment not only provided a warm welcoming space for this case study, it also contextualises Global Citizenship Education (麻豆直播) characterised by hope and feelings of empowerment in St Joseph’s College. 

Finding 麻豆直播 Connections Across the Curriculum

Michelle Dunne, the WWGS lead contact, teaches Chemistry and Environmental and Social Studies and started out her 麻豆直播 journey with a school garden project and a focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Michelle became aware of Megan Plummer鈥檚 Religion classes and her work on human rights, women鈥檚 rights and human trafficking. Collaboratively, Michelle and Megan sought out 麻豆直播 connections across the school, taking note of what other staff members were doing, sharing ideas and building capacity along the way. Michelle referred to this process of building 麻豆直播 connections as a 鈥榤ultiplier effect鈥�, driven by student interest and knowledge and increasingly supported by class teachers. 

Students and their teachers at St Joseph鈥檚 find spaces to explore human rights in History, English, Politics and Society, Religion, CSPE, Climate Action and Sustainable Development, Transition Year projects, the Senior Book Club, Concern Debating, and more. The table below represents some of the 麻豆直播 curricular connections already in action in St Joseph’s. Download the pdf file to access the links here.

Michelle and Megan intend to use the WWGS Global Passport to present the 鈥榖igger picture鈥� to the entire staff, to demonstrate the 麻豆直播 connections across the curriculum and to use it to support a whole-school approach to 麻豆直播.

Human Rights Inspiring Hope

The students in the Women鈥檚 Empowerment Group were aware of their own human rights lens on the world around them. As 5^th year student Lauren put it, 鈥渙nce you start seeing it (human rights issues), you can鈥檛 stop, you can鈥檛 not see it鈥�. These students recognise that human rights issues are not limited to far away places; they recognise the local to global connections. Lauren highlighted that human rights abuses are not confined to 鈥�the TV or radio. It happens here, it happens to people the same age as me, just like me and it鈥檚 not just some far off country, it鈥檚 us, it鈥檚 here, it鈥檚 now鈥�.

The WWGS Guiding Principles are evident in the knowledge, understanding and empathy these girls express: in particular Unlearning and Reconstructing, Prioritising Human Rights and Making Local to Global Links. The students are cognisant of the gravity of human rights abuses, and while they describe it as 鈥榙aunting鈥� and 鈥榮cary鈥� they also express the need to be 鈥榖rave鈥�, to create safe spaces, to speak up, to advocate. What was most profound was their expressions of hope. In addition to human rights inspiring hope, the students expressed feelings of empowerment.

鈥�I think when you become more aware, I think it does help you become a bit more hopeful. In the sense that you do something and you feel like oh I鈥檝e actually done something, I鈥檓 actually making a difference and there鈥檚 active hope in that. I鈥檓 actually contributing, I鈥檓 actually helping people, I鈥檓 helping spread awareness and it鈥檚 as simple as that.鈥�

Lauren, 5^th year

鈥淪ince we started talking about these human rights issues, I am a lot more open to speaking up in class, like if there鈥檚 a debate or something I am now more likely to speak up and argue a side.鈥�

Vanessa, 5^th year

Exploring Human Trafficking as a Human Rights Issue

Religion teacher Megan is passionate about Human Trafficking as a human rights issue. Her interest was sparked during the 2020 lockdown as she engaged with a survivor鈥檚 testimony online. Megan did her own research into the topic, found and created resources and connected with relevant organisations to support her and her students to explore the issue.

Human Trafficking Awareness Month

For the last 3 years Megan has organised human trafficking awareness month in St Joseph’s College. A key aspect in January 2025 was the sculpture by Timothy Schmalz. This emotive sculpture, on loan from the Irish organisation (APT), was displayed in the school鈥檚 central area and during assembly so that all classes could view and engage with it. APT has a number of resources for secondary schools on their , including the CAPTIVES Programme, an educational resource highlighting Human Trafficking in Ireland. 

A group of Transition Year students took the initiative to create a video about the sculpture and its meaning. They wrote a script, presented, recorded and edited the video themselves. The video was shown to all staff and students and the intention is to present it at future Human Trafficking Awareness Months in the school. It was also played at the TY Graduation, where the student film creators received a Global Citizenship Education award from the school for their dedication to human trafficking awareness.

International Human Trafficking and Social Justice Conference (IHTSJC)

As a result of Megan connecting with Dr. Celia Williamson, founder of the , students Anna (TY) and Sarah (5^th year) will participate in the 2026 conference by way of a prerecorded opening and closing video statement. The 2鈥�3-minute videos were professionally recorded and edited by a videographer who works with TY students in St Joseph鈥檚.

Fundraising: bringing awareness as well as cakes!

St Joseph’s has hosted a number of student-led fundraising initiatives aimed at raising awareness of human trafficking and women鈥檚 rights. These events included a bake sale and book sale in aid of , an information desk and fundraiser for (network of migrant women living in Ireland), dragon boat racing for Breast Cancer Ireland, selling wrist bands for Women鈥檚 Aid and more. 

For information on these organisations and other 麻豆直播 facilitators, see the WWGS Directory of 麻豆直播 Facilitators on our website.

Students from the Women鈥檚 Empowerment Group pointed out that fundraising offers an opportunity to 鈥�educate others (on human rights) in a light-hearted way鈥�, to express empathy and to stand in solidarity with those affected by these issues. To ensure critical 麻豆直播, fundraising was scaffolded by the teaching and learning carried out in classrooms (see table above) as well as through the events of human trafficking awareness month (for more ideas on scaffolding 麻豆直播 events and activities see the WWGS Guide to Scaffolding). One ongoing scaffolding activity is a workshop on female genital mutilation, led and delivered by 6^th year student Emani, supported by her teacher Megan and facilitated by other class teachers. Emani is rolling out this peer learning project across the whole school, acting as a role model to others, making learning more relatable and encouraging dialogue on a sensitive human rights issue.

Advice for Exploring Human Rights Issues

Human trafficking, and the associated human rights issues, engages educators and learners in emotive and controversial topics. Megan emphasised the importance of open dialogue, active listening and the creation of safe spaces:

鈥淚 am a firm believer that you shouldn鈥檛 avoid difficult conversations, because it’s so important, and you never know who might need to hear it that day, or even in 10 years鈥� time鈥︹��. So number one don鈥檛 avoid it and number two create an open space where students can have a conversation, where they feel valued鈥�.

Megan鈥檚 advice is to start off with what students already know, break down stereotypes and link human rights to values. She stresses the significance of explaining to students why this is a human rights issue, why it鈥檚 important to you as an individual, to us as a society and to them as global citizens in the here and now.

For more on Creating Safe and Inclusive Classrooms see pages 5 and 6 in the WWGS Activities Resource, available for download in English and as Gaeilge on our website. 

*Megan Plummer is available discuss this topic in more depth, share resources and provide more detail on the school events. If you wish to get in touch with Megan email WWGS at info@worldwiseschools.ie

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