Democracy and diversity: teaching for human rights ... - IngentaConnect

Democracy and diversity: teaching for human rights and citizenship in post-conflict Iraqi Kurdistan Niroj Ahmad, Lena Lybaek, Izzuddin Mohammed and Audrey Osler Introduction In December 2010 the world witnessed the beginning of a wave of demonstrations and popular uprisings across the Arab world, which has continued into 2012. One common feature of these uprisings is civil resistance. A key slogan across the region has been ‘al-shab yurid isqat al-nizam’ (the people want to bring down the regime). Given popular demands for greater democracy, it is perhaps time to encourage public debate on the type of education needed to build and sustain democratic practices, so as to enable future generations to benefit from these struggles. In this article we report on INTERDEMOCRATE (intercultural and democratic learning in teacher education), a small scale research and development initiative in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan.1 The project aimed to address children’s rights and education for democratic citizenship (EDC). It made use of action research strategies, focusing on studentcentred learning (SCL). We understand SCL to encompass teaching and learning strategies which support democratic attitudes and enable students to realise their participation rights.

Late twentieth century conflict Present day Iraqi Kurdistan has experienced much conflict and instability in the second half of the twentieth century, resulting in a damaged infrastructure at home and a notable Kurdish diaspora across the globe, including Europe. The troubles and conflicts which impacted on Iraqi Kurdistan include: ■ a long history of border disputes with Iran

■ the Anfal genocidal campaign against the Kurds 1986-89 by the Iraqi military, under Saddam Hussein ■ the 1991 Gulf War ■ the Kurdish uprising 1991, mass displacement and subsequent humanitarian crisis ■ a brutal crackdown on the Kurdish population following the uprising ■ withdrawal of Iraqi administration and military, plus an Iraqi internal blockade from 1991 ■ an international embargo, following imposition of UN sanctions against Iraq 19902003. (McDowall, 2003; Yildiz, 2004) In 1992, the Kurdistan regional government was established, following a closely contested and inconclusive general election. But the Kurdish leadership was responsible for further difficulties. The rivalry between the Kurdistan Democratic party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) resulted in the de facto partition of the region (McDowall, 2003). By 1994, power-sharing agreements between the different parties had broken down, leading to civil war, or what is referred to in Kurdish as ‘brother killing brother’. This open conflict was brought to an end under the 1998 Washington Agreement. The 2003 invasion of Iraq and the subsequent political changes led to a new 2005 Constitution of Iraq, which defines Iraqi Kurdistan as a federal entity of Iraq. In 2006 the current unified Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) administration was established.

■ the Iran-Iraq war 1980-1988

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Race Equality Teaching © Trentham Books 2012

Education reform The KRG administration has focused on developing Kurdistan’s economy and infrastructure and, in 2009, turned its attention to educational reform. The reform extends the years of compulsory basic education to nine years; introduces new learning objectives; places greater emphasis on human rights and democratic citizenship in education; and makes a specific commitment to gender equity. The reform places great pressure on teachers. While they have been offered some training, most are not prepared for the changes, particularly as these imply not simply new curriculum content but also changes in teaching strategies. The KRG (2009) states that a key purpose of education is the development of ‘national, physical and spiritual attitudes ‘so that students become ‘healthy, honest and open-minded citizens’ ready to play a part in society’s development. The first of three points which teachers should address with students is: ‘Deepening love and a sense of loyalty for the homeland, instilling national pride and respecting human rights’ (KRG Ministry of Education, 2009:10). It is perhaps not surprising that in a newly autonomous region and in a post-conflict context there should be a strong emphasis on (Kurdish) nationalism and national pride, and in establishing a sense of unity. This is balanced to some degree by a focus on respecting human rights. What interested us was the ways in which teachers interpreted their professional roles, first, in educating for diversity and human rights – including gender equity – and, secondly, the ways in which they interpreted the requirement to promote unity and instil a sense of belonging in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The two schools We worked closely with three teachers in two schools. We selected the schools with the support of the city education authorities. (We have changed the names of the teachers and schools to protect their anonymity.) While both schools were expected to cooperate with the research team, a personal introduction at the first, Shilan School, was advantageous, since the


principal and staff proved to be more receptive to the research. Shilan School is situated in a new neighbourhood of Duhok and draws its students from a predominantly middle class area. The school was established in 2005, with new buildings on two storeys, including a science laboratory and specialist art room. Shilan is a co-educational combined primary and middle school, receiving students from Grade 1 (age 6) to Grade 9, covering the full range of basic education. There are 452 students in total. Pressure on school places is high. Despite the new building, students are obliged to attend in two sessions, with 36 teachers for the morning and 14 for the afternoon. We observed that class size is around 40 students. The principal has one assistant for each of the two sessions. During researcher visits, we found the principal to be receptive, expressing interest in the possibilities of human rights education and in encouraging a range of teaching styles. He was also ready to engage with us in debate about broader social and educational questions. At Shilan we worked with Mrs Halat, a teacher of social science with some ten years’ experience. Mrs Halat was keen to involve her students in the project. She is responsible for teaching human rights, history and geography to 7th, 8th and 9th graders. We understand her to be an energetic and popular teacher who is open to new ideas. She is concerned about students’ general well-being as well as their scholastic achievements. Mrs Halat was uncertain about how to break away from a traditional model of knowledge transfer. She was looking for new teaching strategies to enable greater student participation, particularly in human rights and history classes. Our second research school, Deman, lies in an older part of the city. It was established in 1988, in a one storey building with a science laboratory and a large school hall. Deman is a co-educational primary school, receiving students from Grade 1 to 6. Class size was around 40 to 45 students. Deman has 670 students and also operates two sessions per day. The principal has three assistants and 49

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teachers. Since the principal at Deman was somewhat reluctant to engage with us, we were obliged to adapt our research plans. At Deman we worked with two teachers. Mrs Loreen is responsible for teaching civics and has some 20 years’ experience. She already had some expertise in active learning strategies. She teaches civic education to students in grades 3 to 6 and human rights to fifth graders, using discussion, debate and role play. An expert in active learning strategies, she both attends and gives courses about these strategies. The other teacher with whom we worked at Deman School was Mrs Tara, an English teacher with around 15 years’ experience. Mrs Tara was determined to overcome the considerable difficulties which her students experience in foreign language learning. For this reason, she had also attended a number of courses on teaching and learning strategies which she hoped might enable her to support them more effectively. Her commitment was evident in her enthusiasm to meet students’ learning needs. The full international project team made two visits to the schools, at the start of the project in April 2011 and again some five months later. During our first classroom visits we observed that students sat in rows, usually in pairs, with girls and boys in different areas of the classroom. The teacher was normally positioned by the backboard on a raised dais. Conditions were often cramped and the heavy furniture – desks with attached benches – allowed for little freedom of movement. Three team members from Duhok University continued to work on a one-to-one basis with the teachers in the intervening period, mentoring and offering training on teaching and learning strategies. On our second full-team visit we observed students working in pairs and groups, the furniture rearranged, boys and girls sometimes sitting together, and the teacher moving among them. Following this visit, colleagues from both universities developed a set of questions designed to encourage teacher reflection on their experiences of SCL and on their understandings of diversity and gender equity.

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Diversity and gender issues in Iraq-Kurdistan Before reporting on the teachers’ perceptions, we make some observations about diversity and gender equity in Kurdistan-Iraq. The region encompasses an area of around 40,000 square kilometers in northern Iraq. It borders Iran, Turkey and Syria. Following the conflict, the majority of internally displaced persons were women and children with as many as 50 per cent of the most vulnerable children unable to access schooling – as attested in UN reports (UN-HABITAT, 2001; UNDG/World Bank, 2005). The traditional structure of Kurdish society is inherently tribal, with the tribe being a sociopolitical unit with distinct territorial limits and membership based on kinship (McDowall, 2003).

Diversity The Kurdish majority lives alongside smaller numbers of Assyrians, Chaldeans, Turkmen, Armenians and Arabs. According to the KRG, the region has a population of around 5 million, of which more than 50 per cent younger than 20. There has been no census, but estimates suggest Iraqi Kurds may comprise as much as 25 per cent of the total Iraqi population (Yildiz, 2004). There is also considerable religious diversity in the region. The majority of inhabitants, including Kurds, Iraqi Turkmen, and Arabs, are from the Sunni Muslim tradition. Within this grouping there is further diversity, with some individuals being observant and others adopting more sceptical or secular positions. The region also has populations of Assyrian Christian, Yezidi, Yarsan, Mandean and Shabak faiths. The KRG official languages are Kurdish and Arabic. The two most widely spoken Kurdish dialects are Sorani and Kurmanji. Kurmanji is spoken in Duhok.

Gender equity In a society characterized both by patriarchy and post-conflict dislocation, one pressing issue is gender equity (al-Ali and Pratt, 2011). We identify three inter-related challenges to realizing gender equity and the human rights of women and girls:


■ violence against women ■ traditional inheritance laws (Sharia law and traditional inheritance practices across faith communities which favour men) ■ low female school attendance rates. Efforts to tackle violence against women, an issue which has been highlighted both by local women’s organisations and by international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), has resulted in the establishment of women’s shelters to support the victims of domestic violence (Begikhani et al, 2010). Since 2003 there has been some discussion in local media of a societal failure to support such women, who although protected by law, remain vulnerable. Women may lack access to shelters, which in any case may close for lack of support. Some claim that shelters have allowed women at risk to be returned to their families. Traditionally, married women in Kurdistan are expected to receive support from their husbands. For this reason, many families, particularly in rural areas, consider it shameful to allow daughters to inherit property. While courts may rule in favour of women, it is still difficult for women to claim their inheritance. Under Islamic (Sharia) law women are entitled to receive one third, while their brothers receive two thirds. But in practice, even this unbalanced division is unlikely to occur. Female attendance at school is rising, with the Duhok area recording one of the highest levels of school attendance and lowest differential between boys and girls, both in Kurdistan and across Iraq (Griffiths, 2010). Local women’s rights NGO Harikar (2011) reports that parents in rural areas are readier to send their daughters to school where there is a women teacher. Harikar quotes an education supervisor as confirming the number of female teachers now exceeds the number of males in Duhok governorate. Since 2006, the KRG has also made particular provision to allow women to continue or restart their education. For example, the recent education reform states ‘schools or classes will be opened for accelerated learning programmes.


Students should not be younger than 9 for boys starting at grade 1 and not older than 20 whilst the girls should not be younger than 9 starting at grade 1 and not older than 24’ (KRG, 2009:13, Article 15). This provision recognises the traditional disadvantage that girls experience (Griffiths, 2010; UNESCO, 2011).

Teachers’ perceptions of active learning, democracy and human rights We invited the three teachers to respond to our questions on their professional understandings of diversity, gender equity, human rights and participation in education. They chose to provide written comments, since they were not comfortable with being interviewed. The quotations below are translated by the research team from the original Arabic. First and foremost, teachers associated active learning strategies with more effective learning: Before... the teaching method was traditional and the student was just the receiver of information, who learns the topic by heart ...the new method makes the student question, discuss and analyse under the supervision of the teacher ... especially regarding social sciences, because the student feels that these topics are complicated. (Mrs Halat) [With the new method] ... the student will understand the topic and s/he will never forget it because s/he takes part in explaining, presenting and discussing. (Mrs Tara) When I use role play, the student takes over the role of the teacher and explains the topic to the students. This will make him/her feel responsible and will improve performance. (Mrs Loreen) The impact on students of new teaching strategies, as perceived by teachers, was quite varied. While Mrs Halat again saw more effective learning, Mrs Tara referred to students being ‘more comfortable in the classroom’ (a change which we also observed). Interestingly, Mrs Loreen identified greater self-reliance and creativity in her students, qualities or dispositions we associate with democratic behaviour and problem-solving. 31

Our preliminary analysis of teacher discourses relating to citizenship, democracy and human rights, suggests three key issues. First, teachers focus on ‘personality building’ and relate it directly to the processes of citizenship building and learning to distinguish between ‘good and bad behaviour’. This appears to focus on individual moral behaviour more than on a vision of citizenship as a feeling of belonging to a nation or other political community. Nevertheless, Mrs Loreen observes: ‘The teacher should plant in the student’s mind that we all live in one homeland. There are no differences between us concerning [duties and rights]’ (emphasis added). The reference to the ‘homeland’ may reflect the ‘loyalty to the homeland’ and ‘instilling national pride and respecting human rights’ which we find in the 2009 reform. Secondly, teachers make a tentative link between the practices of studentcentred learning and enabling students to claim and defend their human rights, as well as protect and defend the human rights of others.

diversity in Kurdistan. Two of the teachers, Mrs Loreen from Deman School, and Mrs Halat from Shilan School, both adopt what we have termed ‘pragmatic’ or ‘realistic’ discourses. Mrs Halat says: The teacher should get students to accept coexistence in a multicultural, multi-faith surrounding by asking them questions to find out what they know about different religions and cultures... because the more information a person has the stronger his/her personality and ability to express him/herself. By contrast, Mrs Tara adopts what we have termed a ‘paradise’ narrative. She is not alone in adopting this position, for we have heard others, including people in educational leadership positions, express similar views: In our society co-existence exists from time immemorial. There is no discrimination between nations, races and religions and history testifies to this. ... We have always been brothers who love and tolerate each other, in class, in the neighbourhood, in the village and in the city.

Mrs Tara’s claims form part Thirdly, the teachers report that To deny past conflict or of a wider political discourse there are some difficulties in division risks the implication relationships between boys and that diversity (whether this is in Iraqi Kurdistan in which girls, but they are not thinking ethnic, political or religious) is the recent conflict among Kurds is denied. We would here of gender inequalities in itself problematic in argue that this discourse, society. Mrs Tara asserts that:’ democratic life. although undoubtedly part there is no discrimination of the rhetoric of Kurdish nationalism and between male and female in the coeducational shared political destiny, remains deeply schools, neither in class, nor in the playground, problematic within the context of schooling nor in activities’. She does observe that some since it denies a reality to which most children boys and girls are shy about sitting or working will be exposed, namely that of past conflict and with the opposite sex. Mrs Loreen also observes on-going inequality. that ‘problems occur’. Mrs Halat, who is teaching older students (14-15 year-olds) declares that ‘relationships between males and Ways forward females at secondary level is a negative one... In Iraqi Kurdistan educational reform is this affects both sexes in a negative way, so they introduced with the intention of strengthening should be separated at this stage’. In democracy, development and human rights. As conversation with a research team member she elsewhere, policies will be enacted only with the expands this, referring to ‘inappropriate’ cooperation of teachers. We suggest it is boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, which go impossible to build a sustainable peace unless against societal norms. societies (and educational practices) come to terms with the darker sides of our shared Fourthly, and importantly, there are over-riding histories. teacher narratives about peace, conflict and

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© UNHCR/Helene Caux

Readiness to face hidden, disputed or traumatic elements of national narratives is critical to the development of EDC both in fledgling and established democratic states. To deny past conflict or division risks the implication that diversity (whether this is ethnic, political or religious) is itself problematic in democratic life. Teachers need further support in implementing change. They need a language to talk about diversity as an essential feature of a democracy and something which is enriching rather than threatening to national unity. While the teachers with whom we worked were ready to adjust their teaching strategies to meet students’ needs, they did not necessarily recognise the need to engage with their students in an intercultural dialogue. Since unity is stressed more than diversity, there is presently no discussion of how curricular materials might be adjusted to ensure cultural relevance and applicability to students’ everyday lives. As our data suggests, we need to engage with teachers to understand their realities and engage in a dialogue about democracy, diversity and human rights. These are critical steps in the task of constructing a peaceful and democratic future.

Note 1

The project, funded by the British Council’s DelPHE programme (British Council, 2010), builds on a partnership between Buskerud University College, Norway and Duhok University, Iraq. We are grateful for the support of all project members, particularly to Adnam Ismail and Nadia Zako for their data collection which we draw on in this article.


References al-Ali, N. and Pratt, N. (2011) Between nationalism and women’s rights: the Kurdish women’s movement in Iraq. Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication 4: (337353. British Council (2010) Delphe-Iraq http://www.britishcouncil. org/delphe-iraq.htm Accessed 16 January 2012 Begikhani, N. Gill, A, and Hague, G. (2010) Honour-based violence (HBV) and honour-based killings in Iraqi Kurdistan and in the Kurdish Diaspora in the UK. Centre for Gender and Violence, Bristol University, UK, Roehampton University, UK in partnership with Kurdish Women’s Rights Watch. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/sps/research/projects/ reports/2010/rw9038reportenglish.pdf Accessed 20 February 2012 Griffiths, M (2010) Girls Education in Iraq. http://irak.alterinter. org/IMG/pdf/UNICEF_Girls_Education_in_Iraq_2010.pdf Accessed 20 February 2012 Harikar (2011) Enhance Women Rights Education, Heritage and Life in Dohuk and Nineveh Governorates. http://www. harikar.org/index.php?page=view&id=68 Accessed 27 February 2012 KRG Ministry of Education (2009) Basic Education School System. Secondary Education School System. Kurdistan Region-Iraq, Council of Ministers, Ministry of Education. School System. (Official translation in English). McDowall, D. (2003) A Modern History of the Kurds. London: I.B. Tauris. The Kurdistan Region. (2012) http://krg.org/articles/ ) Accessed 10 January 2012 UNESCO (2011) World data on education: Iraq.VII edition 2010/11. Geneva: UNESCO / IBE. http://unesdoc.unesco. org/images/0021/002114/211439e.pdf Accessed 20 February 2012 UN-HABITAT (2001) IDP Site and Family Survey. http://www. unhabitat.org/list.asp?typeid=3&catid=203 Accessed 20 February 2012 United Nations Development Group/ World Bank (2003) Republic of Iraq: Housing and Urban Management Sector Report. 10 September. UN-HABITAT http://www.unhabitat. org/list.asp?typeid=3&catid=203 Yildiz, K. (2004) The Kurds in Iraq: the past, present and future. London: Pluto Press.

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