Learning to live together: struggles for citizenship and human rights education

Citizenship education engages with living together in diverse societies where democracy provides a framework for lively struggles against discrimination by gender, ethnicity, class or sexuality. Drawing lessons from historic struggles against racist structures and ideologies, I note that leaders such as Mandela, King and Malcolm X invoked the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to invite solidarity, linking local and global communities in common citizenship. I examine some pedagogical challenges raised by earlier attempts to challenge narrowly nationalist perspectives. Education for cosmopolitan citizenship provides expression for multiple voices and promotes common standards that both include and transcend so-called fundamental British values