Human Rights Education and Intercultural Competence: Foundations for Democratic and Inclusive Schools
Georgios Bestias
Abstract
This essay examines the essential integration of human rights education (HRE) and intercultural competence (IC) as foundational principles for fostering more democratic and inclusive education in contemporary multicultural societies. In this context, school education must serve not only as a means of knowledge transfer but also as an effective transformative practice at the heart of social justice, equality, and active citizenship. At the pedagogical level, this paper explores human rights education and intercultural competence alongside experiential learning, which is crucial for developing a deeper understanding of power relations, cultural biases, and the abuse of rights through action-based approaches such as role-playing and service learning. Integrating HRE and intercultural education into curricula enables students to develop democratic principles and values and to adopt a democratic way of life.