Which Right is Right? An Exploration of the Intersection between Religious Identity and the Human Right to Gender Equality in Two Different Teacher Education Contexts: South Africa and Norway

Abstract

This article argues that the intersection between personal religious identity and human rights issues needs to be explored. There is a need to bridge the gap between policy (the constitutions of countries such as South Africa and Norway espouse gender equality) and practice. Using gender equality as an example of a human rights issue, an intervention strategy is employed using an empathetic-reflective-dialogical approach to engage with pre-service teachers in both South Africa and Norway. Selected pre-service teachers are encouraged to engage in self-dialogue and to write their self-narratives. Participating in Communities in Conversation, Communities in Dialogue, and Communities for Transformation provides the platform for empathetic-reflective-dialogical restorying to take place. This restorying has the potential to address possible dissonance between the individual’s personal and professional identities when dealing with human rights issues. Classroom practice could become classroom praxis! There is also the potential for transformative practice in the wider society.