What Would Martin Luther King Jr. Say? Teaching the Historical and Practical Past to Promote Human Rights in Education

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Abstract
How might teachers challenge oversimplified narratives regarding the life and deeds of Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), in order to support ideals of human rights in education? In this study, we examine ongoing history education where teachers try to promote a more radical human rights perspective on the history and legacy of MLK by contrasting contemporary uses of history with primary sources from the era of the civil rights movement. Teachers ask students to engage in tandem with what we call the ‘historical’ and ‘practical’ past and we find that this may be constructive, but also challenging, in human rights education. We observe that students are able to deconstruct textbook narratives but find it difficult to challenge authorities and media that oversimplify popular perceptions of the past. Yet many students did learn a more active perspective on the life and deeds of MLK, evident even a year after the initial teaching took place, clearly influenced by the authentic historical writings of MLK. This study highlights important potentials and limitations in the attempts to teach students about, through and for human rights by making the past both historical and practical. This study also illustrates ways that promoting alternative historical perspectives can help students interrogate the past alongside their own present.
Funding Information
  • Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation

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