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Philosophical foundations of human rights is not an easy topic for teachers or students: it involves, for example, thinking about the nature of humanity, the idea of natural rights, the function that human rights play in the political arena, or the discrepancy between the ideal of equal human dignity and the dehumanizing and \u2018othering\u2019 practices of the real world. Yet teaching a course about such serious matters can be fun, if you have a committed group of students who are willing to tolerate their teachers\u2019 whims \u2013 such as the teachers\u2019 asking the students to use Lego bricks to illustrate Hannah Arendt\u2019s basic ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, we did other things than played with Legos. The course is a reading seminar in which the students read the assigned texts beforehand and during the seminar sessions work with the texts in small groups. The class work included structured group discussions, as well as drawing mind maps and preparing short power point presentations. In one seminar session, we decided to try something new and see if Lego bricks could be utilized while grappling with the main points of the text in question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We did not give very detailed instructions to students, rather just gave them the option to use the Lego bricks to present main points of the text if they felt like it. In addition, the groups had discussion questions to reflect on. The groups were small: 4-5 students in each, both Finnish and international.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We were a bit unsure about how this experiment would work, but in the end were amazed how well the bricks could be used to visualize and concretize more abstract issues. Doing something concrete with one\u2019s hands while discussing the subject matter helped, we hope, in learning and memorizing the main points of the text. The Legos seemed to spark good discussions and to facilitate teamwork. They also brought back many childhood memories, for both students and teachers, in this way illustrating the little things out of which our common humanity \u2013 on which human rights are based \u2013 is made of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The difficulty for us teachers was how to select a suitable collection of bricks for each group (not too many and not too few bricks, about equal amount to each group. We also wanted to include human and animal figures as well as commodities such as some money, food or wheels). Luckily, we both (as parents!) had an extensive collection of bricks at our homes at our disposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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