University extension, basic education and human rights education

experience report of the ‘Voices of children, adolescents and youths: Human Rights education’ project

Abstract

This study presents an experience report on the ‘Voices of children, adolescents and youths: education in human rights’ extension project, which was developed by the Unifesp, at the Baixada Santista Campus/Health and Society Institute. The initiative aims to promote spaces for listening, reflection, and collective action with children, teenagers, and youths from public schools in the Baixada Santista, Brazil, based on the liberating praxis in popular education. The project incorporates the understanding that children and adolescents are subjects of rights, seeking to encourage their active participation in the articulation of knowledge and in the transformation of their realities. To this purpose, it articulates education in human rights with cultural circles on the Brazilian Statute of Children and Adolescents, encouraging knowledge of the fundamental rights of the legislation, strengthening autonomy, and valuing social participation. The proposal arises from the commitment to education that goes beyond the walls of the university and connects with the concrete experiences of the territories. By integrating teaching, research, and extension, the project promotes dialogue and the articulation of knowledge between children, adolescents, and extension workers of the project, contributing to the construction of emancipatory educational practices and to the qualification of professional and civic training.