Conceptualizing the Right of Children to Adaptable Education

Abstract

The contention put forward here is that a conceptualization of the right to adaptable education, derived from international human rights law, may be a key factor in interpreting and reviving the notion of multiculturalism in education. We will begin by analyzing two interrelated dimensions of the right to adaptable education: adaptability to the children’s circles of cultural affiliations and adaptability to the children’s preferences. We will continue by describing the need to balance between the right to adaptable education and other features of the right to education - available education, accessible education and acceptable education - as well as with parental rights and social interests. We will conclude by suggesting that the right to adaptable education, as it is defined by international human rights law, can be employed both as a safeguard against denying children educational rights by using the pretext of multiculturalism and as a means for furnishing the notion of multiculturalism with honed, multilayered relevance.