Peace Education

PEACE
EDUCATION
A transformative Response to
Major Societal Challenges

Peace does not have a
universal and
consensus definition.

Peace Education
- is the process of acquiring the values, the
knowledge and developing the attitudes,
skills, and behaviors to live in harmony with
oneself, with others, and with the natural
environment.

PEACE EDUCATION AROUND THE WORLD
 Within the wide range of different peace
education programs, a common general
objective can be found. They all aim to
foster changes that will make the world a
better, more humane place.
 Different educational systems in various
states around the world have provided
peace education throughout the twentieth
century up until today.

 A review of the programs of education for
peace in different states indicates that they
differ considerably in terms of ideology,
objectives, emphasis, curricula, contents,
and practices.
 Peace education is often a mirror of the
political, societal, and economic agenda for a
given society, because peace objectives
often contain a direct challenge to the
present state of a society within the
suggestions for change.
PEACE EDUCATION AROUND THE WORLD

AUSTRALIA AND PEACE EDUCATION
In Australia peace education focuses on
challenging ethnocentrism, cultural chauvinism,
and violence, on the one hand, and promoting
cultural diversity, nuclear disarmament, and conflict
resolution on the other.

JAPAN AND PEACE EDUCATION
In Japan peace education mostly targets
issues of nuclear disarmament, militarism,
and the nature of responsibility for acts of
violence performed in the past.

SOUTH AMERICA AND PEACE EDUCATION
In South America, peace education is
preoccupied with structural violence,
human rights, and economic inequality.

UNITED STATES AND PEACE EDUCATION
In the United States, peace education
programs often concern prejudice,
violence, and environmental issues.

Introduction:
 The greatest resource for building a culture
of peace are the people themselves, for it is
through them that peaceful relationships are
created.
 Educating people toward becoming peace
agents is central to the task of peace building.
 Peace building – refers generally to the
long-term period of building peaceful
communities, a desirable goal.

 A new way of thinking about peace is important
today.
 Our ideas shape our feelings and our actions, as well
as how we live, and how we relate to each other
confidential to me.
 The simplest and most widespread understanding of
peace was that absence of death and destruction as a
result of war and physical/direct violence.
 It was realized that it was not only war and direct violence
that caused death and disfigurement. Structural violence
also led to death and suffering because of the conditions that
resulted from it: extreme poverty, starvation, avoidable
diseases, discrimination against minority groups and denial
of human rights.
HOLISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF
PEACE

 Peace is both the absence of personal/direct violence, and the
presence of social justice.
 The meaning of peace can be captured by the idea of a negative
peace and the idea of a positive peace.
 Negative peace refers to the absence of war or physical/direct
violence, while positive peace refers to the presence of just and
non-exploitative relationships, as well as human ecological
well-being, such that the root causes of conflict are diminished.
 Peace with nature is considered the foundation of “positive
peace” because the earth is ultimately the source of our survival,
physical sustenance, health and wealth; it is not possible to provide
for human survival if nature’s capacity to renew itself is seriously
impaired. It must also be remembered that human behavior is
intimately related to the availability of basic resources.
HOLISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF
PEACE

Peace
Positive Peace
Presence of conditions of
well-being and just
relationships: social,
economic, political,
ecological
Structural Violence
e.g., poverty, hunger
Socio-cultural Violence
e.g., racism, sexism
religious intolerance
Ecological Violence
e.g., pollution,
overconsumption
Negative Peace
Absence of direct/physical
Violence (both macro and micro)
Direct Violence
e.g., war, torture, child and woman
abuse
Violence

Types of Violence
 Betty Reardon, a peace educator who has made significant
contributions to the field, defines violence as “humanly inflicted harm”.
level
Form
of violence
Personal
Interperson
al/Communi
ty
National Global
Direct/
physical
Suicide
Drug abuse
Domestic
violence
Violent crimes
Civil War
Violent Crimes
Human rights
abuses
Conventional
war
Nuclear war
Human rights
abuses
Structural/
economic,
political
Socio-cultural/
psychological
Powerlessnes
s
Alienation
Low self-esteem
anxiety
Local inequalities
Poverty, hunger
Prejudice/enemy
images
Cultural domination
Racism
Sexism
Religious
intolerance
National inequalities
Poverty, hunger
Prejudice/enemy
images
Cultural domination
Racism
Sexism
Religious
intolerance
Global inequalities
Poverty, hunger
Prejudice/enemy
images
Cultural domination
Racism
Sexism
Religious
intolerance
Ecological Over-
consumption
Over-
consumption
Pollution
Over-
consumption
Pollution
Chemical and
biological
warfare
Over-
consumption
Pollution
Chemical and
biological
warfare

Peace education or an education that promotes a
culture of peace, is essentially transformative. It cultivates
the knowledge behaviors that, in the first place, have either
created or exacerbated violent conflicts.
It seeks this transformative by building awareness
and Understanding, developing concern, and finally,
challenging personal and social that will enable people to
create conditions and systems that actualize nonviolence,
justice, environmental care and other peace values.
PEACE EDUCATION AS
TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION

This means that the learning
process utilized in peace education
is holistic and it tries to address the
cognitive, effective and active
dimensions of the learner.

The Peaceable Teaching-Learning Process
Cognitive Phase
(being aware, Understanding)
Active Phase Affective Phase
(taking practical action) (being concerned, Responding,
Valuing)

Why Educate for peace?
 Betty Reardon reminds that peace education has an important social
purpose: it seeks to transform the present human condition by “changing
social structures and patterns of thought that have created it.”
 Learning to Abolish War; Teaching toward a culture of Peace the main
purpose of peace education are the elimination of social injustice, the
rejection of violence and the abolition of war.
Peace education is a Practical imperative
 Educating for peace will give us the long run the practical benefits that we
seek. As stated earlier it is expected to build a critical mass of people who will
demand for and address the needed personal and structural changes that will
transform the many problems that relate to peace into nonviolent, humane and
ecological alternatives and solutions

Schema of knowledge, skills and attitudes/values for peace education
Attitudes/Values
1. Self-respect
2. Respect for others
3. Gender equality
4. Respect for life/
nonviolence
5. Compassion
6. Global concern
7. Ecological concern
8. Cooperation
9. Openness & tolerance
10. Justice
11. Social responsibility
12. Positive vision
Skills
1. Reflection
2. Critical thinking &
analysis
3. Decision making
4. Imagination
5. Conflict resolution
6. Empathy
7. Group building
Knowledge
1. Holistic concept o peace
2. Conflict & Violence causes
3. Some peaceful alternatives
Disarmament
Nonviolence-Philos.& practice
Conflict resolution, Trans-
formation, prevention
Human rights
Human solidarity
Democratization
Development Based on justice
Sustainable Development

Attitudes/Values
It is suggested that the following attitudes and values be cultivated:
• Self-respect
• Respect for others
• Respect for life/nonviolence
• Gender Equality
• Compassion
• Attitudes/Values
• Global Concern
• Ecological Concern
• Cooperation
• Openness/Tolerance
• Justice
• Social Responsibility
• Positive Vision
• Skills

Some of the skills that need to be
developed are:
• Reflection
• Critical Thinking and Analysis
• Decision-making
• Imagination
• Communication
• Conflict Resolution
• Empathy
• Group Building

6
Petal
s of
Peac
e
Intercultural
Solidarity
Environmental
Peace

DISMANTLING THE CULTURE OF WAR
- concerned with mitigating all support for the war
system, including competitive games, gender
oppression, defense spending, oppressive security
systems and the sale of toys that mimic violence
and teach children destructive behaviors( i,e. toy
guns and knives, violent video games, excessive
violence in film). It includes dissolving weapons
access as well as disarming the mind from hate.

ENVIRONMENTAL PEACE
- includes fostering global
stewardship, simple living, and
combating the environmental
degradation that accompanies
unsustainable development and
war.

Education for Justice and Compassion
- deconstructs globalization
processes, neoliberalism, and the
notion of a commons.

EDUCATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
- introduces students to their civil,
economic, political, cultural and
religious rights, among others, and
assesses the nature of violations of
these rights.

INTERCULTURAL SOLIDARITY
- it is concerned with interactions
between differing groups and cultural
norms, and national and international
institutions that perpetuate violence or
foster peace.

Harnessing Inner Peace
- allows students to evaluate their own
physical, emotional, and spiritual
states as well as the interplay between
micro and macro conflicts.

Spiritual
and Faith
Traditions As
Resources For

•The world’s major spiritual and faith traditions
inspire and motivate people to embrace peace as
a mission.
•Although religious believers have gone to war
and committed acts of violence in the name of
their faith, “the conflicts were actually rooted
not in matters of faith, or even of
religion, but in conflicting claims
to social and political
(and economic) goals”
(Machado, 1993).

•A close look to the original
teachings of spiritual faith traditions
indicates that they are essentially
wellsprings and resources for peace.
•We need to rediscover the
principles and values that they
uphold, to remind us of the essential
mission of each faith tradition to
seek peace.

Cooperation and understanding among
various spiritual and faith traditions have now
become imperative.
We now seek the common ground of shared
values among the diverse faiths to show that
despite the diversity, we are one humanity, with
the same fundamental aspirations for mutual
respect and acceptance, and for living together
in peace.

Some of the common peace
teachings that the various
spiritual traditions subscribe to
are:
1. The rejection of violence.
2. Love and compassion for other
humans.
3. Love and compassion for other
creatures and life forms in nature.
4. Respect human dignity.
5. Justice for fairness.

The Golden Rule, “Do to others what
you would want them do unto you”, is a
maxim that is found in all the major world
spiritual traditions – Christianity, Islam,
Buddhism, Hinduism and the Indigenous
tradition.

Upholding Human Dignity is at the
center of the values system the we
associate with social peace.
Human Dignity - is defined as the
fundamental innate worth of a human being,
a principle that is now universally accepted
but has not taken root in the action
practices of many governments,
communities and other non-state actors.

The principle of human dignity is enshrined in
the teaching of major faiths.
For instance, in Christianity, this would be rooted
in the belief that God created human beings in
His image.
It is likewise a commandment of Jesus that we
love our neighbor, even one’s enemies.
Upholding human dignity

In Islam, it is believed that all human beings have
the right to life at conception, and after birth, a
right to full opportunities to lead a rewarding and
satisfying life (Mohmood-Abedin, in Mische and
Merkloing (eds.), 2001).

Education that seeks to uphold human dignity is
often referred to as human rights education, which
is within the umbrella we call peace education.
In peace education, one of the central concerns is
the promotion of human dignity and well-being
because of the conviction that this is the
foundation for peace.

Betty Reardon aptly noted that the
achievement of positive conditions of
human rights provide the foundation of a
nonviolent social order and greatly reduce
the causes of armed conflict and war
(Reardon, 1995).

Peace Theme #2:
CHALLENGING PREJUDICE
AND BUILDING
TOLERANCE

Gordon Allport (1958) asserts that humans have a
propensity toward prejudice.
This propensity lies in their normal tendency to form
generalizations and categories whose content represents
an oversimplification of their world of experience.

Prejudice is the negative or attitude towards a person or
a group even if it lacks basis.
Stereotype refers to the negative opinion about a person
or group based on incomplete knowledge.
Discrimination refers to negative
actions toward members of a
specific social group that may be
manifested in avoidance, aversion
or even violence.(Franzoi, 1986)

Types of Prejudice:
 Racism – the belief that one’s own cultural or racial heritage is innately
superior to that of others, hence, the lack of respect or appreciation for
those who belong to a “different race”
 Sexism - a system of attitudes, actions and structures that subordinates
others on the basis of their sex where the usual victims are women.
 Heterosexism - negative attitudes towards lesbians and gay men
 Classism – distancing from and perceiving the poor as “the other”
 Linguicism – negative attitudes which members of dominant language
groups hold against non-dominant language groups.
 Ageism – negative attitudes held against the young or the elderly
 Looksism – prejudice against those who do not measure up to set
standards of beauty. The usual victims are the over-weight, the undersized
and the dark-skinned
 Religious intolerance - prejudice against those who are followers of
religious other than one’s own.

Thus, stereotypes, being negative beliefs about
group, can form the basis for prejudicial
feelings, which, in turn, may lead to negative
action or to discrimination.

People have become increasingly unkind toward
those who differ from them in terms of skin color
and other physical attributes, ethnicity, religion, sex,
gender or socio-economic class.
We have made “differences’’ an excuse for prejudice
and exclusion.
Hence, building tolerance and respect for diversity
becomes an imperative in a world where intolerance
for differences has become a justification for
violence.

A lack of respect for differences,
among other factors, has given rise
to conflicts between and among
groups. Teaching for tolerance will
aid in protecting human rights and
in saving lives

Peace Theme 3: Promoting Nonviolence
Nonviolence is the refusal to do harm to other humans life is
sacred and is an absolute value. It is anchored on the belief that
humans have the potential to change.
Why nonviolence?
 It is both an ethical and moral choice.
 Destruction is not the law of human
 nonviolence is a practical choice. Tools and effects of
violence are costly.
 nonviolence works

Peace Theme 4: Challenging the War System
 War is classical or international if it is between states, or civil or
internal, if it occurs between rival groups or communities within a state.
Possible causes of war:
 Territorial disputes
 Lack of differences
 Ideological or power struggles
 A history of colonialism and the process of
decolonization
 Competition of resources

Effects of war
 Most horrible effect of war is Massive Death
 Cause people to flee their homes
 Weapons to proliferate
 Lose their livelihoods and their access to food supply
 Loss of investments
 Destroy property and the environment
 Raze opportunity for tourism
 Wars disrupt children’s’ education
 Great fear and trauma among the population.

Peace Theme 5: Sharing the Earth’s Resources
 The highly uneven distribution of wealth and resources is
situation of violence known as Structural Violence.
 This violence refers to the systems, institutions, and policies
that meet some people’s human needs, rights or wants at he
expense of others.
 Hunger and Poverty are symptoms of this violence

Other Causes of Poverty:
 War and armed conflicts disrupt the people’s livelihood and all
productive activities.
 Political systems created by local political elite that have combined
with profit-motivated economic systems that reduce opportunities for
most people to earn enough to meet their basic needs.
 Inequitable distribution of wealth and resources much of which has
begun in colonial history.
 Environment conditions.
 Lack of opportunities such as employment.
 Lack of education
 Corruption
 Over consumption
 Greed

Peace Theme 6: Resolving and Transforming Conflicts
Conflict is from the Latin word conflictus which means
striking together with force.
Main options in dealing with conflicts:
 Avoidance or withdrawal
 Aggression
 Accommodation
 Compromise
 Collaboration

What is Mediation?
-An attempt to bring about a peaceful settlement or compromise between
disputants through the objective intervention of a neutral party.
Mediator - a person who attempts to make people involved in a
conflict come to an agreement.
Characteristics of a good mediator:
 Impartial to establish trust among parties in conflict
 They should be nonjudgmental and understanding
 Should be flexible and creative
 Know how to reframe situations and broaden perspectives
 Good at analysis
 Show regard and concern for the parties in conflict
 Trustworthy and optimistic
 Should anticipate a positive outcome and influence adversaries
with such hope.

The Peaceable classroom:
- Is characterized by affirmation, cooperation, communication,
appreciation for diversity, appropriate expression of feelings and
peaceable conflict resolution.
- A peaceable classroom is one where students feel safe and secure.
It is a place where they grow as persons without threats of being
ridiculed, marginalized or hurt.
Some ways to help create that atmosphere of love and
acceptance in our classroom:
• Declare your classroom a zone of peace and establish rules to achieve it.
• As the teacher, let this peace begin with you.
• Affirm your students
• Express feelings appropriately and encourage students to do so.
• Encourage respect for and acceptance of differences.
• Employ more cooperative than competitive activities.
• Teach students how to resolve conflicts peacefully and constructively.
• Practice students’ skills of communication.

Teaching-Learning Approaches and Strategies in Peace Education
• Discussion
• Pair Share
• Visualization/Imagination Exercise
• Perspective-taking
• Role-playing
• Simulation Games
• Problem-solving
•Considering positions/Issue poll
• Encouraging actions
• Reading or writing a quotation
• Web-charting
• Use of film and Photographs
• Telling Stories, including Personal Stories
• Song/poem Analysis
• Sentence Completion
• Journal Writing/Individual Reflection
• Go-Round
• Teachable Moments
• Interviews/Research
• Expert Resources
• Reciprocal Teaching
• Twinning Projects
• Dialogues

• Exposure Trips
• Use globes and maps
• Brainstorming
• Reading quotations
• Use of charts and graphs
• Case Studies
• Collage-making
• Show and Tell

Attributes of a Peace Educator
 The teacher of peace is a responsible global citizen, an intentional agent of a
culture of peace, a person of vision, capable of hope and the imaging of positive
change.
 S/he is motivated by service and is actively involved in the community.
 S/he is both a transmitter and transformer of cultures.
 S/he is a seeker of mutually enhancing relationships that nurture peace and a
sense of community.
 S/he is gender sensitive and alert to any possibility of gender bias in self or
students.
 A teacher of peace is constructively critical.
 A teacher of peace intentionally develops the capacity to care by knowing the
learners in their charge as individuals.
 S/he is an inquirer.
 S/he has the skills of reflective learning through which s/he applies what is
learned from teaching to deepen his/her own understanding of the students and the
learning processes.
 A teacher of peace has the skills of communication and conflict resolution.
 S/he practices cooperative learning by encouraging cooperative learning tasks
and discouraging negative competition or in-group – out-group behavior among
students.
 A teacher of peace inspires understanding of alternative possibilities for the
future and for a culture of peace.

Towards a Whole School Approach
 In a whole school approach, we try to engage all learning areas, all the
members of the school community (students faculty, staff) and the wider
community.
 The approach also includes other aspects of school life such as
teaching practices and methods, student activities, administrative policies,
school structures and relationships, as well as social action for and with
larger community.
 A whole school approach is important because the consistent peace
messages and values found in the various aspects of the school and
community will facilitate and reinforce the intended learnings.

Peace Education

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Peace Education