The Role of School

in
Peace Education
 What is ?

Peace is not only the absence of war and

physical violence. But also the presence of
conditions of well-being and just
relationships among humans and between
humans and Mother Earth.
 Peace with nature is considered the
foundation for positive peace. It is because
the earth is ultimately the source of our
survival, physical sustenance, health and
wealth.

- Mische, 1987
Mahatma Gandhi once stated,

“If we are to reach real peace in this

world we shall have to begin with the
children.”
 Lasting peace may depend on educating
future generations into the competencies,
perspectives, attitudes, values, and
behavioral patterns that will enable them to
build and maintain peace.
Peace Education
NO TO WAR!

NO TO WAR!
 Peace education is teaching the information,
attitudes, values, and behavioral competencies
needed to resolve conflicts without violence
and to build and maintain mutually beneficial,
harmonious relationships.

- (Johnson & Johnson, 2003c, 2005c, 2006).

 Peace education can be defined simply as
“the process of teaching people about the threats
of violence and strategies for peace,” and may
take place inside or outside a classroom.

- (Harris, 2008, p. 15)

Why teach peace?
 The Situation in our country :

 Armed Conflicts

• Now mainly between gov’t & non-state

armed actors.

• Costs of violent conflicts: human material

& environmental.
- 250,000 people die each year from armed
conflicts.
 Philippines facts:

• 26 people die daily from murder and

homicide (PNP);

• Ranks 10th – in number of gun homicide

rates worldwide;
 In the 2010 Global Peace Index, among
the least peaceful countries , rank of 130 out
of 149 countries.

 Other forms of violence

• Structural
• Socio-cultural
• Ecological
Structural

- Globally, 925 million people are

hungry (1 of 7 people, FAO, 2010).

-Philippines: 32.9% of the population

are considered poor (1 of 3).
Socio-cultural

- People are killed or hurt because they

differ from the rest in terms of ethnicity,
religion, sex, ideology, among others.

Ecological

- Overconsumption, pollution
 What is a culture of peace?

Beliefs, values, behaviors, and ways of life

that reflect respect for human dignity, reject
violence in all its forms, prevent violent
conflicts by tackling their root causes and
recognize the importance of cooperation,
dialogue and acceptance of diversity.
(UNESCO)
• Peace education mobilizes teachers to take
part in a campaign for change.

• The educational system fulfills the peace

education mission for society through the
schools, which have the authority, the
legitimacy, the means, and the conditions to
carry it out.
• Schools are often the only institution that society
can formally, intentionally, and extensively use to
achieve this mission.

• School is where most young people spend most of

their time. School helps shape a person’s character.
Classrooms and schoolyards are places where every
child can be heard, where conflict can be resolved
positively, where critical skills can be learned among
friends.
• Peace education needs a setting in which it
may be delivered. While it may take place in
churches, summer camps, youth organizations,
and so forth, the most natural setting for peace
education are schools.
 To ensure that all children, youth, and young
adults in the society receive peace education,
schooling must be:

(a) compulsory;
(b) ethnically, culturally, and religiously
integrated;
(c) a microcosm of a peaceful society.
How Do Schools Implement Peace Education?

• Prepare the curriculum

• Through the contents of the textbooks and
instructional materials
• Set guidelines for organizing the political
climate in the schools
• Add extracurricular programs
• Train teachers
Recommendations for making teachers functional
in peace programmes:

• Orientation courses should be mounted for

teachers and emphasis should be laid on the
teaching of values of peace.
• Teachers need to be trained before they are
allowed to practice in schools. The training
should reach the university teaching staff, as it
is the base where reconstruction of ideas along
the line is most viable.
 Lantieri and Patti (1996) remind us that as
teachers we have to transform ourselves before we
can expect to see changes in the learners.

• For instance; in order to help young people

confront their prejudices, we have to confront
our own and commit to changing our negative
attitudes.
• Schools should be well equipped. It is then that
proper teaching could take place.

• Education should be well funded so that

students unrest would be reduced to the bearest
minimum.
• Symposia, conferences, debates, seminars,
talks and displays of instances of war and
outcomes of peace should be encouraged in the
field as the existing teachers will be saddled
with the role.
The Peaceable Teaching – Learning Process

Cognitive Phase
(Being aware, Understanding)

Active Phase Affective Phase

(Taking practical action) (Being concerned,
Responding, Valuing)
What is a peaceable classroom?

- A peaceable classroom is characterized by

affirmation , cooperation, communication,
appreciation for diversity, appropriate expression
of feelings and peaceful conflict resolution.
 Teachers can teach peace by integrating
the values, facts and methods of peace and
global education into the curriculum.

Many teachers are already doing so, for

instance:
 In elementary grades children learn to
cooperate and share through games and role-
playing. They recognize their responsibilities for
making their classroom a peaceful place, and
begin to handle positively their own conflicts.
 In middle school teachers introduce global
education and concepts of peace from other
cultures. Students learn to work cooperatively, to
research and analyze media, to track the political
and social trends of a global economy in the light
of some national objectives.
 In Secondary school students examine some
realities of global interdependence, environment,
economics, law. They critique national and global
organizations and their own expectations for
peace and development.
TO THE EDUCATOR:

Touch the mind.

Touch the heart.
Encourage the will to action.
TO ALL, incl. the learners:

Know peace.
Value peace.
Act for peace.
 The creation of peace is a long, ongoing process
that will take years to accomplish, but at least the
generations to come will have the chance to
experience its benefits. It must become our united
goal as human beings to live with one another in
peace and harmony. Through the generations to come
that will benefit from the fruits of our efforts towards
creating a world of peace, it can still be a rewarding
effort to our being.
Peace is in our hands
Thank You !
&
God Bless