. EDUCATION FOR PEACE .
An article from El Faradio (reprinted according to attributes of Creative Commons) (translation by CPNN)
The association Movimiento por la Paz, a member of the Cantabrian Coordinator of NGOs, has produced teaching material aimed especially at secondary education teaching staff with the aim of promoting a culture of peace.
The materials are part of a broader project that they have been developing through various channels (courses, training, exhibitions, social networks…) of the “five paths to peace”.
The culture of peace is made up of all the values, behaviors, attitudes, practices, feelings and beliefs that make up peace. But peace must be understood in a positive sense, as the overcoming of any type of violence, and not only as the absence of war. This is stated in Law 27/2005, of November 30, on “Promotion of Education and the Culture of Peace”.
To promote the culture of peace, tutors and teachers have two invaluable resources: a space and a group of young people with whom they can develop the commitment to build a more peaceful world. To promote this commitment, we focus on five areas: cultural diversity, gender equality, fight against poverty, care for the environment and Human Rights. The five paths to peace.
The socio-affective approach requires a coherence among the ideas, attitudes and behaviors that we want to transmit and the methodology that is used. It can be said that it is a vehicle for achieving honesty, for reviewing one’s own personal values, both for the people who facilitate the process and for the rest of the participants.
On the other hand, it invites positioning and commitment to reality, the assumption of responsibilities, to participate in the transformation of what we do not like in the world where we live.
Where is peace education taking place?
This is easier to do in company, because it generates interaction, participation, effective communication, trust, mutual knowledge, and empathy. It is a way of working that produces collective thought, knowledge and action.
Another argument that justifies the use of this methodology is the need for an education that connects us with the emotional level. Feelings are part of cognitive processes and condition our attitudes and behaviors. Conflicts must be resolved or transformed positively on an emotional level. Feelings allow us to know more about ourselves and about other people.
The socio-affective approach is nourished by the techniques of group dynamics, but it is a free space for experimentation that allows reflection.
The objective is that through feeling, thinking and acting, we favor the creation of a citizenry that feels part of the same community, that cares about collective issues and that develops a commitment to the local and the global.
The techniques include the creation of conscious groups that develop their own decision-making processes and, therefore, reflection.
Click here for the guide with the materials
MPDL
Movimiento por la Paz -MPDL- is a Development, Humanitarian Action and Social Action organization created in 1983. It is a member of the Cantabrian Coordinator of NGOs. Currently, it has a presence inside and outside our borders with more than 200 projects.
The delegation of the NGO in Cantabria, founded in 2007, works for Human Rights and the Culture of Peace with programs of International Protection, legal advice, labor advice, volunteering and education and awareness.
Training is one of its main lines of work. They also respond to queries on topics such as the management of unemployment benefits, information on labor rights during the State of Emergency, on training resources in Cantabria, knowledge about job search routes and the preparation of the curriculum vitae.
The organization also offers advice on immigration processes, deadlines, requirements to obtain documentation, work permit, nationality or any other legal doubt that may arise, at the contact: jm.carmona@mpdl.org. They also continue to report on the rights of Domestic Workers, requirements that must be met for hiring, salaries, conditions, calculation of settlement.
And the organization is an information point for women, receiving consultations, providing care or informing about resources for women who have suffered or suffer gender violence.