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Teaching and Learning for Peace Foundation
an article by Ann Mason
As I am involved with the Teaching and Learning for Peace Foundation in Australia, I thought I would make contact with you. I am a peace educator (teacher for 31 years) who began the Teaching and Learning for Peace Foundation. My role with the Foundation is to write the resource materials, connect with similar organisations, work in schools, to manage the website and assess stories that we recommend as peace-building stories. I also work for Save the Children Australia in SA operating and writing materials for their UN Global Peace Schools Program.
We consider the most powerful change agent to be a good story especially if it is illustrated well. We believe that the right story can be used effectively by both teachers and parents to instill peace-building values, attitudes and understandings that our world so desperately needs to ensure that our children and their children have a sustainable and peaceful future. My writing focusses upon creating peace with ourselves, peace with each other and peace with the environment.
Our Foundation focusses upon grassroots change, by empowering children and their families to become imaginative and creative peace-builders. Our programmes do not focus upon changing education systems as we work directly with teachers, parents, families and children. My next writing will involve the creation of more peace-building stories that will focus more upon developing a "green" consciousness.
One outstanding story we are promoting at present is: Boundless Gratitude- Hassaun Ali Jones-Bey's How Paper and Ink Came Together and Survived to Sing About It. This incredible peace-building story is uniquely delivered by this magical musical storyteller whose engaging plot and characters truly instill powerful peace-building messages. I have written a teaching guide to accompany it. Hassaun lives in the San Francisco area. He can be contacted via his website at: http://boundlessgratitude.com/ I highly recommend you hear it.
Our Foundation's intentions are to raise consciousness and to develop peace-building values, understandings and actions that will help make this world a better place for our children. We truly believe that the magic is possible and to help this we can choose to share the right stories with our children. For further information, see our website at www.tlpeace.org.au .
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DISCUSSION
Question(s) related to this article:
What is the best way to teach peace to children?,
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LATEST READER COMMENT:
Maria Montessori believed that peace was innate within children. Her timeless educational philosophy was developed around this basic understanding. Perhaps all we need to do as teachers is to provide stimulating learning environments that validate this knowing and understanding and nurture it. We may not have to actually teach it, Sharing peace-building stories gently attends to this. Strong, creative and imaginative peace-building characters who focus upon win-win and have faith in peace being possible are at the centre of the story plots. In Hassaun Ali-Jones Bey's (Boundless Gratitude http://boundlessgratitude.com/products.html ) unique and mesmerising story, Black Ink is such a character who bravely crosses the universe seeking validation of what he knows in his heart. The magical character also models all the important peace-building values, understandings and actions needed for peace-building. I believe also that peace-building must be modelled and the whole teaching-learning environment should reflect similar values, understandings and actions...as is the primary focus of the Save the Children Australia UN Global Peace School Program upon which I am presently fortunate to be working. . ...more.
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