Category Archives: EDUCATION FOR PEACE

Activity Report: The Turkey-UK “Peace Education in Teacher Training” Workshop

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by the Global Campaign for Peace Education

The “Peace Education in Teacher Training” workshop took place between the dates 18th-19th January, 2018, at the Ness Hotel in Kocaeli. This workshop was organized by Kocaeli University, Faculty of Education. The workshop was supported by TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) and organized under the programme of Support for Cooperation and Organizing Activities for Events within the Bilateral Cooperation between Turkey-UK. The aim of this workshop was to understand the diversity of students in schools in Turkey and the United Kingdom and to share knowledge and experience for peace education. During the workshop, participants discussed various training programs, methods and strategies necessary for the ability to live peacefully in social life, and to develop cooperation between practitioners and researchers across the two countries. Participants included 17 peace education academicians and practitioners, 10 of which were from Turkey and 7 from the UK.

The opening ceremony and first session took place at Kocaeli University, Faculty of Education. During the opening ceremony, the Vice-President of the University, Dean of the Faculty, and Chair of the event each shared their support for peace education in the university. Following this, there were ten sessions during which peace education concepts – such as the meaning of diversity and peace, content and consequences of peace education, and efforts toward pre-service and in-service teacher training were discussed. Specifically, the workshop provided space for the sharing of best practices within peace education in Turkey and the UK. During the discussions, diversity and multiculturalism emerged as core issues across the contexts. During the discussions, it was found that “diversity” is often referred to as “inclusion” in the UK, “multiculturalism” in the US, and “inter-culturalism” in Turkey. The diversities were discussed to be based on not only race, religion or nationality, but also social class, economic class, ableism, sexual orientations, academic abilities, and social deprivation. It was made clear that the starting point for diversity management depends on the perspective from which the individual educator and school approaches diversities. In particular, these approaches include perspectives that are communal, interpersonal, political and global. Concerning strategies, the participants promoted the acceptance of others, training of social skills for the classroom, role modelling, and raising culturally responsive students to manage student diversities successfully.

The aims and content of the peace education were discussed in detail during other sessions. The participants of the workshop discussed that the aims are divided into two levels: micro-level and macro-level. Among the micro-level aims, the understanding of possibilities of peace, awareness of one’s own emotional and personal sources, and the recognition of innate personal values, values about friendship and values about community were discussed. For macro-level aims, the societal peace through social justice was regarded as the ultimate aim. When it came to the content of peace education, it was divided into four categories including values, skills, knowledge and process/methodology. Compassion, respect for diversity and nonviolence were among values of peace education while cooperation, inner peace methods, conflict resolution, inquiry listening, problem solving, critical thinking, dialogue, and activism related to how to promote social change. In addition, the understanding feelings, learning human rights and children rights, environmental education, and interculturalism were among the core knowledge constructs participants felt should be included in peace education programs. Lastly gender equality in hidden curriculum, participation, and asking open questions were among the processes/methodologies discussed.

During the sessions, it was discussed that the peace education content should change according to educational stages and context of the education. Participants divided peace education content into three levels which were affective (socio-emotional), cognitive (knowledge) and practice (skills) levels. For pre-school education, the affective aim seeks to foster empathy-building by doing empathetic activities, such as empathy in the playground. For primary school and middle school, the practice level actions might include imagining alternatives to violence and improving personal problem-solving skills. The cognitive level of peace education for primary and middle schools could include intercultural engagement. Also the affective level peace education should concern generating feelings and actions toward coexistence. For high school and colleges/universities, the practice level content could include brainstorming social alternatives to violence. This would make students more aware of benefits of peace.

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Question for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

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The effect of the country’s demographic and political structure on peace education was another topic discussed in the workshop. It was decided that demographics should only describe people, not serve as separating and labelling mechanisms. Unfortunately, it was found that the countries’ political and economic structures affect peace education a great deal. The participants discussed that the hegemony of governments surely prevents investments in peace education. In relation to this, it was put forward that schools too often promote the dominant culture and that peace educators must remain aware of this.

How peace educators should be trained both during pre-service and in-service was also discussed during the workshop. Being a peaceful person was regarded as a prerequisite to being a peace educator, but what this meant was contested. Also, the participants discussed that peace education should be an interdisciplinary field of expertise rather than being a separate one. Thus, each teacher should be trained to be a peace educator during pre-service and in-service training. Elective courses, such as the course “Peace Education”, can be added to teacher pre-service training programmes to achieve this. As the textbooks are important aspects of teaching process, they should also be taken into consideration for peace education. Thus, the language and the content of textbooks for all courses should be reviewed in order for them to be appropriate for peace education. In terms of in-service training process, the teachers should be trained to be teachers who are able to resolve interpersonal conflicts by establishing constructive and peaceful dialogue with students. In order to achieve this, in-service programs should teach: negotiation skills, interpersonal problem-solving skills, mediation skills, questioning skills, effective listening, active listening skills, empathic listening skills, reflective listening skills, reframing skills, lack of prejudice, tolerance, and an appreciation of diversity, among other skills.

After the fruitful discussions, the workshop was concluded with an agreement to continue working toward peace education across the various contexts of the participants, including work to translate key materials, and to develop joint curriculum and evaluation tools. It was made clear that each and every participant both Turkey and the UK understood they were not alone in the struggle for peace education. This clearly showed the universality of peace, and the need for it. As Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of contemporary Turkey, said: “Peace at home, peace in the world.”

In conclusion, the Turkey-UK peace education training workshop promoted peace education and the respect of diversity as an important capacity for new educators in Turkey drawing on lessons learned from the UK, and vice versa. This is particularly important today since Turkey is currently facing a migration crisis. As is well-known, nearly 3.5 million Syrian refugees have arrived in Turkey since 2015. It is important that the education system and educators are prepared to assist young refugees to participate in and prosper from the Turkish education system. Thus, it is possible to say that schools are one of the most effected organizations by this immigration process, which makes peace education and peace educators especially important. The other partner, the UK, is also affected by Syrian refugees, just as other parts of the Europe are, and participants from the UK had much to learn from Turkish educators in terms of best classroom practices in times of migration, forced displacement, and trauma.

The workshop has put forward the importance of sharing standards and best practices for peace education. Preparing a joint curriculum in order to be able to work cross-culturally, and most of all, training teachers in order to manage peace education are the key findings of the workshop. It is believed that these findings will contribute to the field, since both Turkey and the UK are important examples to define how people from different cultures could live together and what kinds of social outcomes this may produce. If the contexts and the practices of peace education in these countries are understood better, this could lead to better practices in other countries experiencing similar challenges. If short, “peace at home, peace in the world” might be achieved.

Acknowledgements:

We wish to thank Dr. Kevin Kester for his greatest contributions to our activity report. Also we wish to thank the participants: Abbas Turnuklu, Anna Gregory, Beryl Williams, Edward Sellman, Hasan Coskun, Mary Dalgleish, Mualla Aksu, Osman Titrek, Sara Hagel, Semra Demir Basaran, Terrence Bevington and Yucel Kabapinar for their invaluable contributions to the all sessions.

And lastly, we would like to thank TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) for supporting our workshop with the ID number 1929B021700437 under the programme of Support for Cooperation and Organizing Activities for Events within the Bilateral Cooperation between Turkey-UK.

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Europe

Book review: Choosing Peace

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

A review from Orbis Books

In recent years the Catholic Church’s approach to issues of war and peace has refocused on the tradition of nonviolence and peacebuilding in place of the traditional framework of Just War teaching. Among the milestones was an historic conference hosted at the Vatican in 2016, which gathered 80 peacemakers from around the world.


Question for this article:

What are the most important books about the culture of peace?

Drawn from the conference and presented here are contributions by many of the participants, including Lisa Sowle Cahill, Terrence J. Rynne, John Dear, Ken Butigan, Rose Marie Berger, and Maria J. Stephan, among others.  Together they advance the conversation about the practice of nonviolence in a violent world, Jesus and nonviolence, traditional Catholic teaching on nonviolence, and reflections on the future of Catholic teaching. The book concludes with Pope Francis’s historic Message for World Peace Day in 2017. 

The editor, Marie Dennis, is co-president of Pax Christi International and author of many books, including The Diversity of Vocations (2008) and (as co-author) St. Francis and the Foolishness of God (2015) and Oscar Romero: Reflections on His Life and Writings (Orbis 2000), all from Orbis Books.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global

The culture of non-violence will take place in the heart of Lebanese school curricula

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by Anne-Marie El-Hage for L’Orient le Jour (reproduced by permission of the author)

An agreement signed between Aunohr University and the Ministry of Education plans to develop a culture of peace in the country’s schools.

For the first time in Lebanon, the culture of non-violence will be at the heart of the education system, public and private, classical and technical. Not only will it appear on the menu of the next school programs, as part of the development of these programs, from kindergarten to secondary classes, but the entire education system should be impregnated, teaching, management of schools, school life, playgrounds, school transportation, the relationship between students, that between students and teachers …


Signature of the agreement on the development of the culture of non-violence in schools. Aunohr photo.
Click on photo to enlarge

This is promised by the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Education and Academic University For Non-Violence & Human Rights – Aunohr. An agreement was signed on May 15 between the two parties, represented on the state side by Minister Marwan Hamadé, sponsor of the event, and by the president of the Center for Educational Research and Development (CRDP), Nada Oweijane, and on the academic side, by Aunohr’s founder, Ogarit Younan, and by university president, Issam Mansour.

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(Click here for the original version of this article in French)

Question for this article:

Peace Studies in School Curricula, What would it take to make it happen around the world?

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The initiative aims to “institutionalize non-violent culture,” says Ogarit Younan, to involve the State, in all its components, from the Ministry of Education and the CRDP. Because, she notes, “the needs are pressing at this level, given the increase in violence among young people and even among children.” This explains why Aunohr University is often asked by schools across the country to train their teachers in the culture of non-violence or to organize activities in this direction for students. “After the application of our methods, the results are palpable,” observes Younan, noting that children are quieter, that the educational life becomes easier. This prompted the Minister of Education, Marwan Hamadé, to say, after the signing of the agreement, that it is “one of the most beautiful agreements signed by the Ministry of Education. ‘Education and Higher Education’. And this in a desire to highlight the crucial nature of the culture of non-violence for Lebanon.

Establishing peace begins in childhood

The starting point of this mutual initiative lies in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As a signatory to these two declarations, Lebanon faces another major challenge set by the United Nations, that of spreading a culture of peace and non-violence in the world, as part of the United Nations Program of Action for the Decade. 2001-2010. “Changing people’s minds, building peace, must start in schools and from childhood,” says Younan. To do this, the university (which obtained its license in 2014) has already developed complete curricula. It must now develop the appropriate teaching material, but also train the trainers who will go on the ground. Because the culture of non-violence goes through different learning, namely the management of anger, listening, the development of peaceful memory, the construction of the true self, the understanding of conflicts in relation to others, the language not violent, and many other things.

This is certainly not the first time that the concept of non-violence is privileged within the Lebanese institutions. In 1997, Ogarit Younan was already a civil society consultant to introduce this principle into school curricula. “But just a few chapters have been changed,” she notes, adding that at the time, “it was a first step”. Much later, on October 13, 2016, the Council of Ministers dedicated October 2 of every year as the national day for the culture of non-violence. With the signing of the new agreement, the hope of growing up in a non-violent environment is now at hand for the children of Lebanon. Provided, of course, that the initiative is put into practice.

(Thank you to Phyllis Kotite, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Mideast

Brazil: Experts Support Teacher Training for Culture of Peace

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from Agência Câmara Notícias (translation by CPNN)

In a public hearing on Wednesday, the 14th. experts called for public policies to train teachers to promote a culture of peace in schools, The debate was promoted by the special commission to draft legislative proposals to develop a culture of peace.


Committee chairwoman Keiko Ota (center) has called for tougher laws to curb violence, but acknowledges that it is necessary to think about prevention policies to teach children and young people how to cultivate peace in schools

The United Nations defines a culture of peace as a set of values, attitudes, traditions, behaviors and lifestyles based on respect for life, the end of violence and the promotion and practice of non-violence through education, dialogue and cooperation.

According to Nei Salles Filho, the coordinator of the Center for Studies and Training of Teachers in Education for Peace and Coexistence of the State University of Ponta Grossa (Paraná), the main step for the promotion of a culture of peace is teacher training. “This training involves knowledge of the areas of human values, human rights and mediation of conflicts,” he said. According to him, designing public policies in this sense is the best way to maintain continued projects of culture of peace in schools.

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Questions for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

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The United Nations defines a culture of peace as a set of values, attitudes, traditions, behaviors and lifestyles based on respect for life, the end of violence and the promotion and practice of non-violence through education, dialogue and cooperation.

According to Nei Salles Filho, the coordinator of the Center for Studies and Training of Teachers in Education for Peace and Coexistence of the State University of Ponta Grossa (Paraná), the main step for the promotion of a culture of peace is teacher training. “This training involves knowledge of the areas of human values, human rights and mediation of conflicts,” he said. According to him, designing public policies in this sense is the best way to maintain continued projects of culture of peace in schools.

According to the specialist, teachers have to understand that student violence may be the result of direct violence (physical, psychological, sexual, media) or structural violence (poverty, misery). “If the student learns to reproduce the culture of violence, he can also learn a culture of peace,” he said. He also stressed that peace does not mean the absence of conflict, but a way of dealing with conflicts. In addition, he stressed that promoting the culture of peace in schools was included as a goal of the National Education Plan (2014-2024).

According to the specialist, teachers have to understand that student violence may be the result of direct violence (physical, psychological, sexual, media) or structural violence (poverty, misery). “If the student learns to reproduce the culture of violence, he can also learn a culture of peace,” he said. He also stressed that peace does not mean the absence of conflict, but a way of dealing with conflicts. In addition, he stressed that promoting the culture of peace in schools was included as a goal of the National Education Plan (2014-2024).

(Thank you to Helena Lorenzo, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

(Click here for the original article in Portuguese)

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

Algeria: Civil society should inculcate the culture of peace in children

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from El Moudjahid (translation by CPNN)

Participants in a meeting on the importance of peace in society, organized in Tissemsilt, called on civil society to help inculcate a culture of peace for children. In this context, Dr. Miloud Garden of the Tipaza University Center emphasized the role of associations in raising the awareness of the child about the importance of peace and accepting others. He called upon society to contribute, through initiatives, to anchor this culture in children. “Civil society is an essential and effective partner for the success of awareness-raising initiatives and events aimed at combating the phenomenon of violence in society by spreading the values ​​of peace and reconciliation among children,” he said.


Dr. Lakhdar Saidani

For his part, Dr. Lakhdar Saidani, Tiaret University, emphasized the initiatives of associations to contribute to the education of children, the rejection of violence and the establishment of a culture of peace. The speaker proposed joint initiatives between local associations and public authorities, including the Departments of Social Action and National Security to raise awareness about the phenomenon of violence and how to prevent it.

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Question related to this article:

What is the best way to teach peace to children?

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Abdelkader Khaled, a writer and researcher on children’s literature, said the UN’s decision to set up a World Day of Living Together in Peace is a recognition of Algeria’s efforts to achieve peace and security. reconciliation in society and in the world.

This meeting, initiated by the main public library as part of the celebration of the World Day of Living Together in Peace, brought together representatives of cultural associations, students and other researchers from the University Center of Tissemsilt.

(Click here for a French version of this article)

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Mideast

Pontifical Council, WCC develop joint text on education for peace

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from the World Council of Churches (reprinted as non-commercial use)

The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) of the Vatican and the Office of Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation of the World Council of Churches (WCC) met in Geneva from 16-18 April for their annual meeting. Staff from the two offices united in prayer, fellowship and joint work on a document titled “Education for Peace in a Multi-Religious World”.

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Question for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

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The PCID delegation also met with Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC general secretary. Expressing his delight at the forthcoming visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to the WCC on the occasion of WCC’s 70th anniversary, Tveit emphasized that the papal visit would be both a testimony of hope as well as an opportunity for further ecumenical collaboration in the service of our common humanity.

The PCID delegation also acknowledged with gratitude the friendship and collaboration they experienced during the tenure of Dr Clare Amos, who retired recently from the WCC.

Both delegations agreed to continue their close collaboration in fostering interreligious dialogue ecumenically.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global

Nonviolence Charter: Progress Report 12 (April 2018)

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by Robert J. Burrowes, Anita McKone & Anahata Giri in the Transcend Media Service (abridged)

This is the latest six-monthly report on progress in relation to ‘The People’s Charter to Create a Nonviolent World’ together with a sample of news about Charter signatories and organizations.


Robert J. Burrowes, Anita McKone & Anahata Giri

Our collective effort to build a worldwide consensus against the use of violence in all contexts continues to make progress, even against rather overwhelming odds!

Our last report on 5 October 2017 was kindly published by Antonio C. S. Rosa in the TRANSCEND Media Service Weekly Digest. At the time of today’s report, we have signatories in 104 countries with our first signatories in Bolivia, Rwanda and Slovakia since the last report. We also have 114 organizations/networks from 36 countries with our first organization in Rwanda. If you wish, you can see the list of organizational endorsements on the Charter website.

If you wish to see individual signatories, click on the ‘View signatures’ item in the sidebar. You can use the search facility if you want to look for a specific name.

The latest progress report article ‘Nonviolence or Nonexistence? The Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.’ was recently distributed to many progressive news websites: it was published by a number of outlets in 15 countries, thanks to very supportive editors (several of whom are Charter signatories: special thanks to Antonio Rosa, Gifty Ayim-Korankye, Korsi Senyo and Pía Figueroa). If you like, you can read the article (in English and Spanish), published on the anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. here: ‘Nonviolence or Nonexistence? The Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.’ and ‘¿No violencia o No existencia? El legado de Martin Luther King Jr.’

If you feel inclined to do so, you are welcome to help raise awareness of the Nonviolence Charter using whatever means are easiest for you. Given recent revelations of the corruption of Facebook, this Charter account has been closed.

And our usual invitation and reminder: You are most welcome to send us a report on your activities for inclusion in the next report. We would love to hear from you!

Anyway, here is another (inadequate) sample of reports of the activities of individuals and organizations who are your fellow Charter signatories.

Given that dysfunctional parenting is ultimately responsible for the behaviour of those individuals – including political, corporate, military and religious leaders – who generate and perpetuate violence, a number of Charter signatories are now making ‘My Promise to Children’ so that we start to produce a higher proportion of functional individuals who know how to powerfully resolve conflicts in their lives without resort to violence. Still other signatories are now prioritizing their own recovery from childhood violence by ‘Putting Feelings First’.

Some other signatories are developing more sophisticated nonviolent strategies to deal with peace, environment and social justice issues more effectively, or so they can be more strategic in their liberation struggle. If you are interested in nonviolent strategy for your campaign or liberation struggle, these websites (which include photos of several Charter signatories) will be helpful:

Nonviolent Campaign Strategy

Nonviolent Defense/Liberation Strategy

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Question for this article:

Can peace be guaranteed through nonviolent means?

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If any of you have high quality photos of nonviolent actions that you are willing to have published on these sites, please send them to Robert All photos will be acknowledged where published.

If you would like to see Venezuelan Antonio Gutiérrez Rodero’s Spanish translation of the Nonviolence Charter, it is available here.

Deciding to recognize some of the many fine peace and justice leaders around the world, Charter signatory Professor Kathleen Malley-Morrison and her colleague Professor Anthony J. Marsella researched the efforts of hundreds of fine activist leaders. They compiled these names into a succession of ‘lists of 100’ and had these lists published. You can see the names of the people they decided to recognize, including many Charter signatories, in the first three lists here:

‘In Pursuit of Peace and Justice: 100 Peace & Justice Leaders and Models’.

‘In Pursuit of Peace and Justice: 100 Peace & Justice Leaders and Models (List #2)’.

‘100 Living Peace and Justice Leaders and Models (List #3)’.

Thank you for all your work Kathie and Tony.

Daniel Dalai’s visionary initiative Earthgardens, originally based in Bolivia and now in Guatemala, provides opportunities for girls to realize and practice their inherent leadership potential, particularly as part of Eco Teams in preserving natural biodiversity. Their beautiful website has just been updated and the stunning photos alone will tell you much about what these remarkable girls are doing. See Earthgardens.

The Afghan Peace Volunteers, mentored by Hakim, continue their visionary work in ‘Pursuing Peace Despite Everything’ in war-torn Afghanistan. Recently, on 21 March – which was ‘Nao Roz’ or ‘New Day’, the Afghan New Year – a suicide bomb attack occurred near Kabul University, not very far from the Borderfree Nonviolence Community Centre of the Afghan Peace Volunteers; it killed 32 people. ‘Despite the complicated fears and emotions that arise with each security incident, Zekerullah, Bismillah, Nisar and others gathered at the Centre, built a peace sign and lifted it up into the air with multi-coloured balloons.’ You can see their beautiful achievement and beautiful faces in the photos at the link above.

Among her ‘endless’ activist commitments, including with the Afghan Peace Volunteers, Kathy Kelly still manages to write regularly to tell us what she is experiencing and, often enough, what others are experiencing as a result of being targeted by the US military. This thought-provoking article ‘From the Ground Up’ begins by describing the experience of Afghan mothers living in a perpetual war zone.

Pía Figueroa in Chile is Co-Director of ‘Pressenza International Press Agency’, ‘a site that feeds media every day for free with news, opinions, interviews and contributions regarding peace, nonviolence, disarmament, human rights, nondiscrimination and humanism in eight different languages, thanks to the volunteer work of more than 100 people based in 25 different countries.’ Pía is also a writer; her books have been published in several languages and presented in more than forty places. She specializes in Silo’s proposals on inner development and the creation of a Universal Human Nation, where all kinds of violence and discrimination will be surpassed. Pía presently lives in Santiago de Chile, where she is an active member of the Humanist Party and the Frente Amplio political coalition. Nevertheless, she travels a lot, participating in public events and journalistic forums as well as in nonviolent gatherings, since she considers herself a global activist for peace. In a recent insightful commentary on politics in Chile, Pía wrote The era is decisive’. . . .

Click here for additional reports from Cambodia, Morocco, West Papua, Slovakia, Russia, Malaysa, USA, Nigeria, Ghana, Iraq, Brazil, Palestine, Australia, Canada, Ethiopia, D.R.Congo, New Zealand, Myanmar, India, Denmark, UK, Rwanda and Bolivia,

(Click here for the Spanish version of this article)

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global

India: Peace Channel promotes peace education in schools of Kohima

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An article from Morung Express

Peace Channel conducted peace celebration and capacity building programmes in five schools of Kohima district – Little Flower Hr. Sec School, Kohima, Sacred Heart School, Khuzama, St. Paul School, Phesama, Don Bosco Hr. Sec. School, Kohima, and St. Andrews School, Jotsoma village – on the theme ‘Concept of peace and peace building’ in the months of March and April.


Participants of the programme organised by Peace Channel at Little Flower Hr. Sec School, Kohima.

Addressing the Peace Club members in the respective schools, Susan Kulnu, Peace Channel Kohima district coordinator emphasised on the main objective of peace and peace building

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Question for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

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She motivated the students to understand the concept of peace, to think of peace, love peace and make peace so as to take up initiatives in one’s own home and locality, to transform a culture of violence into a culture of peace, stated a press release from Peace Channel.
 
Susan further spoke about human rights, which she said, are the vital assets for everyone. “These rights are interrelated, interdependent and indivisible,” she asserted. The speaker also emphasized on the principle of “Do No Harm” which is a holistic perspective that is focussed on mutual benefits and not win-lose situation. The students were also motivated on leadership and life skills.
 
Sedekieno Rino, a peace activist, also spoke on anti-war toys “as children are also seen to be manipulated into replicating the violent content they see on television, videos, video games or violent cartoons,” the release stated. She urged the students to dream of a peaceful society and put efforts of changing oneself towards promoting peace so that one day that dream will turn to a reality.
 
Altogether, 227 quality Peace Club members along with 10 teacher animators of different schools participated in the sessions, informed the release.
 
The participants have been encouraged to take initiatives in bringing peace wherever they are and “they are now to bring peoples together, striving for peace, justice, equality and fraternity.”
 
It was informed that Peace Channel is also undertaking similar programmes in other districts like Dimapur, Wokha, Mon, and Peren.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, South Asia

Dominican Republic: Integrating art subjects in centers helps create a culture of peace

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from Hoy digital (translation by CPNN)

The anthropologist Tahira Vargas considers expelling students from educational centers because of bad conduct does not solve the problem, but it aggravates it, For this reason she suggests to work with these students through theater, dance and music, in order to build a culture of peace.

“To break the cycle of violence you should not answer with more violence. Instead you need to change the relationships within the centers, creating other types of spaces, where you can dialogue with students and establish responsibilities and tasks that promote a change of behavior,” she said.

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(Click here for the original Spanish version of this article.)

Question for this article:

Do the arts create a basis for a culture of peace?, What is, or should be, their role in our movement?

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She explained that the teachers and directors of the centers do not understand the context of vulnerability that violent students experience, such as the case when their parents have to go out to work and cannot be at home to help educate their children.

Vargas spoke about the issue when asked about the statements of directors and teachers of high schools in Salcedo, who have alerted the Ministry of Education about the constant misconduct of many students.

Vargas points out that the streets and schools are the main space for the socialization of young people, so schools should be a space for building a culture of peace, not a space for the reproduction of violence, and for exclusion which is a form of violence.

“What I suggest is that teachers, principals and counselors work with students to change the internal relations of the center, and they are responsible for their behavior.” They should understand that it is important to integrate art, which is a strategy used in many countries to transform violent behavior into a culture of peace.

EDUCATION FOR PEACE, Latin America

The Gambia: PAG hold peace advocacy camp

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by Cherno Omar Bobb from The Point

Peace Ambassadors – The Gambia, a youth-led peace advocacy organisation with funding from ChildFund- The Gambia recently held a master camp for recruitment of peace educators and advocates under the theme: Promoting the culture of peace and non-violence in School and communities. The event was held at Banjulinding Lower Basic School.


Photo from PAG facebook

The Master Camp was designed to induct members of PAG on national youth leadership training, recruitment of peace educators and advocates as well as ambassadors peer-peace motivation coordinators training.

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Question for this article:

How do we promote a human rights, peace based education?

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The organisation’s vice president Ida Jatta said since its inception in May 2001, they have been advocating for peace in the minds of young people. “We focus on peace advocacy, community outreach and grassroots engagement to fulfill our thematic obligation as an organisation. We see peace as a continuous process and the leadership training will enable members to serve as role models in communities,” she said.

ChildFund- The Gambia communication specialist Famara Fofana said the international child aid agency have been championing the cause of young people, promoting child welfare and helping vulnerable young people to become productive adults. “Many people we supported are today manning important positions in the country. As peace ambassadors, let us propagate peace messages in the minds of young people.”

Alieu Marr, child protection and advocacy officer of ChildFund also said young people are the productive assets of the society, saying they will continue to support the activities of Peace Ambassadors. “We must have peace of mind in ourselves to promote peace in communities and schools.”

Peace Ambassadors Executive Secretary Yankuba Manjang said they have a role to play as young people to advocate peace in the nation, adding that the master camp will introduce the participants on leadership skills, peace and conflict management.

Africa, EDUCATION FOR PEACE