peace education train the teachers etuce cyprus conference
DESCRIPTION
This is a presentation I gave at the ETUCE conference in Cyprus (May 2013) for teachers on peace education.TRANSCRIPT
Train the Teachers:Preparing teachers as peace educators in
classrooms
Stephanie Knox CubbonETUCE Conference - Cyprus
May 17, 2013
Agenda• Why I came to peace education • Why teachers?• About Teachers Without Borders (TWB) and its
Peace Education Program (PEP)• What we teach• How we teach it• Strategies and sample activities• Questions and discussion
Article 9 Conference to Abolish War
Japan 2008Cora Weiss of Hague Appeal for Peace: “It’s time to abolish war.”
The role of teachers in promoting peace
“Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must
be constructed.”-UNESCO Constitution
Peace can be learned (and taught) We need teachers…
…who have peace education training
“Just as war begins in the minds of men, so does peace settle there. The same species who invented
war is capable of inventing peace. The responsibility lies within each one of us.”
-Seville Statement on Violence
“Since war begins in the minds of men, it is up to UNESCO and the schools all over the world to
put an end to the beginning of war.”-Richard Muller
TWB mission:To connect teachers to information and each other to create local change on a global scale
o Provide teacher professional development opportunities online and offline
o Bring teachers together in virtual and face-to-face learning communities
o Local initiatives with a global impact
TWB Programs• Certificate of Teaching Mastery• Emergency Education• Millennium Development Ambassadors Program• Voice of Teachers (peer-review online journal)• Country Programs (i.e. Nigeria, Mexico, China)• Peace Education Program – October 2010
How the TWB PEP was born - 2010
Nigeria Costa Rica
Peace Education Program
• Collaboratively developed from April-September 2010, launched October 2010o Unit 1: History, Definitions, Key Thinkers, Core
Conceptso Unit 2: Scope of Peace Educationo Unit 3: From Theory to Practice – Towards a
Peaceful Classroom, School and Community• Intended for all educators and community leaders
worldwideo Working with local partners to adapt the
program
About the program• Theory + Self-Reflection + Practice/action
o What are the main theories and concepts of peace education?• Providing a strong theoretical foundation in
peace education pedagogy and principleso How do these apply to my life as a human being?
• Promoting self-reflection and incorporation of these principles into participants’ lives and work
o How do these apply to my teaching practice?• Preparing teachers for practical application
• Overall goal: Contribute to a global culture of peace by empowering teachers as agents of peaceful change in their classrooms and communities
“…for educators to be in tune with the times and to be able to respond to the
demands of current events, we must provide them with the educational methods for
transforming consciousness, starting with their own, so that they themselves can be examples of peace and harmony. Indeed, how can we change other people, if we do
not start with ourselves?”-Pierre Weil, the Art of Living in Peace
What do we teach?Content
Part 1: Intro and Core Concepts
• History of Peace Education• Definitions• Core Concepts – Understanding Peace, Violence,
and Nonviolenceo Positive and Negative Peace, Physical and
Structural Violence – Johan Galtungo Nonviolence – Gandhi, King, Sharpo Peace Education as Transformative Practiceo Culture of Peaceo Inner and Outer Peace (new section)
Part 2: Scope of Peace Education
• Disarmament Education• Education for and about Peace• Critical Peace Education• Human Rights Education• Multicultural Education• Gender and Peace Education• Global Citizenship Education• Conflict Resolution Education• Environmental Education• Futures Education
Part 3: Pedagogy and Practice
• Peace Education as Pedagogy (how we teach is as – if not more – important than what we teach)o Modeling peaceful behaviors
• Attributes of a Peace Educator• Effective Communication• The Art of Asking Questions• Teaching and Learning Approaches• Beyond Classroom Walls – Building a Culture of
Peace in Your School and Community• Final Project – Peace Education in Action
Basic concepts• Peace can be learned and taught• Peace education should be contextual, relevant to
the participants/learner• Everyone in the peace education process is
teaching and learning (“edulearner” concept; developing a horizontal rather than hierarchical relationship) and it’s a lifelong learning process
• Power dynamics are important – critical peace education (Freire)
• Holism – PE deals with the personal to the global, past present and future
How do we teach it?Methods and Strategies
Offering the Program
• Free to download => 15,000+ downloads since Nov. 2010
• Offline workshops – US, Canada, Mexico, Uganda, DR Congo, Kenya, South Africao Average 4 days
• Online o Free self-paced version – Nixty.como Instructor-led version in partnership with National Peace
Academy (US)• 12 week-course
Uganda DR Congo
CanadaSouth Africa
Uganda– January 2011• http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7_kxyRMGvA&feature=player_embedded
• Peace clubs, radio programme, peace ed as core subject
FIRD holding community dialogue meeting on peace education in Lira District
Building Community• Icebreakers, Dialogue, Listening, Sharing
Network of Mutuality• ”I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all
communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
Self-Reflection• Peace Education Autobiography exercise -
Why are you here? • Inner Peace Practices – How can you cultivate
and maintain your own inner peace? Self-care• Setting a peace intention
o I go in peace to love the world. – Frank M.o May my heart be open, clear, wise and courageous. – Karen R.
• Communication – Compassionate/nonviolent communication
Definitions of Peace Education
1. Walk around the room and read the various definitions
2. Stop at the definition that resonates the most with you.
3. Speak with the other people who stop there. (Why did you choose this definition? What resonates with you? Why didn’t you choose the others? What elements of the other definitions did you like?)
4. Return to your seat and write your own definition of your understanding of peace education, and consider how this definition would guide your teaching, work, and life.
Creating a Zone of Peace
Zones of Peace – Louise Diamond
1. Make a conscious choice to establish a Zone of Peace.2. Make a Peace Agreement based on the Four Principles
of Peace (nonviolence, cooperation, community, peace starts with me)
3. Restore your Peace Agreement when it gets broken.4. Declare yourself publicly as a Zone of Peace.5. Surround yourself with people and things that support
your Zone of Peace commitment.6. Study peace and peacemaking to constantly enrich
your Zone of Peace.7. Connect with other Zones of Peace to support each
other and grow the revolution.Retrieved from http://www.thepeacecompany.com/peacelibrary/pdf/ZonesOfPeace.pdf
This “Classroom” is a Zone of Peace
1. Listen when someone is talking 2. Do not exclude anyone. (Include everyone)3. Say only kind words. 4. Speak gently. 5. Show respect for each other.
Declare your classroom a zone of peace and establish rules to achieve it.
Navarro-Castro, L. & Nario-Galace, J. (2008). Peace Education: Pathway to a Culture of Peace. Quezon City: Miriam College. Retrieved from http://www.peace-ed-campaign.org/resources/cpe-book-14oct2010-FINAL2.pdf
Tijuana – este aula es una zona de paz
Peace PledgeI pledge
In my daily lifeIn my family
My workMy community
My countryAnd my region to:
Listen to understandShare with others
Preserve the planetRediscover solidarity
Reject violenceRespect all life.
(UNESCO Manifesto 2000, Retrieved from http://www3.unesco.org/manifesto2000/)
Reflecting on Violence• What kind of violence do you/your students
experience?(structural, physical, cultural, etc.)• What are the root causes of this violence?• What are actions we can take at the
individual/community/national/global level to address this issue?
Staircase Model
From Learning to Abolish War, Hague Appeal for Peace
World Café Dialogue – Building the World We Want -
Futures Education1. What is your vision of the world in 50 years if we
carry on “business as usual”?2. What is your ideal vision of the world in 50 years
(the world you would like to see)?3. What can we do NOW (concrete actions) to
create that ideal vision of the future?
Tijuana wishes for a better future
Peace Education Resources
• Hague Appeal for PeacePeace Lessons from Around the WorldLearning to Abolish War
• Teaching Tolerance• YES! Magazine• International Institute for Economics and Peace
(Building Blocks for Peace)• Peace Education: A Pathway to a Culture of Peace by
Loreta Navarro-Castro and Jasmin Nario-Galace• Videos/TED Talks
o Zoe Weil – The World Becomes What You Teacho John Hunter- World Peace Gameo RSA Animate, Sir Ken Robinson – Changing Education Paradigms
Approaches to Peace Education in the Curriculum
Infusion- part of everything
(mainstreaming)
Separate subject
Integration- part of some
areas
Identifying Entry Points
• Find entry points in the learning competencies of the basic education systemo Link subject objectives/standards to peace education
objectiveso Link subjects/topics to peace education themes/topics
If we leave peace education to “accidental teaching” or “teachable moments,” we may never get to it….
Recommended Reading: Candace Carter, Peace Education StandardsUNICEF Peace Education Definition (Standards)Infed, Curriculum Theory and Practice
Assignments and Final Applied Project
• Syllabi• Lesson plans• Workshop• Adapting existing lesson plans/curricula• Peace events
Peace walk for International Day of Peace, Liberia
Next steps• Course for educators on Nonviolence –
Metta Center for Nonviolence• Peace Education in Trinidad & Tobago• Online course with John Hopkins University (US)• Chapter on our work in Saltillo (Mexico) in Peace
Education from the Grassroots book (2013)
Your “homework” • Commit (or recommit) to your own inner peace practice• Create your own peace intention• Write your peace education autobiography• Learn as much as you can about peace (consider taking
our online course!)• Imagine your ideal future and take one concrete action
now towards it
“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We
need not wait to see what others do.”-Gandhi
Thank you!Email: [email protected]@gmail.com
TWB Peace Educators Facebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/141362325951107/
www.twb.orgwww.mettacenter.orgwww.nationalpeaceacademy.usPractice-peace.com
Q & A• What questions do you still have about peace
education and training teachers?• How might you apply some of the concepts in
your work/life/community?• What are some challenges in integrating peace
education into your context?• What possibilities do you see for applying or
expanding peace education in your community?