(2020). South Sudanese Primary School Textbooks: Transforming and Reinforcing Conflict. Prospects: Quarterly Review of Comparative Education, v48 n3-4 p193-213 Jul. Primary school textbooks can provide space for learning about peace and inclusion but can also reinforce messages of inequality and division. This article describes a thematic analysis of South Sudan's textbooks for pupils in Grade 4 Social Studies, English, and Christian Religious Education. The analysis uses a conceptual framework that positions education as having multiple potential overlapping roles in relation to conflict–victim, accomplice, and transformer–to show that the textbooks' content contains some motions toward social change, but more often passively reinforces the status quo. While peace and social acceptance of diversity and gender equality are sometimes explicitly promoted, there is an overarching emphasis on maintaining and accepting social norms without critically interrogating the social structures that can foster inequality and lead to conflict. This analysis positions the textbooks primarily as accomplices to conflict, with some movement toward… [Direct]
(1994). Learning Peace: The Promise of Ecological and Cooperative Education. This book is a collection of writings by American, Russian, and Norwegian scholars who, in 1988, launched the Project on Ecological and Cooperative Education. Formation of the group was motivated by the conviction that the planet needs an ecologically conscious culture to overcome the fragmentation and specialization that is typical of the worldview of dominant societies today. The book examines how knowledge about planetary problems at the end of the twentieth century, and fatal threats to the planet resulting from rivalries among powerful individuals, cultures and states, have an impact on environmental education. Chapter titles include: (1) "New World-New Thinking-New Education" (Eva Nordland); (2) "Learning Our Way to a Human Future" (Betty Reardon); (3) New Thinking: Its Application for New Learning" (Valentina Mitina); (4) "'Big Ideas' of Ecology That Every Peace Educator Should Know" (Willad J. Jacobson); (5) "Social Responsibility and…
(1988). Global Education. Louisiana Social Studies Journal, v15 n1 Fall. This issue contains an introduction ("The Promise and Perplexity of Globalism," by W. Longstreet) and seven articles dedicated to exploring the meaning of global education for today's schools. "Global Education: An Overview" (J. Becker) develops possible definitions, identifies objectives and skills, and addresses questions and issues in this area. "Toward a Coherent Curriculum for Global Education" (J. Becker) makes a case for improving and expanding the global dimensions of education due to the greater intermixing of peoples and cultures and the changing role of the United States in world affairs. "The Challenges Facing Global Education" (D. Metzger) identifies several barriers to the entry of global education into the social studies curriculum. "Is It a System? Building a Global Perspective in the Elementary and Middle Grades" (A. Angell) establishes the importance of systems thinking as an aid in helping students conceptualize… [PDF]
(2023). The Higher Education Generation: World War I and the Truman Commission's Path to Universal College Access. Peabody Journal of Education, v98 n3 p269-283. The work of the 1946-1948 President's Commission on Higher Education was unquestionably influenced by the immediate aftermath of World War II. In this article, we examine the backgrounds and ideas of 10 commissioners to argue that their efforts were also deeply influenced by their experience of a different world war. The 1914-1918 "Great War" was a formative experience for each of the members, shaping their views of sociopolitics, opportunity, and the public purposes of education. Ultimately, these commissioners arrived at the belief that universal college access was the key to ensuring peace and democracy throughout the world. Their product, Higher Education for American Democracy, was anything but a dry federal report. Instead, it was a passionate argument for what higher education ought to be. As such, it closely reflected the lived experiences of its authors, who had been shaped by one shattering conflict, were responding to a second, and were determined to prevent a… [Direct]
(2022). Religion, Schooling and Conflicting Nationalisms: Educational Perspectives from Northern Ireland. Journal of Religious Education, v70 n3 p273-285 Nov. To what extent do teachers' sense of their religious, cultural and national identity impact on their attitudes and approaches to the teaching of religion in publicly funded schools in Northern Ireland? In a context where schooling remains largely separate according to perceived religious identity, can religious education contribute positively to the peace process in a society emerging from conflict? This paper will draw on research conducted with serving teachers, teacher education students and other groups to examine the role of religion in schools and to explore how it may contribute, positively or negatively, to the improvement of relations between communities still divided by conflicting nationalistic loyalties. Some comparisons will be made with the significance of religion in education in other conflicted societies…. [Direct]
(2022). Education Is Power for Peace and Security in Afghanistan: Take Action to Support the Rights of Afghan Women and Girls. George W. Bush Institute The Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan last year has produced a desperate humanitarian situation in the country. Nearly half of all households are experiencing acute food insecurity, maternal and infant mortality rates are rising quickly, and 97% of families are at risk of dropping below the poverty line. Most concerning is the intentional and vicious erasure of women and girls from public life by the Taliban, especially the ban on girls' access to secondary education and the rapid deterioration of education quality across the country. What is happening to the women and girls of Afghanistan creates not simply a moral imperative, but a growing threat to regional and even global peace, prosperity, and security. Dire as the situation may be, it is not hopeless. This report discusses steps the United States and allies can take, along with civil society and others, to mitigate the suffering of Afghan women and girls and provide opportunities in an otherwise bleak situation…. [PDF]
(2008). Dilemmas of Justice in Peace/Coexistence Education: Affect and the Politics of Identity. Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies, v30 n5 p399-419 Nov. Lyotard (1988) argued that the major problem of this time may be understood in terms of two issues: the impossibility of avoiding conflicts and the absence of a universal genre of discourse to regulate them. In this article, the authors closely follows Lyotard's ideas to problematize claims about the university of justice. Then, the authors examine the ambivalence of inhabiting various positions of justice through considering the politics of identity in the context of conflict and the efforts for peacebuilding. Finally, the authors explore how ideas about the pragmatics of justice may enable educators to comprehend the affective politics of education and may encourage peace and coexistence practices. (Contains 1 note.)… [Direct]
(1992). Challenging the Giant: The Best of SKOLE, the Journal of Alternative Education. Beginning in the mid-1960s, thousands of small alternative schools sprang up across the United States and Canada. These schools varied widely in programs and policies, but common factors among them were a disenchantment with conventional schooling, a desire to reform education, and (frequently) the belief that schools should be controlled by the population served, including children. The National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools was formed in 1976. Its journal from 1985 to 1990 was SKOLE (from a Greek word for the type of dialectical activity conducted by Socrates). This volume contains selected articles published during that period. Six articles profile small alternative schools: Shaker Mountain School (Burlington, Vermont); Sudbury Valley School (Framingham, Massachusetts); Metropolitan School of Columbus (Ohio); the Free School (Albany, New York); L'Ecole d'Humanite (Goldern, Switzerland); and Central Park East (New York, New York). Other articles and reprints discuss… [PDF]
(1982). Education for Peace and International Understanding in Finnish Adult Education. Adult Education in Finland, v19 n1 p34-39. A comprehensive and continuous emphasis on the promotion of education for peace and international understanding has been apparent in Finland in recent years. Finnish adult education has been informed and reformed by the introduction of principles of international education. (SK)…
(2022). Discourses on Racism in Families with School-Aged Children in Catalonia. Journal of Peace Education, v19 n3 p303-329. Unfortunately, racism is a kind of violence present in current societies that embodies an attitude opposed to the culture of peace. In this scenario, the family has a relevant role to contribute to the development of values related to human rights. With the aim of identifying patterns and challenges to progress from a polarized debate to an empathetic and non-violent dialogue, the discourse between parents and children between 3 and 16 years of age is reviewed. For this purpose, a questionnaire was designed and 1,701 families in Catalonia (Autonomous Community of Spain) answered it. The results show that racism represents 9.7% of the controversial topics of conversation at home; the principal values and attitudes that guide the family discourse are: respect (23.1%), fighting injustice (18.7%), and equality (12.4%); families who claim to have suffered racism reach 6%; women and individuals with a low level of education are those who most believe that the economy would improve if… [Direct]
(2022). Learning to Become Smart Radicals: A Regenerative Lens on the Potential for Peace and Reconciliation through Youth and Education Systems. Journal on Education in Emergencies, v8 n1 p187-213 Mar. Media coverage and foreign policy around the globe often spread messages of fear about the possible radicalization of the world's growing youth population. More nuance was brought into these debates in 2015 by UN Security Council Resolution 2250 and the subsequent Global Study on Youth, Peace, and Security (Simpson 2018), while specific attention was directed at the potential of education to support young people's agency for peacebuilding. In this reflective piece, I aim to bring a fresh perspective to current education in emergencies thinking and offer insights into how a regenerative approach to education can help reshape it to prepare the younger generations to respond effectively to peacebuilding and to the related "wicked challenges." I bring together two existing conceptual frameworks–the 4Rs (Novelli, Lopes Cardozo, and Smith 2017) and Toma≈°evski's 4As (2005; see also Shah and Lopes Cardozo 2019)–that are directly relevant to the education in emergencies field…. [Direct]
(2019). The Politicisation and Securitisation of Religious Education in Greek-Cypriot Schools. European Educational Research Journal, v18 n1 p69-84 Jan. This article is based on a year-long ethnographic research project on religious education (RE) in Greek-Cypriot schools and provides empirical evidence about the complexities emerging from teachers' attempts to address peace and security issues in a 'conflict-affected society'. The study shows that the reproduction of peace and security issues through RE is not the only possibility within a conflict-affected society; however, RE can be one of the tools to challenge normative ways of politicisation and securitisation by reframing pedagogical practices to instill cracks in the normative regime. These findings have two important implications. The first implication concerns teachers' important role in creating the pedagogical conditions that address issues of peace, conflict, politics and religion in productive ways; and the second implication is that teachers need to be provided with opportunities for teacher training and institutional support, if they are going to gain a deeper… [Direct]
(1993). Successful? Apparently! Non-Formal? Hardly!. Teaching Education, v5 n2 p115-20 Spr-Sum. Paper responds to an article on a nonformal Peace Corps teacher education program that prepares teachers to teach English as a Foreign Language in central and eastern European countries, discussing various aspects of the program as important models for accomplishing the more diverse, larger, and problematic preservice education in America. (SM)…
(2024). The Role of Coloniality, Decoloniality, and Education in Shaping Perspectives on Extremism: Exploring Perceptions among Students in Bangladesh. Routledge Research in International and Comparative Education. Routledge Research in International and Comparative Education This book extends a comprehensive overview of the treatment of extremism in education in Bangladesh, using a study of perceptions among students to explore proactive measures for the prevention of various types and forms of extremism prevalent among youth. It offers a critical, holistic, and student-centred study of the role of formal education in shaping perceptions of extremism and intersectional differences among individuals, drawing on data from university students. The author employs post-colonial theory and multicultural educational approaches to highlight how understandings of extremism differ across young adults and policymakers. Ultimately, it demonstrates that students' overall understanding of extremism is much broader than that of policymakers, and how understandings differ between male and female students at the intersection of rural and urban locations and socio-economic positions. As such, it foregrounds a need to involve and organize formal education as a proactive… [Direct]
(2020). Iranian University Faculties and Managing Culturally Diverse Classrooms: Strategies for Peace Establishment in the Higher Education. Education and Urban Society, v52 n2 p234-256 Feb. There are large number of students from around the world who are planning to continue their education in the U.S. universities. They have different nationalities, cultural backgrounds, social beliefs, and so on. Moreover, the educators who are from different countries have the special cultures. This is their task to manage the culturally diverse classrooms to obtain the best results for the educational purposes. In this study, the focus was on three main issues: (a) teaching in multicultural higher education, (b) students' attitudes toward the different cultures (especially their classmates), and (c) the strategies the educators apply in the multicultural classroom to establish peace. Five Iranian faculties who were teaching English language literature subject, in California State universities, were selected and interviewed via Skype. The results showed that they had a very positive attitude toward teaching in multicultural classrooms. The educators claimed that they apply the… [Direct]