(2016). Musicological Ethnography and Peacebuilding. Journal of Peace Education, v13 n3 p252-265. Based on my PhD research with an inter-religious choir in Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina, this paper discusses my interdisciplinary methodologies and suggests how this approach might be applied to future peacebuilding efforts. The use of ethnographic methods in research is an attempt to comprehend a social scene in a way that is as close as possible to the understanding of those within the scene. Normally, the data collected is linguistic in nature, although the visual and gestural, embodied data are increasingly included. There is very little consideration of the aural in this form of research. Even when the audio is considered, it is often described in written language rather than considered it to be data in and of itself, thereby creating a translation issue. In my own research in Sarajevo, I have made the case for sound and music as ethnographic data, since it is a means of experiencing and expressing tacit cultural understanding within and without a particular social group. This… [Direct]
(2008). The WCCES and Intercultural Dialogue: Historical Perspectives and Continuing Challenges. International Review of Education, v54 n3-4 p299-317 Jul. The World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES) has been strongly concerned with intercultural dialogue since the Council was created in 1970. Indeed advancement of education \for international understanding in the interests of peace, intercultural cooperation, mutual respect among peoples and observance of human rights\ is one of the goals built into the WCCES Statutes. This paper begins with a focus on the origins and goals of the WCCES, noting in particular links with the mission of UNESCO. The paper then considers dimensions of evolution in the work of the WCCES in the domain of intercultural dialogue. It underlines the growth of the WCCES and the continuing challenges for securing balanced representation of voices and perspectives…. [Direct]
(2012). Teaching Religion, Teaching Truth: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. Religion, Education and Values. Volume 1. Peter Lang Oxford Religious educators today are called upon to enable young people to develop as fully-rounded human beings in a multicultural and multi-faith world. It is no longer sufficient to teach about the history of religions: religion is not relegated to the past. It is no longer sufficient to teach about the observable outward phenomena of religions: religion is not restricted to practices, artefacts, and buildings observable in the outside world. It is also necessary to take seriously what religions believe about themselves, and what religions believe about other religions. Seen from the inside, religions deal in the currency of truth. For the religions themselves, truth matters. Truth-claims can lead to harmony and peace, but they may also engender discord and violence. What ultimately counts is how one set of truth-claims confronts or embraces the truths claimed by other, different voices. Therefore those who teach religion cannot avoid dealing with the theology of religions. In this… [Direct]
(2010). Let's Hold Hands: A Project Connecting Children around the World. Young Children, v65 n6 p64-67 Nov. The story of the Let's Hold Hands dolls began in Korphe, a village in northern Pakistan. In 1933, after a failed attempt to climb K2, a weak, exhausted American mountaineer named Greg Mortenson staggered into Korphe. The villagers cared for him and helped him regain his strength. To repay their kindness, he vowed to return to help build the village a school. Mortenson's account of these experiences is detailed in the best-selling book "Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time." Its popularity inspired two versions of the story for younger readers. Author/illustrator Susan L. Roth, who illustrated this "Young Children" issue's cluster of articles about education around the globe, coauthored the book and created colorful collages to accompany the text. To represent the children of Korphe and other characters, Susan cut out paper dolls and dressed them using paper and fabric scraps and other found materials. This undertaking… [Direct]
(2011). Examining Education, Media, and Dialogue under Occupation: The Case of Palestine and Israel. Critical Language and Literacy Studies. Multilingual Matters This book is an in-depth examination of education and media under occupation. The contributors to this volume engage dialogue to explore these domains and their roles and functioning under occupation while keeping an eye toward resolution, using the on-going conflict between Palestine and Israel as the focus. The uniqueness of this collection is not limited to the willingness of its authors to investigate topics that have often been left out of the mainstream, but that they actually enter into dialogue with one another. Education and media are exemplified as domains that can either maintain the status quo of oppression when used by policymakers and governments to do so or can be utilized as mechanisms for change and peacemaking. These contradictory roles are highlighted throughout this book by multiple voices. Part 1: Education, contains the following chapters: (1) Palestinian Education under Occupation: Successes and Challenges (K. Shakhshir); (2) The Healing Power of Stories:… [Direct]
(2009). The Current Status of Religious Coexistence and Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina. USIPeace Briefing. United States Institute of Peace Despite 15 years of sporadic efforts, religion today in Bosnia and Herzegovina is more of a hindrance than a help to promoting peaceful coexistence among the region's various ethnic and religious groups. Polarization and extremism make religions other than one's own even more distant, strange and threatening. Physical interaction that existed before the last war is now almost completely lost because of political division. Teaching culture of religions, history of religions and a comprehensive approach to different religions have not yet started to be implemented throughout the school system. In "The Current Status of Religious Coexistence and Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina," author Renata Stuebner concludes that teaching religion and culture of religions in a way that is in accordance with democratic principles is the only hope for new generations to learn about themselves and others, and improve mutual understanding for a sustainable peace in the region. (Contains 17… [Direct]
(1975). Music Education Joins the Peace Corps. Music Educators Journal, 61, 5, 44-9,99,101,103-04, Jan 75. Article discussed a music education project sponsored by the Peace Corps in San Salvador. (Editor/RK)…
(2009). The Earth Charter in Higher Education for Sustainability. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, v3 n2 p151-158. A central challenge of sustainable development is to provide material sufficiency for the human population while preserving the integrity of Earth's biosphere. Current modes of economic production and consumption accomplish neither of these ethical imperatives. Institutions of higher education must show leadership in the transition to sustainable ways of life. The Earth Charter is a people's declaration of ethical principles for securing a just, peaceful, humane and sustainable future. The document can serve as a valuable resource for tertiary educators. The Earth Charter provides an inclusive definition of sustainability, emphasising the interrelated concepts of ecological integrity; social and economic justice; and democracy, nonviolence and peace. It can help us resolve the tension between educating for sustainability while creating learning spaces for contestation and critical inquiry. The Earth Charter also valorises the principle of intergenerational equity, challenging us to… [Direct]
(2009). Ensuring the Success of Deploying Students: A Campus View. New Directions for Student Services, n126 p55-60 Sum. Disruption of educational pursuits due to orders for military activation is inconvenient and discouraging to students who are soldiers. Deployment was an issue at institutions of higher education during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991 and during the peace-keeping mission in Bosnia in 1996. Four weeks after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Operation Enduring Freedom began and student soldiers again faced the possibility that they would be deployed for active military duty. Operation Iraqi Freedom followed in March 2003. This chapter details the experiences at Appalachian State University and the attempts there to assist students through the disruptions that resulted from deployments to active duty. The lessons learned by campus personnel at Appalachian State University as they worked to meet the needs of student soldiers who were deployed during earlier conflicts provided a framework for programs and policies when students were deployed to Iraq and… [Direct]
(2013). The College Curriculum: A Reader. Adolescent Cultures, School, and Society. Volume 62. Peter Lang Publishing Group Mark Van Doren, the noted literary scholar, once remarked, "The college is meaningless without a curriculum, but it is more so when it has one that is meaningless." Many current critics of undergraduate curricula in America assent to the crucial need for programmatic renewal in our colleges and universities. They bemoan the cookie-cutter sameness in far too many of them. The oddity is that U.S. colleges have long touted their "diversity" while largely holding fast to rather traditional pathways. This illuminating volume goes beyond formulaic nuts-and-bolts recipes for constructing curriculum: it seeks to interpret and analyze the contemporary landscape of college curriculum. Yet it also hopes to heighten pedagogic horizons in more imaginative, innovative ways by presenting actual curricula from more distinctive academic offerings. This book will stimulate vitally needed "out-of-the-box" thinking about curricula among faculty, administrators, and… [Direct]
(2012). "Citizenship for the College Girl": Challenges and Opportunities in Higher Education for Women in the United States in the 1930s. Teachers College Record, v114 n2. Background/Context: Little research has been done on higher education for women during the 1930s, even though scholars have pointed to this period as a turning point because the proportion of female students declined during this decade. The decline was only relative, however, as men's enrollments skyrocketed while women's increased more slowly. This article seeks to understand women's continually increasing numbers, rather than the relative decline in enrollment. Purpose/Objective/Research Question: During a time of economic hardship, what justifications were used to encourage women to attend college? What purposes or rationales were part of the national discourse that made it possible for ever-increasing numbers of young women to attend and graduate from college? Research Design: Our research consists of historical analysis of printed archival material from 1929-1940. Primary material was drawn from original print editions of the Readers' Guide to Periodic Literature and the… [Direct]
(1989). Education, Justice and Unity: Prerequisites for Peace. The absence of peace is one of the greatest threats to the continued existence of life on this planet. This paper uses the definition of peace given by the General Conference of UNESCO at its 18th session, whereby peace is seen as a process, not an event. Education is vital to eliminating prejudice, which is the foundation of injustice, disunity, and war. The four main causes of prejudice/injustice/disunity/war are: (1) self-centeredness, (2) passion, (3) lack of morals, and (4) blind imitation. These lead to five prejudices/injustices/disunities that are the most potent causes of war: (1) racism, (2) sexism, (3) nationalism, (4) classism, and (5) religionism. Education is the primary and most effective means for eliminating prejudice, injustice, and disunity. Teachers must first recognize and attempt to eliminate their own personal prejudices, then introduce the scientific knowledge that presently exists to support the concept of the oneness and nonviolent nature of humankind. They… [PDF]
(1997). Teaching Tolerance for All: Education Strategies To Promote Global Peace. International Yearbook on Teacher Education 1995. Proceedings from the World Assembly of the International Council on Education for Teaching (42nd, Darussalam, Brunei, July 3-7, 1995). The overall theme of this proceedings, Teaching Tolerance for All: Education Strategies to Promote Global Peace, is discussed by addressing four main topics: (1) rethinking the school curriculum to teach the values of tolerance and peace; (2) empowering teachers and teacher educators to teach the values of tolerance and peace; (3) developing leaders to promote the values of tolerance and peace; and (4) consolidating international initiatives to foster the values of tolerance and peace. The proceedings covers opening and closing ceremony presentations; the Keynote Frank H. Klassen Lecture; five plenary addresses, four covering the four conference topics; and concurrent session papers. (SM)… [PDF]
(2010). Applications of Cognitive Flexibility Theory in Cross-Cultural Training. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of New Mexico. An examination of American efforts to influence global peace and security through development assistance to foreign police and other security forces reveals that they have a record of mixed results. The pitfalls arising from cultural dissonance in international training programs is a significant factor in why some police reform initiatives fail. Through substantial investment of financial and human resources, U.S. Government funded police education programs deployed across a wide range of diverse and evolving nations have attempted to solidify the democratic process in often tumultuous environments. This research suggests that the traditional Western pedagogical approach that has been employed for decades in Westernized education is not sufficient for generating long-term knowledge gains in many foreign settings. The diverse value systems and expectations that sustain cultures worldwide can no longer be ignored for the sake of homogenization and attainment of an Americanized ideal of… [Direct]
(2009). The Museum of Irish Industry, Robert Kane and Education for All in the Dublin of the 1850s and 1860s. History of Education, v38 n1 p99-113 Jan. The Museum of Irish Industry in Dublin, in its short existence (1845-1867) facilitated the access of ordinary people to popular scientific education, became a "cause celebre" and was defended by popular protest when the government recommended its abolition in 1862. Its Director, Sir Robert Kane (1809-1890) was not only an advocate of popular industrial education but also had a lifelong commitment to "united" (or non-denominational) education believing that only this type of education would achieve the ultimate result of tolerance, religious peace and national prosperity in Ireland. From 1854 a Government School of Science was part of the museum's educational activities and from 1854 to 1867 the professors attached to the museum offered courses of lectures, both "popular" and formal courses, on physics, chemistry, botany, zoology and geology, and in applied science. With its exhibition collections, its laboratories and the range of educational courses… [Direct]