(2014). Promoting the Development of Moral Identity, Behavior, and Commitment in a Social Action Program. Journal of Peace Education, v11 n2 p225-245. Involvement in social action and community service can promote the construction of prosocial identities and enduring patterns of civic behavior. This article explores this important process for youth that participate in the PeaceJam Ambassadors program. High school-aged "PeaceJammers" study the lives of Nobel Peace laureates while creating projects to affect change in their local communities. Multiple methods were used to access youth perceptions including surveys and interpretive interviews. Participants reported high levels on indicators on personal and social change. Their narratives articulated salient influences on their identities and actions. They shared how advisors promote social identity, participation, and the development of moral identities. These findings add to a growing empirical literature on moral development and youth engagement in peace education and community transformation…. [Direct]
(2016). To Address or Not to Address the Violent Past in the Classroom? That Is the Question in C√¥te D'ivoire. Journal of Peace Education, v13 n2 p153-171. In the aftermath of violent conflict, divided societies have to answer the important question of whether, when and how to address their country's violent past within their educational system. Whereas some scholars within the field of peace education and transitional justice argue that addressing the violent past in the classroom is important for fostering mutual understanding and empathy among future generations in order to prevent conflict recurrence, other scholars are more sceptical about the need and feasibility of addressing the violent past in schools. They emphasize the possible negative impact in terms of increased tensions within schools and within society more generally. The current paper makes an important empirical contribution to this debate by analysing the views and perceptions on this matter of 984 secondary school teachers in Abidjan, the largest city and de facto capital of C√¥te d'Ivoire–a country that was recently torn apart by ethnic strife and violent conflict…. [Direct]
(2024). Ethical Literacy as a Way of Being-with-Others: A Critical Ethnography in the Field of Education for Peace in Colombia. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, v32 n1 p143-161. This paper presents the results of a critical ethnography of literacy practices experienced by a group of university students, who perceived them as promoting social exclusion in the Colombian educational system. It also gives an account of their views about how this educational system could be more inclusive and contribute to peacebuilding in the country. Inspired by Paulo Freire's understanding of literacy and Hannah Arendt's political theory, the meaning reconstructive analysis of 46 stories reveals a thematic universe composed of three main categories: understandings of social exclusion from schooling experiences, types of social exclusion as lived in schooling, and social exclusion-related factors of literacy practices. Based on two discussion groups, and an analysis in the light of the theory of practice architectures, it is argued and empirically substantiated that ethical literacy, as a way of being-with-others, is a practice that must be at the core of an education for peace…. [Direct]
(2014). Ethnic Conflict and Sustainable Development in Nigeria: The Role of Peace Education. International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, v2 n3 p22-25 Jul. The issue of ethnic conflict in Nigeria has become a burning national issue with its attendant problems. Its current predominance is reflected in the reports of various activities of ethnic militant in the country coupled with the high rising terrorism activities in the northern part of the country from which the traces of ethnicity problem cannot be totally ruled out. However, the issue now nationwide is no longer the recognition of ethnic conflict and its increasing threats to lives and properties but on how to curtail and manage it so that both human and material resources being used for such activities can be geared towards bringing about sustainable development in all spheres of life. The problem could best be tackled through deliberate and sincere efforts to change the behaviour and attitudes of the people to become their brothers' keeper and tolerate one another. This could best be achieved upon the teaching of peace education in the schools. Therefore, this paper discusses… [PDF]
(2015). Strategies Towards Effective Management of Higher Education for Building a Culture of Peace in Nigeria. International Journal of Higher Education, v4 n2 p127-138. This study was aimed at investigating strategies for effective management of higher education for building a culture of peace in Nigeria. Four research questions and four hypotheses guided the investigation. The study is a survey research which adopted the ex-post-facto design. The respondents comprised of one thousand four hundred and eighty (1480) made up of academic staff, senior staff and students. The sample was selected using simple random sampling technique form twelve public universities in southern Nigeria. Data collected from questionnaire, the only instrument used for the study, were analyzed using descriptive statistics for the research questions and analysis of variance to test the formulated hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The finding revealed that curricula related, life skills related, institutional climate related and funding related were strategies for effective management of education for building a culture of peace in Nigeria. The study recommends that… [PDF]
(2013). Fifth Lecture. NAMTA Journal, v38 n1 p259-264 Win. We include the ninth chapter of "Education and Peace" by Maria Montessori (1949) to draw attention to the relationship between peace and sustainability. Nature is an integral part of peace studies. [Reprinted from "Education and Peace," pages 66-70, copyright © 1972 by Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company.]… [PDF]
(2012). "Parenting about Peace": Exploring Taiwanese Parents' and Children's Perceptions in a Shared Political and Sociocultural Context. Family Relations, v61 n1 p115-128 Feb. This study explored what Taiwanese parents would educate their children about peace and what children retained from parental teaching, as well as children's reported communication with parents about peace. In-depth interviews were conducted with 60 parents and one of their children. Based on the perceptions of children, the most influential learning children received from their parents in peace education is the aspect of negative descriptions of peace (what peace is not). Unique findings suggest that Taiwanese parenting about peace focuses more on teaching children personal cultivation and interpersonal harmony than introducing the ideas of international collaboration or universal rights. The findings suggest that the specific macrosystem of Taiwan may influence how parents educate their children about peace. One important implication for family practitioners is the necessity to take into account the traditional cultural values particular to the group they work with and to connect… [Direct]
(2012). Analysing Trust Building in Educational Activities. International Journal of Educational Research, v53 p240-250. This article aims to offer both a theoretical contribution and examples of practices of trust building in peace education; the article presents an empirical analysis of videotaped interactions in the context of peace education activities in international groups of adolescents. The analysis aims to understand if and in which ways peace education is effective in enabling adolescents to communicate, creating conditions of working trust, mutual humanization, mutual recognition of needs, and trustworthiness of facilitators. In analysing interactions, we will follow the basic methodology of Conversation Analysis, which consists in working on naturally occurring interactions and more specifically on the contribution of single turns or actions to the ongoing sequence, with reference to the context. The analysis concerns the design of turns (actions) produced in the interaction, the organization of the sequences in which educators' and adolescents' turns are intertwined, the cultural… [Direct]
(2017). An Outcomes Evaluation on the Youth Peace Ambassadors in Motion Program. ProQuest LLC, Psy.D. Dissertation, Adler School of Professional Psychology. Despite the persistent efforts individuals have made to promote social justice through education and partnering with others to facilitate social movements, structural violence rates prevail (Harris, 2004). In order to be able to accurately address the significant problem of structural violence we are experiencing, not only in schools, but in society at large, there needs to be a significant emphasis placed on the need for the use of effective initiatives that emphasize peacebuilding strategies, and empowering youth to be agents of social change implemented within the academic system (Christie, Wagner, & Winter, 2001). The present study measured the effectiveness of a program known as the Youth Peace Ambassador in Motion (YPAM), which is an intervention that utilized a peace education approach with an emphasis on peacebuilding. The aim for this study was to answer the following question: Does the Youth Peace Ambassadors in Motion program effectively foster the development of… [Direct]
(2011). Social Justice and Critical Peace Education: Common Ideals Guiding Student Teacher Transformation. Journal of Peace Education, v8 n3 p295-313. The primary objective of this paper is to report on two teacher educators' development and assessment of a framework and workshop to introduce student teachers to social justice and peace education ideals within the domains of teachers' work during student teachers' first full-time experience of teaching in diverse schools in a major city in the Pacific region. The framework builds from a critical re-constructionist perspective and aims to raise student teachers' critical consciousness of social and economic injustice, human rights, and defects in schooling and inspire a resolve to act on them to promote social justice (Bajaj 2008). Adopting an action research methodology, the authors/instructors assessed student teachers' perceptions of their learning after a two-hour workshop that introduced a social justice and peace education framework. Secondary student teachers participated in workshops in two consecutive years. Student teachers reported positive outcomes from the workshop in… [Direct]
(2014). Education, Politics and Sino-Japanese Relations: Reflections on a Three-Year Project on "East Asian Images of Japan". Educational Studies in Japan: International Yearbook, n8 p129—142 Mar. Drawing on a recent collaborative and interdisciplinary study of East Asian Images of Japan, this article discusses contemporary Chinese portrayals of Japan, their political context, and their significance for Sino-Japanese relations. It questions some widely-held assumptions concerning the extent of "thought control" in an authoritarian state, the nature of popular protest, and the relationship between official propaganda and popular lived experience. While the main focus is on portrayals of Japan in mainland China, for comparative purposes some reference is made to Hong Kong and Taiwan. The latter part of the article also features a brief discussion of images of China in Japan, especially relating to the Second World War. This reflects particularly on the role of museums as vehicles for "peace education," focusing on two key institutions in Kyushu. China's "bases for patriotic education" and Japan's "peace museums" ostensibly embody radically… [PDF]
(2022). Six Educational Approaches to Conflict and Peace. Journal of Peace Education, v19 n2 p205-225. The relations between education, conflict and peace have become the focus of a growing and diverse field of educational research and action. In the diversity and complexity of this field, I distinguish six educational approaches that stand out: human rights, psychosocial, humanitarian aid, development, security, and reconciliation. They refer to six sets of particular and coherent assumptions regarding the reasons that originate and exacerbate conflicts, with their own answers about how to prevent, resolve, alleviate, or transform that situation — their ways of understanding peace — and the roles that the educational sector plays in the achievement of this purpose, with their pros and cons…. [Direct]
(2019). Education for Global Peace. Childhood Education, v95 n6 p34-41. Education for Global Peace (EGB) is a new organization that shares many of the interests and values of Childhood Education International. It is an organization, a community, and an approach that works to bend the arc toward justice and peace. This article provides a brief summary of the vision, mission, and objectives of EGP…. [Direct]
(2024). Rebranding Gandhi for the 21st Century: Science, Ideology and Politics at UNESCO's Mahatma Gandhi Institute (MGIEP). Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, v54 n5 p785-803. This paper analyses the development of UNESCO's Mahatma Gandhi Institute on Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP), examining its record from global, national and institutional perspectives. The global perspective encompasses challenges to UNESCO's attempts to articulate a distinctive, humanistic vision in competition with other multilateral bodies. The national perspective relates to India, which hosts MGIEP, provides the bulk of its funding and exerts significant influence over its governance. Consideration is also given to the relationship between MGIEP's work and Mahatma Gandhi's ideas. Finally, the institutional perspective relates both to the author's own experience with MGIEP, and to information gained through interviews with others involved with the institute. It is argued that MGIEP's story illuminates challenges to attempts, within India and internationally, to sustain a humanistic vision of education in the face of powerful countervailing interests…. [Direct]
(2013). Restorative Practices as Formal and Informal Education. Journal of Peace Education, v10 n1 p36-50. This article reviews restorative practices (RP) as education in formal and informal contexts of learning that are fertile sites for cultivating peace. Formal practices involve instruction about response to conflict, while informal learning occurs beyond academic lessons. The research incorporated content analysis and a critical examination of the reported practices. The findings illuminate the nature of the practices and sources of power differentials in them. The discussion concludes with recommendations for the use of RP. Five identified opportunities for expansion and refinement of RP as informal and formal education resonate with, and extend, suggestions for this important aspect of peace education. (Contains 1 table and 1 note.)… [Direct]