(2016). Peace Education's Effects on Aggression: A Mixed Method Study. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, n64 p45-68. Problem Statement: Literature reviews clearly document that students still show a tendency to use violence in resolving interpersonal conflicts in school. Results from various research conducted in Turkey suggest that violence, aggression, and bullying behaviors are still rampant in the primary and high schools. Studies conducted in primary and middle schools toward decreasing aggression and preventing violence focus on programs such as violence prevention, conflict resolution, and peer mediation. While these programs are mainly based on peacemaking strategy, prevention programs based on positive peace and peacebuilding strategy with tested effectiveness are rather limited. Thus, a peace education program based on positive peace and peacebuilding strategy was developed and its effects on aggression levels of sixth grade students were investigated. Purpose of the Study: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of peace education program on sixth grade students'… [PDF]
(2016). Peace Education Research in the Twenty-First Century: Three Concepts Facing Crisis or Opportunity?. Journal of Peace Education, v13 n1 p1-17. This article focuses on the concepts of peace, education and research, and the ways in which they combine to form the field of peace education and peace education research. It discusses the ways in which each can be said to be facing a crisis of legitimation, representation and praxis, and the structural and cultural violence that inhibit efforts towards a more inclusive global conception of peace. It will review some ways in which it may be possible to rise to Gur-Ze'ev's challenge to respond to post-structural critiques of the field. Drawing on participatory, auto ethnographic and arts-based research methodologies, it suggests ways of creating synergies between research and aspirations towards positive (rather than negative) peace…. [Direct]
(2021). 9/11 and Social Studies Education: A Critique of Perpetual War and the Possibility of a More Peaceful Future. Canadian Social Studies, v52 n2 p68-73 Jul. In this article, the author shares a personal reflection of his military and educational experiences in the aftermath of 9/11. He describes his concerns about the ongoing "War on Terror" and the "disengaged militarism" of the United States and how this has shaped his approach in the classroom. Expanding on his personal experiences, he calls for social studies educators to employ critical pedagogy and peace education to help students develop as thoughtfully and critically engaged citizens who are capable of creating a more peaceful world…. [PDF]
(2017). Problematizing War: Reviving the Historical Focus of Peace Education. Journal of Peace Education, v14 n3 p261-281. In the last forty years, peace education has broadened its focus from primarily international peace and the prevention of war to an approach that encompasses social justice, environmental education, critical theory, and multicultural education. While this is a positive evolution in many respects, there is a danger in de-emphasizing the actual critique of war and militarism. This article looks at the reasons why peace education should revive its strong historical focus on problematizing war. There is a strong emphasis on how educators can implement this in the classroom by fostering an environment where students can critique both past and contemporary conflicts. This renewed focus is of special importance in our modern globalized world, especially in militarily powerful nations such as the United States…. [Direct]
(2019). Looking for Peace in the National Curriculum of Mexico. International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning, v11 n1 p50-67. Schools are places where we can learn ways of being, seeing and living. They are transmission belts — social institutions that can engender values and attitudes from both how we learn and what we learn. Using content analysis, this mixed methods study assesses the national curriculum of Mexico — the Plan de Estudios Educaci√≥n B√°sica, 2011 — for three components found in peace education programmes: recognizing violence (direct, structural or cultural); addressing conflict nonviolently; and creating the conditions of positive peace. These three components contribute to the analysis of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): quality education (SDG 4); gender equality (SDG 5); reduced inequalities (SDG 10); responsible consumption and production (SDG 12); and peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG 16). This component of the Peace Education Curriculum Analysis (PECA) Project finds that the Plan de Estudios contains limited content that recognizes violence, some evidence of… [PDF]
(2016). Peace Education with Refugees: Case Studies. Intercultural Education, v27 n6 p635-640. The authors suggest the possibility of using concepts and practices drawn from peace education to assist in the treatment and education of refugees suffering from post-traumatic stress. They introduce four basic principles of peace education, which permit students/clients to work through memory and present conflicts, and calls on therapists/teachers to be flexible in their approaches. Three case studies are offered: Bosnian youth in a community center in Chicago, adult male Bosnian refugees in Berlin participating in a social integration project and recently arrived Syrian and Afghani youth living in a transitional setting in Leipzig. There is potential for work undertaken with refugees using principles of peace education to resolve ongoing internal conflicts, while helping to prevent the creation of new social conflicts in the process of integration…. [Direct]
(2020). Peace Building through Teacher Leadership. Journal of Peace Education, v17 n3 p308-323. This case study examines the motivations of, and processes used by teacher leaders to establish a peace program at their middle school. These teacher leaders creatively engaged students in transforming school culture using empowering strategies to build positive peace among students, administrators, and teachers. Theories of peace education are used as a framework to facilitate analysis of the data, which was collected through qualitative methods including observations and in-depth interviews. This study contributes to understandings of how teacher leaders promote positive peace in K-12 schools and their communities…. [Direct]
(2020). Teaching and Learning for Comprehensive Citizenship: Global Perspectives on Peace Education. Routledge Research in International and Comparative Education. Routledge Research in International and Comparative Education Ultimately concerned with how citizenship education for peace can be enriched through interdisciplinary learning, this edited volume reveals the role of peace education in global citizenship by illuminating instruction for comprehensive citizenship. A truly international collection, this volume offers timely insights from countries including Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Canada, Bangaldesh, Korea, Zimbabwe, and Timor Leste as it provides critical, in-depth analyses of peace-oriented instruction in formal and informal settings. The text illustrates how citizenship can be effectively developed on both a global and a local level, and discusses the practical learning opportunities that can enact change through schools, nongovernmental organizations, and community-wide civic actions with children, youth, adults, and families. This text will appeal to academics and researchers involved in the field of international and comparative education and will be of interest to educators and school… [Direct]
(2022). Rejection and Mutation of Discourses in Curriculum Reforms: Peace Education(s) in Colombia and Germany. Journal of Curriculum Studies, v54 n2 p259-281. Previous work has not yet comparatively studied which forms of peace education (PE) have been adopted in national laws. Through content analysis of policy documents, we seek to find out why the Colombian Congress established PE as mandatory content across all educational levels in 2014 in a postwar phase, while the German Standing Conference of Ministers of Education rejected attempts to implement PE since the Cold War. Whereas the German school curriculum has maintained a strong disciplinary structure that leads to the rejection of the local version of PE developed in the Federal Republic of Germany, either as military indoctrination or critical pedagogy, Colombia's curriculum based on classical education is now influenced by educational standards and citizenship education–both influences from the United States. Therefore, it was easier for Colombian policymakers and educators to mutate the local fusion of citizenship competences into a psychological version of PE to solve national… [Direct]
(2016). Looking for Peace in National Curriculum: The PECA Project in New Zealand. Journal of Peace Education, v13 n1 p18-40. This is the pilot study for the Peace Education Curricular Analysis Project–a project that seeks to become a longitudinal and global analysis of national curriculum statements for pro-peace values. National education as a system of organized learning can act as a transmission belt–a cultural institution that assigns communal ideals and values and uses pedagogy to echo social standards. As this analysis considers that it is possible to assess non-peace education for peace education qualities, this study analyzed New Zealand's early childhood, primary, and secondary education curricular statements to ascertain the presence or absence of three elements common in peace education programs: recognition of violence; addressing conflict nonviolently; and creating the conditions of positive peace. The methodologies used in this mixed methods study include directive and summative content analysis. This analysis finds that the curricular statements (2) of New Zealand have made progress to… [Direct]
(2015). Peace Education and Childhood. Journal of Peace Education, v12 n2 p182-203. Peace studies and peace education are multifaceted processes focusing on diverse audiences from children in elementary grades to those involved in political negotiations at the highest levels. This paper addresses the foundational importance of including conflict embedded in adult-child relationships in peace education. It conceptually grounds assignments for university level courses designed to teach concepts linked to peace education through the vehicle of understanding violence against children. Such learning is designed to liberate students from the hegemony of adultism, the colonial relationship between adults and children and in turn to contribute to the advancement of peace education. Such pedagogy reflects the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child's call for educational measures to protect and support children's human dignity. Such an approach is especially relevant for peace education, as a large body of research across disciplines has provided substantial evidence of a… [Direct]
(2021). Promoting 'Maitri' through Education: Tagore and Education for Peace. Journal of Peace Education, v18 n1 p72-91. This paper discusses the educational experiment of Rabindranath Tagore and its larger implications for world peace. As violence becomes the new normal amongst the youth of the world, the challenge for societies is to build cultures of peace instead of cultures of violence. In this context, this paper discusses the ideas of Tagore on education, and proposes that his model of education has elements on the basis of which a strong foundation for a new culture of peace can be laid. A study of his ideas throws light on how his education system was meant to restore peace at different levels building relations of love and friendship ("maitri") between people. His model of education can help peace-builders in the transformation of conflicts at different levels: peace at the global level (transforming interstate conflicts), peace within society (transforming social conflicts), peace between human beings (transforming interpersonal conflicts), peace with nature (transforming human… [Direct]
(2015). For the Sake of Peace: Maintaining the Resonance of Peace and Education. Ethics and Education, v10 n1 p73-83. This article is an attempt to develop the idea of peace education for adults through the assumption that, compared to peace education for children, educational approaches for adults are as yet undeveloped. This article also assumes that the progress of educational approaches for adults is necessary to the further development of peace education for children, as well as to the expansion of the theory. In navigating the argument around issues of peace education for adults, the article uses the example of educational issues faced by Amerasians in Okinawa. The article argues that language education is a fundamental aspect of peace education for adults. It also demonstrates that the content of language education for adults is different from the content of language education for children. Furthermore, the article defends peace education for adults, through language education, as the very first step towards creating peaceful conditions for the education of Amerasians in Okinawa…. [Direct]
(2022). Silent Struggles: Women Education Leaders' Agency for Peacebuilding in Islamic Schools in Post-Conflict Aceh. Journal of Peace Education, v19 n2 p158-181. This article engages with an under-researched field that specifically looks into the gendered nature of women education leaders' agency in the context of Islamic boarding schools in post-tsunami and post-war Aceh province of Indonesia. The key aim of this paper is to understand various ways in which Acehnese women educators' negotiate and navigate restricted, gendered and religiously orthodox spaces. We analyse the role of grassroots education actors in processes of societal transformation and peacebuilding through a gender-specific lens, to explore our contextual understanding of agency through a cultural political economy approach, complemented with insights from critical and decolonial peace education. By presenting the often silenced and marginalized stories of women leaders, educators and grassroots actors, we explore their views and experiences in — consciously or unconsciously — transforming or reproducing existing (in)equalities and potential conflict-triggers in… [Direct]
(2020). Educating for Peace in a Global Society. Intercultural Education, v31 n4 p493-498. Global citizens recognise climate change and feel responsible for protecting a worldwide environment. Global citizens understand that individuals or nations alone cannot solve the complexity of issues such as the increasing and ongoing international migrations. Global citizens support the banished with empathy, compassion and mutual respect. Advocating for worldwide peace across the planet is critical for combatting extremism, violence and warfare. Young people can be lured by the excitement and thrills of turmoil rather than appreciate an atmosphere of peaceful existence. How can education for peace be promoted, and prevent the lure of extremism and radicalisation confronting young people, the students? In this article, the author offers a list of concepts followed by strategies for effective instruction in peace education…. [Direct]