Conflict Resolution Education/Peace Education Brief Overview
What is Conflict Resolution Education (CRE)?
The Association for Conflict Resolution suggests that "Conflict resolution education models and teaches, in culturally meaningful ways, a variety of processes, practices and skills that help address individual, interpersonal, and institutional conflicts, and create safe and welcoming communities" (Jones, 2004)
What is Peace Education (PE) and how is it different than CRE?
"Peace education is a participatory holistic process that includes teaching for and about democracy and human rights, nonviolence, social and economic justice, gender equality, environmental sustainability, disarmament, traditional peace practices, international law, and human security" (Hague Appeal for Peace, 2005)
While CRE generally focuses on a local/domestic level, the focus of Peace Education is generally more global in perspective. Peace Education also "has a stronger emphasis on social justice orientations and larger systemic issues of violence than conflict education programs" (Jones, 2004).
What is Democracy & Citizenship Education?
"Citizenship education" describes efforts to prepare students for effective, principled citizenship. Citizenship education can include instruction in history and government, civics lessons on the rights and duties of citizens in a democracy, discussion of current events, service-learning, mock trials and elections, character education and other approaches. Citizenship education can also take place through student government, extracurricular and co-curricular activities, and by involving students in school, district and community decision making" (Education Commission of the States, 2007).
Who are CRE/PE practitioners?
The knowledge, skills, and abilities of conflict resolution education and peace education are taught and utilized all over the world in various formal and informal ways in formal and in-formal education settings, by youth-serving organizations, businesses, faith-based organizations, governmental and non-governmental organizations.
The United Nations suggests that: "Many teachers are already practicing peace education without calling it by name. Historically, in various parts of the world, peace education has been referred to as Education for Conflict Resolution, International Understanding, and Human Rights, Global Education, Critical Pedagogy, Education for Liberation and Empowerment, Social Justice Education, Environmental Education, Life Skills Education, Disarmament and Development Education, and more. These various labels illuminate the depth and diversity of the field. Using the term peace education helps co-ordinate such global initiatives and unite educators in the common practice of educating for a culture of peace" (United Nations Cyber School Bus, n.d.).
Children and Violence
- According to The United Nations Secretary General's Study on Violence Against Children (Office of the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights, et al., 2005): 20-65% of children had been bullied within the past 30 days according to the Global School-based Health Survey.
- The World Health Organization estimates that in 2002, almost 53,000 children died due to homicide worldwide. (Office of the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights, et al., 2005)
- More than 300,000 children (under 18) around the world are actively participating in more than 30 armed conflicts. Children are often more easily manipulated because of their psychological and physical immaturity, making obedient, cheap, and disposable soldiers (Youth Advocate Program International, 2004).
What can CRE and PE programs achieve?
- CRE reduces antisocial behavior in school-aged children (Garrard, 2007).
- CRE decreases aggressiveness and increases academic achievement and performance (Jones, 2002).
- CRE increases awareness of violence and appropriate reactions to it by teachers, schoolchildren, and parents (International Network on School Bullying and Violence, August 2005).
- CRE decreases violence among school children (International Network on School Bullying and Violence, August 2005).
- CRE decreases problem behavior at school observed by teachers (International Network on School Bullying and Violence, May 2005)
- CRE decreases the attractiveness of gangs and help vulnerable students resist them by creating a school climate that makes every student feel valued and establishing CRE as part of the school curriculum (Burnett, 1999).
PE Quick Facts:
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) describes peace education as schooling and other educational initiatives that (United Nations Cyber School Bus, n.d.):
- Function as 'zones of peace', where children are safe from violent conflict
- Uphold children's basic rights as outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
- Develop a climate that models peaceful and respectful behaviour among all members of the learning community
- Demonstrate the principles of equality and non-discrimination in administrative policies and practices
- Draw on the knowledge of peace-building that exists in the community, including means of dealing with conflict that are effective, non-violent, and rooted in the local culture
- Handle conflicts in ways that respect the rights and dignity of all involved
- Integrate an understanding of peace, human rights, social justice and global issues throughout the curriculum whenever possible
- Provide a forum for the explicit discussion of values of peace and social justice
- Enable children to put peace-making into practice in the educational setting as well as in the wider community
- Generate opportunities for continuous reflection and professional development of all educators in relation to issues of peace, justice and rights
Who is working on furthering CRE/PE?
There is legislation, mandates and/or standards on CRE and PE in all of the worlds regions. Examples of the range of topics include curriculum integration of CRE into various subject areas, integration of mediation and conflict management skills training into teacher preparation, the use of restorative justice practices for youth in the community through the courts, or a national mandate to have bullying prevention mission statements and policies in place in all schools.
There are hundreds of government and non-government organizations (NGOs) working on CRE and PE worldwide. Below is a sampling of these organizations. Please visit our growing Directory to find out more!
- European Center for Conflict Prevention (ECCP) http://www.conflict-prevention.net/
- Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) http://www.gppac.net/index.html
- The Organization of American States (OAS) http://www.oas.org/
- Teaching Peace, Longmont Community Justice Partnership http://www.teachingpeace.org/
- The United Nations http://www.cyberschoolbus.un.org
- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) http://www.unicef.org/index.php
- United States Institute of Peace (USIP) http://www.usip.org/
Resources:
- Burnett, Gary. (1999). Gangs in Schools. ERIC Digest [Online]. Retrieved September 21, 2007, from http://www.oecd-sbv.net/Templates/Article.aspx?id=340
- Education Commission of the States. (2007). Citizenship Education. Retrieved September 21, 2007, from http://www.ecs.org/html/issue.asp?issueid=19
- Garrard, Wendy M. (n.d.) Does Conflict Resolution Education Really Reduce Antisocial Behaviors in Schools? The Evidence Says YES!. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.
- Hague Appeal for Peace. (2005). Home. Retrieved September 14, 2007, from http://www.haguepeace.org/
- International Network on School Bullying and Violence. (August, 2005). Development of good inter-personal relationships. Retrieved September 21, 2007, from http://www.oecd-sbv.net/Templates/Article.aspx?id=354
- International Network on School Bullying and Violence. (May 2005). PALS - a School-wide Program for Positive Behaviour, Support, Interaction and Safety. Retrieved September 21, 2007, from http://www.oecd-sbv.net/Templates/Article.aspx?id=340
- Jones, Tricia S. (2004). Conflict Resolution Education: The Field, The Findings, and the Future. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, Fall-Winter, 22 (1-2), 233-267.
- Jones, Tricia S. (2002). Proven benefits of conflict resolution education research. Retrieved September 21, 2007, from http://www.creducation.org/catalog/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=27
- Office of the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights (OHCHR), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and The World Health Organization (WHO). (2005). The United Nations Secretary General's Study on Violence Against Children. Retrieved September 21, 2007 from http://www.violencestudy.org/IMG/pdf/English-2-2.pdf
- United Nations Cyber School Bus. (n.d.). Peace Education, Global Educators. Retrieved September 21, 2007 from http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/peace/index.asp
- United Nations Cyber School Bus. (n.d.). UNICEF, Retrieved September 14, 2007 from http://www.cyberschoolbus/peace/index.asp
- Youth Advocate Program International (YAP). (2004) Children Affected by Armed Conflict/Child Soldiers. Retrieved September 21, 2007 from http://www.yapi.org/conflict/index.htm
Related Resources
Below you'll find a randomized listing of up to 20 related items (we may have more...) drawn from our Resource Catalog.
| Resource Title | Description | Links |
|---|---|---|
| Road to peace, The: A teaching guide on local and global transitional justice | 10-chapter teaching guide "that introduces students who have a general knowledge of human rights to the concept of transitional justice. Using the expertise of The Advocates' human rights monitoring teams, who carried out work in Peru and Sierra Leone, The Advocates for Human Rights has created this teaching guide to be used with ninth grade...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Tolerance Stories Booklet | 55-page collection of stories, "to teach tolerance because stories are the first and most enduring literary form and they have the power to shape people’s understanding of the world and to change their lives ... it is our hope that this resource booklet will facilitate educators in elementary and secondary schools to introduce discussions of...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Effective methods of CRE in Armenia’s schools: Peer-to-peer education implemented by NGO Women for D | 40-page Powerpoint presentation given at the Second International Summit on Conflict Resolution Education outlining a program running in Armenia for six years in which, "Teachers and school children received special training and conducted peer-to-peer education for approximately 590 pupils from 29 classes in 10 schools, after the peer-to-peer...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Teaching global and local conflict in the classroom | 24-page pdf document that accompanied a professional development program hosted by the World Affairs Council. Document consists of a list (with web addresses) of resources that relate to confict and conflict resolution. Recommend sites and sites that include lesson plans are noted. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Two faces of education in ethnic conflict, The: Towards a peacebuilding education for children | 54-page PDF study which, "should be considered as a first attempt to explore a set of highly complex and controversial issues. Its potential contribution is twofold: a focused and critical examination of the peacebuilding and peace-destroying role of education; and the placement of children on the mainstream peacebuilding and reconstruction agenda...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Teaching and learning in circle | Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 3, Number 2, (February 2003), which "explores the impact of teaching using a circle format, both at the high school and college level." | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Values education, teacher professional learning and the United Nations | 8-page PDF article which, "focuses on values education in teacher professional learning and in particular the innovative use of Model United Nations Conferences as a way of enhancing values-based approaches." | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Review of WANEP'S peace education programme | Pdf document which reviews a three-year pilot program, "to promote a culture of nonviolence among young people as a preventive measure against violent conflicts," created by the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP). | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Evaluation report on progress made through the OSCE’s efforts to unify the Gymnasium Mostar: Summer | 51-page Word evaluation "of the unification of the Gymnasium Mostar in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), as commissioned by the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission to BiH ... the Gymnasium Mostar was an historic and premier secondary school prior to the war of 1992-1995. It was completely destroyed during the war...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Conflict Resolution Education in Indonesia: Mapping Adaptations and Meanings | This study, available as a pdf, examined the ways professors in teacher education departments in two universities in East Java translated and adapted Conflict Resolution Education (CRE) methods. To map the ways they adapted and understood cooperative learning (CL) and non-coercive classroom management (NCCM), a critical ethnography (a blend of...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Conflict management | Website "developed to provide an introduction to the study of conflict management, based on research in this field," the site includes information on the nature of conflict and it's key elements, why the study of conflict is important, as well as the skills necessary for conflict managers. Included on the website is a self-test to check your...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Evaluation report on progress made through the OSCE’s efforts to unify the Gymnasium Mostar: Summer | 51-page PDF evaluation "of the unification of the Gymnasium Mostar in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), as commissioned by the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission to BiH ... the Gymnasium Mostar was an historic and premier secondary school prior to the war of 1992-1995. It was completely destroyed during the war...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Education for peace: A curriculum framework K-12 | 14-page pdf document which presents a "conceptual framework from which schools may devise a program comprising the transmission of universal values and enduring attitudes, and the development of skills which will enable our students to become active global citizens ... the implementation of this conceptual framework recognizes the practice of...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Community-Based Institutes on Peace Education (CIPE) organizer's manual: A peace education planning | 78-page pdf manual "designed to assist formal, non-formal and grass-roots educators and educational planners by providing ideas and tools for the development of community-based peace education learning projects that might contribute to the reduction of violence at all levels of the global social order. More specifically, it has been developed to...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| World of possibilities: CRE and peace education around the globe, A | 34-page Powerpoint presentation given at the Sustaining Conflict Resolution Education: Building Bridges to the Future conference in Fairfax, VA, which "presents summaries of several important activities related to global expansion of conflict resolution education and peace education." | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Thailand: Successful strategies for policy creation & implementation of CRE in schools | 25-page Powerpoint presentation which addresses "the Ministry of education's efforts to develop a national policy to build the culture of peace in schools at the national level and explore positive ways to involve student participation in solving conflict and violence." | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Tips for developing peace education curriculum: Some lessons from Vietnam | 4-page tips document, the abstract states, "Teachers and schools around Australia are being asked to take responsibility for ensuring safe schools and promoting citizenship among students. This is part of an international movement to use school-based education to promote a global culture of peace. The International Conflict Resolution Centre at...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Intercultural education as a method of early conflict prevention in multicultural societies | Presentation of report on the state of conflict resolution efforts in Ukraine. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Practicing peace: A peace education module for standards 4 through 6 in Solomon Islands | 87-page pdf document which presents peace education for the Solomon Islands context. "The primary method used in peace education is generally referred to as a "facilitated" or "interactive" model of teaching. In this method, the teacher becomes a facilitator of learning and a co-learner with the students. Students and teachers use experiential...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Management and resolution of conflicts: An essential competence for life in basic education | Presentation of the value of teaching conflict resolution education in schools. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
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