Field Reports
Research from Australia
Posted by CR Ed on Jul 11, 09
Readers may be interested to know that a number of new research reports on values education work in Australia have been described and linked over in the Researcher’s Blog.
Report from Workshop on Peace Education for Educators in Southeast Asia, January 19 to 23, 2009
Posted by Loreta Castro on Apr 16, 09
The Center for Peace Education (CPE) in cooperation with GPPAC-SEA Peace Education Working Group organized the Workshop on Peace Education for Educators in Southeast Asia. Financial support came from CORDAID and GPPAC.
The training sought to: train a core of formal and community educators on the knowledge base, attitudes, and skills that comprise peace education; encourage them to generate doable action plans that they can implement in their schools, organizations and/or communities; encourage them to serve as a beginning core team for the promotion of peace education in their country. The workshop also sought to enable the group to build on the beginnings of a Southeast Asia Peace Education Network that was started in September 2007.
There were 27 participants from 8 Southeast Asian countries: the Philippines, Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam. Two Ministries of Education were represented (Cambodia and the Philippines) and the rest were either educators from the formal school system or from community-based organizations.
The results of a qualitative evaluation questionnaire given at the end of the workshop showed that they have found the workshop helpful. They also indicated many types of significant learnings. The main outputs were doable action plans prepared by the country teams to help build a culture of peace in their respective spheres. Two of the most frequently mentioned plans were: sharing their learnings with other teachers and exerting efforts to integrate the peace ideas, perspectives and values that they acquired into the content of their education programs as well as in their student or youth activities.
Peace education upholds the values of respect for human dignity, nonviolence, socio-economic justice, tolerance and other peace values that are deemed essential toward a sustainable and humane society. Key to the promotion of these values would be the training of those who, in turn, can promote the knowledge among other teachers and community educators. Hence it is deemed important to undertake this type of training regularly until a pool of trained participants can organize themselves as a peace education core group for each of the countries. It is also because of this goal that having a coordinator per country is essential. At the moment this work of coordination is being done by many of the GPPAC-SEA National Initiators or by their designated people, such as in Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia and Timor Leste.
Prepared by: Loreta Castro Chair, Peace Education Working Group GPPAC-SEA
Solomon Islands Peace Education Curriculum
Posted by CR Ed on Apr 12, 09
In the aftermath of five years of civil unrest in Solomon Islands during the late 1990s, educational institutions, the National Peace Council, and NGO leaders expressed a need to build capacity in educational and community settings to teach peace building concepts and skills. This curriculum, subtitled “Come Together, Talk Together, Work Together” is one example of the work being done. The content was prepared in response to interviews of nearly 50 community leaders, educators, young people, and NGO representatives in Solomon Islands in 2004. The content and skills of the highest priority identified by these stakeholders included:
• Understanding rights and responsibilities
• Understanding cultural diversity
• Restorative justice and reconciliation
• Gender relationship skills
• Ability to live with change
• Leadership qualities
• Conflict prevention
• Traditional definitions of peace
• Understand interdependence between individuals and society
• Respect different cultures
These content and skill areas have been incorporated into the curriculum, which consists of four units. All of the conflict scenarios that serve as the basis for skill exercises have been drawn from examples that educators, community leaders and young people provided during interviews. “COME TOGETHER, TALK TOGETHER, WORK TOGETHER” Practicing Peace: A Peace Education Module for Youth and Young Adults in Solomon Islands (UNICEF May 2005) should prove interesting and inspiring to peace educators.
Practicing Peace: A Peace Education Module for Youth and Young Adults in Solomon Islands (UNICEF May 2005 - doc format)
Practicing Peace: A Peace Education Module for Youth and Young Adults in Solomon Islands (UNICEF May 2005 - pdf format)
Practicing Peace Curriculum Activites Organized by Educational Standard (doc format)
Practicing Peace Curriculum Activites Organized by Educational Standard (pdf format)
Aceh (Indonesian) Peace Education Curriculum - Translated to English
Posted by CR Ed on Apr 12, 09
Readers of the the Global CRE blog should really appreciate these new contributions to the Conflict Resolution Education Connection website. Carolyne Ashton, a program evaluation specialist with an extensive background in conflict resolution and peace education, passed along these documents representing peace education from an Islamic and Acehnese perspective. The curriculum was developed for use in Aceh (Indonesia) schools, and Ms. Ashton served as an evaluator for the materials. The principal parties to the development of the curriculum were UNICEF, Nonviolence International (Washington, DC), AusAID (UNICEF Australia) and education experts in Aceh. The latter formed the curriculum development team and a team that revised the original curriculum. The director chosen for the project was a native Acehnese, Dr. Asna Husin.
Indonesian Peace Education Curriculum - Programa Pendidiken Damai (doc format)
Indonesian Peace Education Curriculum - Programa Pendidiken Damai (pdf format)
Evaluation Report - Program Pendidiken Damai (doc format)
Evaluation Report - Program Pendidiken Damai (pdf format)
Reporting on Peace Education Conference in Kenya
Posted by Gary Shaw on Mar 15, 09
In December 2008, I travelled to the Kenyan capital of Nairobi to attend a four day Conference on Peace Education in Eastern and Central Africa: The state of the art, lessons and possibilities. The aim of the conference was to create a forum where participants could share, learn and discuss the current status of peace education and its application in East and Central Africa.
The conference was organized by the Nairobi Peace Initiative (NPI), a regional secretariat of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) in collaboration with the GPPAC International Secretariat, The Global Campaign for Peace Education and Kenya’s Ministry of Education. The conference addressed the important role of education in peace-building.
A major focus of the conference was on garnering regional and international linkages that could be used to improve national approaches through partnering and information sharing.
The conference was divided into two parts. The first two days provided an opportunity to examine the ‘art’ of peace education and the lessons and issues emerging from its implementation particularly in East and Central African countries; Burundi, Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Gabon, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. The second two days were dedicated to peace education in Kenya.
I attended the conference as arepresentative of the GPPAC Working Party on Peace Education and presented a workshop on the second day of the conference.
GPPAC was established by the UN in 2003 as civil society led world-wide network to build international consensus on peace-building and contribute to the prevention of armed conflict. Other Working Party members from the Philippines, Ukraine, Palestine, Columbia, Serbia, Spain, Ghana, Japan, Sri Lanka and Montenegro also attended. The group included GPPAC General Secretary, Paul Van Tongeren. Peace education is a GPPAC priority and complements the work of a global network of educators committed to investing in future generations through the development of skills, understanding and values needed for participation in peaceful communities.
The Conference was a significant event grappling with profound and challenging regional and local issues. Despite the magnitude of the task, particularly in relation to building peace in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan there was strong sense of optimism and commitment. Obviously the challenge is to translate the ideas and enthusiasm into practice.
Political, social and economic factors will, as they always have, influence implementation of peace education initiatives. In Kenya the next steps involve providing immediate relief to ease the stress and causes of violence as well as implementation of prevention strategies. Education is one part of a broader solution for creating peaceful communities and national unity.
Experience from around the globe indicated that peace building is not easy work. This challenge was magnified most recently in post-apartheid South Africa with the xenophobic murders of Zimbabwean refugees. Recent post-election violence and school strikes in Kenya reminded people how fragile peace is and galvanized a strong collaboration between the Ministry for Education and Civil Society Organisation partners. As one delegate reminded us, ‘Don’t take peace for granted! It is hard to get back once it’s gone’.
There are however many things that can be done in schools. The Kenyan Government’s commitment, endorsed by the Minister, the Permanent Secretary, senior officials and demonstrated in productive collaboration with CSO’s, goes a long way towards creating the conditions in which schools can contribute to the ideals of civil society. Investments in extra curricula activities such as sport and music festivals or creating opportunities for student voice will be important. An emphasis on student centered learning can make a difference.
I think that an optimal learning environment is engaging and challenging, where theory and practice promote relevance and authenticity and one in which educators and students feel safe and valued. Whilst this may be considered an ideal I believe it is in such environments that quality learning and productive relationships flourish. Schools that work this way are worth striving for and provide places where young people can rehearse active citizenship, conflict resolution and peaceful relationships.
I understand this was the first time that Kenya had hosted a conference on peace education. The global network expands opportunities and shares the load. My heartfelt congratulations go to the organizers. This was an exceptional event, rich with the challenges and possibilities of education. I wish everybody well in their efforts and that the productive collaboration continues.
Gary Shaw - .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
News from Shalom - Educating for Peace in Rwanda
Posted by GIRC on Nov 26, 08
Posted for Cori Wielenga
Co-director, Shalom, Educating for Peace
Pretoria, South Africa
Shalom Educating for Peace is a non-governmental, non-profit organization working for building and sustaining positive peace through education in the Great Lakes region of Africa. Shalom pursues the following objectives: (i) educating for peace, (ii) researching for peace and (iii) cultivating the culture of nonviolence.
Shalom is a relatively young organization and we have spent the past few months establishing ourselves in Rwanda and Burundi. Our primary activity has been developing proposals and networking for the purpose of raising interest and funds for our projects.
Basabose has continued to broadcast our weekly peace program on a community radio station in Rwanda where the message of nonviolent means to resolving conflict has reached a wide audience and solicited high levels of debate.
Together with an American volunteer we have been initiating a peace education project with self-help cooperatives in rural Rwanda to assist in nonviolent means of communication and resolving conflict. Thanks to Megan Colnar from San Antonio Texas for her help!
For more information on Shalom’s activities and staff, please see our latest newsletter.
Summary of Peace Education Programme in West Africa by WANEP
Posted by Francis Acquah on Nov 12, 08
A culture of non-violence is an imperative for our society if we are to achieve the dream of sustainable just peace and development, which has been enshrined in almost all national development plans of the various nations of the sub-region. Sustainable peace in the West Africa sub-region depends on individuals possessing the knowledge, the skills and the passion to use non-violent means to deal with conflicts that they may be involved in and also having the space and opportunity to promote the use of these non-violent conflict resolution skills.
WANEP’s Peace Education programme was implemented in selected schools in 7 West African countries from 2001 to 2004. Though the pilot phase ended in 2004, the programme lives on in different forms at both national and regional levels. Different activities within the schools such as peace posters and peace poem competitions, peace marches not only by school children but also by community youth, and peace day celebrations are carried out in some schools in all the countries, while teachers continue to devote part of their teaching time to topics developed in the peace education materials from WANEP.
Currently in Ghana, Peace Education has been formally integrated into the curriculum of the Ghana Education Service and is being taught in schools. A peace education manual jointly developed by WANEP and the Ministry of Education in Ghana and other stakeholders in Education is being used in that regard.
In terms of future plans for Peace Education in West Africa, Oxfam GB has expressed interest in funding WANEP’s Peace Education programme and a process will start very soon to develop a project proposal to that effect. I have also being in communication with the President of the Society for Peace and Reconciliation in Sierra Leone at the University of Sierra Leone to establish a Mediation Centre. This project will be supported by GPPAC Global Secretariat.
By Francis Acquah Junior,
Programme Officer, WANEP, Ghana
Philippine Peace Educators’ Appeal vis-a-vis the Renewed Armed Conflict in Southern Philippines
Posted by Loreta Castro on Sep 04, 08
Armed fighting has once again erupted in Southern Philippines (parts of Mindanao island) following the issuance by the Philippine Supreme Court of a temporary restraining order against the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) by the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in early August, 2008.
Many people, most of whom are civilians, have been killed and more than 200,000 have been displaced in the affected areas and the situation is clearly a humanitarian crisis. Animosities and prejudices between Christians and Muslims have once again been heightened because of the attacks and counterattacks that have been happening in the last weeks. In light of the situation, the members of the Peace Education Network issued the following statement:
AN APPEAL TO END THE VIOLENCE IN MINDANAO
The Peace Education Network appeals to government forces (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to cease fighting and to heed the call expressed by many civil society groups for the resumption of dialogues and peace negotiations between them.
We appeal to the GRP and MILF to respect the existing Ceasefire Agreement and for both parties to stop taking provocative and offensive actions that can only lead to more armed confrontations.
We implore the two parties to stop the fighting and to save the peace process to which both of them have already contributed much.
We appeal for the protection of civilians against harm. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have already been displaced from their homes and livelihood and have become the “collateral damage” to this resurgence of armed conflict in Mindanao.
Finally, we call upon government officials to stop arming civilians. These weapons can easily be used irresponsibly and would further create more division, animosity, and insecurity in the communities. It is a very dangerous move given the hostile climate in many communities after the aborted signing of the GRP-MILF Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) and the events that followed. Arming civilians would only encourage communal violence, a horrifying situation that our country experienced some three decades ago.
We, the members of the Peace Education Network, will try to contribute what we can towards peace in Mindanao.
“Culture of Neighborhood” - Multicultural education in Ukraine
Posted by Iryna Brunova-Kalisetska on Aug 08, 08
The core initiative, important for achieving the strategic goal of education in Crimean multiethnic region is directed at the creation and introduction of the integrated course “Culture of Neighborhood”, organized by several non-governmental organizations (in particular Integration and Development Center for Information and Research ), educational institutions, and supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Crimea.
The description of activities that were realized within 2004-2007, can be found in presentations of M. Aradzhyoni (aradzhyoni-brunova.ppt) and O. Smirnov (smirnov-brunova.ppt).
The new focus of our work in 2008 was aimed at the preparation of teachers for the training work in communities. The main goal of such a step is to give teachers who wish to learn the skills and experience of trainings and other active methods of education with parental and pedagogical communities in their schools. In January, 2008, 2 seminars were conducted as the first level, where the basic skills of training for adults and a set of exercises on the topic of ethnicity were presented to about 60 teachers. At the second level of ToT, 20 teachers were taught how to plan and construct such trainings for their pedagogical and parental bodies. During the seminar, 3 training programs for teachers and parents were constructed by participants. As a result, all 20 teachers signed the contracts with Integration and Development Center for Information and Research and agreed to carry out at least one training for adults during the autumn of 2008.
The regular preparation of teachers for delivering the Culture of Neighborhood lasts as well. Within the 3 summer months, the seminars for teacher of primary level are conducted.
All together in 9 districts and 6 cities, the 403 teachers of primary school level will be taught the specificity of delivering of the course “Culture of Neighborhood”. During these seminars, teachers learn the methodological bases of multicultural education in Ukraine and around the globe, and the meaning of the course “Culture of Neighborhood” as an educational tool for early prevention of ethnic and religious conflicts. Special stress was set on the teaching of conflict studies and axiology in the course.
At the moment the writing-book for the 3rd grade is prepared for publication, and the 4th grade pupils will get such writing-books in September.
International Youth and Conflict Conference underway
Posted by CR Ed on Mar 28, 08
The 2nd International Summit on Conflict Resolution Education is underway in Cleveland Ohio. Highlights include these plenary sessions:
Keynote: The Wars Children Fight
Sponsored by the United States Institute of Peace
Jimmie Briggs, Goodwill Ambassador and UN Special Envoy for Children & Armed Conflict, Author of Innocents Lost: When Child Soldiers Go to War.
David J. Smith, Senior Education Program Officer, United States Institute of Peace
Mini-Plenary: Child Soldiers Speak About their Experience
Sponsored by the United States Institute of Peace
George Elunai Latio (Sudan), Student, Bluffton University, Ohio
Madeleine (Democratic Republic of Congo)
Bukeni Tete Waruzi, Director and Founder, Ajedi-Ka/Projet Enfants Soldats
Mini-Plenary: Youth Civic Engagement for Democracy and Peace in Serbia
Sponsored by the European Centre for Conflict Prevention
Film: Bringing Down a Dictator
Ivan Marovic, Founding Member, Otpor, CANVAS, Belgrade, Serbia, participated in the making of the film
Tatjana Popovic, Project Coordinator, Nansen Dialogue Centre Serbia
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