Peace education is the process of acquiring values, knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors to live in harmony with oneself, others, and the natural environment.
There are numerous United Nations declarations and resolutions on the importance of peace.. Chapter details; and Page, James S. (2008) 'Chapter 9: The United Nations and Peace Education'. In: Monisha Bajaj (ed.)Encyclopedia of Peace Education. (75-83). Charlotte: Information Age Publishing. . Further information Ban Ki-moon, U.N. Secretary-General, dedicated the International Day of Peace 2013 to peace education in an effort to focus minds and financing on the preeminence of peace education as the means to bring about a culture of peace.Peace Day 2013 CountdownOther examples include: Constitution of UNESCO, adopted 16 November 1945. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Section 26. Recommendation Concerning Education for International Understanding, Co-operation and Peace, and Education Relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Section 18. Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 29.1(d). Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action – World Conference on Human Rights, Part 2, Paragraphs 78–82, which identify peace education as part of human rights education, and which identifies this education as vital for world peace Declaration of Principles on Tolerance, Articles 1 and 4. Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, Articles 1/4 and B/9. A World Fit for Children, Articles 5 and 20 United Study on Disarmament and Non-proliferation Education, Article 20. Koichiro Matsuura, the immediate past Director-General of UNESCO, has written that peace education is of "fundamental importance to the mission of UNESCO and the United Nations".Matsuura, Koichiro. (2008) 'Foreword'. In: J.S.Page Peace Education: Exploring Ethical and Philosophical Foundations. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing. p.xix. Peace education as a right is increasingly emphasized by peace researchers such as Betty ReardonReardon, Betty. (1997). 'Human Rights as Education for Peace'. In: G.J. Andrepoulos and R.P. Claude (eds.) Human Rights Education for the Twenty-First Century. (255–261). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. and Douglas Roche.Roche, Douglas. (1993). The Human Right to Peace. Toronto: Novalis. There has also been a recent meshing of peace education and human rights education.United Nations General Assembly. (1993) Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (World Conference on Human Rights). New York: United Nations. (A/CONF. 157/23 on June 25, 1993). Part 2, Paragraphs 78-82.
Definition
Ian Harris and John Synott have described peace education as a series of "teaching encounters" that draw from people:Harris, Ian and Synott, John. (2002) 'Peace Education for a New Century' Social Alternatives 21(1):3-6 Their desire for peace. Nonviolent alternatives for managing conflict. Skills for critical analysis of structural arrangements that produce and legitimize injustice and inequality. James Page suggests peace education be thought of as "encouraging a commitment to peace as a settled disposition and enhancing the confidence of the individual as an individual agent of peace; as informing the student on the consequence of war and social injustice; as informing the student on the value of peaceful and just social structures and working to uphold or develop such social structures; as encouraging the student to love the world and to imagine a peaceful future; and as caring for the student and encouraging the student to care for others".Page, James S. (2008) Peace Education: Exploring Ethical and Philosophical Foundations. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing. p. 189. . Chapter details
Often the theory or philosophy of peace education has been assumed, but not articulated. Johan Galtung suggested in 1975 that no theory for peace education existed and there was clearly an urgent need for such theory.Galtung, Johan (1975) Essays in Peace Research, Volume 1. Copenhagen: Eljers. pp. 334-339. More recently there have been attempts to establish such a theory. Joachim James Calleja has suggested that a philosophical basis for peace education might be located in the Kantian notion of duty.Calleja, Joachim James (1991) 'A Kantian Epistemology of Education and Peace: An Examination of Concepts and Values'. Unpublished PhD Thesis. Bradford University. James Page has suggested that a rationale for peace education might be found in virtue ethics, consequentialist ethics, conservative political ethics, aesthetic ethics, and care ethics.Page, James S. (2008) Peace Education: Exploring Ethical and Philosophical Foundations. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing. . Chapter details Robert L. Holmes claims that a moral presumption against violence exists among civilized nations. On the basis of this presumptive prohibition, he outlines several philosophical values, including pacifism, relevant to the nonviolent resolution of international conflicts.Pacifism: A Philosophy of Nonviolence Robert L. Holmes. Book blurb on books.google.comThe Ethics of Nonviolence: Essay by Robert L. Holmes - Book blurb on google.books.com
Since the early 20th century, "peace education" programs around the world have represented a spectrum of focal themes, including anti-nuclearism, international understanding, environmental responsibility, communication skills, nonviolence, conflict resolution techniques, democracy, human rights awareness, tolerance of diversity, coexistence, and gender equality.See Groff, L., and Smoker, P. (1996). Creating global-local cultures of peace. Peace and Conflict Studies Journal, 3, (June); Harris, I.M. (1999). Types of peace education. In A. Raviv, L. Oppenheimer, and D. Bar-Tal (Eds.), How Children Understand War and Peace (pp. 299–317). San Francisco: Jossey- Bass Publishers; Johnson, M.L. (1998). Trends in peace education. ERIC Digest. ED417123; Swee-Hin Toh. 1997. “Education for Peace: Towards a Millennium of Well-Being”. Paper for the Working Document of the International Conference on Culture of Peace and Governance (Maputo, Mozambique, 1–4 September 1997)
Forms
Conflict resolution training "Peace education programs centered on conflict resolution typically focus on the social-behavioural symptoms of conflict; they train individuals to resolve inter-personal disputes through negotiation and (peer) mediation. The main elements of these programs include: learning to manage anger, "fighting fair"; improving communication through skills such as listening, turn-taking, identifying needs, and separating facts from emotions. Participants are encouraged to take responsibility for their actions and to brainstorm together on compromises" (Clarke-Habibi, 2005).See Deutsch, M. (1993). Educating for a peaceful world. American Psychologist, 48, 510–517; Hakvoort, I. and Oppenheimer, L. (1993). Children and adolescents' conceptions of peace, war, and strategies to attain peace: A Dutch case study. Journal of Peace Research, 30, 65-77; Harris, I.M. (1999). Types of peace education. In A. Raviv, L. Oppenheimer, and D. Bar-Tal (Eds.), How Children Understand War and Peace (pp. 299–317). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
"In general, approaches of this type aim to "alter beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours ... from negative to positive attitudes toward conflict as a basis for preventing violence" (Van Slyck, Stern and Elbedour, 1999).Van Slyck, M.R., Stern, M., and Elbedour, S. (1999). Adolescents' beliefs about their conflict behaviour. In A. Raviv, L. Oppenheimer, and D. Bar-Tal (Eds.), How Children Understand War and Peace (pp. 208–230). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Various styles or approaches in conflict resolution training (ADR, Verbal Aikido, NVC) can give the practitioner the means to accept the conflictual situation and orient it towards a peaceful resolution. As one peer mediation coordinator put it: "Conflict is very natural and normal, but you can't go through your entire life beating everybody up—you have to learn different ways to resolve conflict"" (Clarke-Habibi, 2005).Jeffries, R. Examining barriers to effective peace education reform. Contemporary Education, 71, 19-22.
Democracy education "Peace education programs centered on democracy education typically focus on the political processes associated with conflict. They postulate that with an increase in democratic participation, societies are less likely to resolve conflict through violence and war. At the same time, "A democratic society needs the commitment of citizens who accept the inevitability of conflict as well as the necessity for tolerance" (U.S. Department of State, The Culture of Democracy, emphasis added).U.S. Department of State Bureau of International Information Programs. (n.d.). The culture of democracy. Retrieved January 13, 2003, from http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/whatsdem/whatdm6.htm Programs of this kind foster a conflict-positive orientation in the community by training students to view conflict as a platform for creativity and growth" (Clarke-Habibi, 2005).
"Approaches of this type train participants in critical thinking, debate, and coalition-building; they promote the values of freedom of speech, individuality, tolerance of diversity, compromise and conscientious objection. They seek to produce "responsible citizens" who will hold their governments accountable to the standards of peace, primarily through adversarial processes. Activities are structured to have students "assume the role of the citizen that chooses, makes decisions, takes positions, argues positions, and respects the opinions of others".Quoted from CIVITAS BiH, a program of democracy and human rights education in primary, secondary and tertiary schools of Bosnia and Herzegovina. http://www.civitas.ba/nastavni_planovi/index.php These skills, which sustain multi-party democracy, are assumed to decrease the likelihood of violence and war. It is further assumed that they are necessary to create a culture of peace" (Clarke-Habibi, 2005).
Justice education Education for justice is the process of promoting the rule of law (RoL) through educational activities at all levels. Education for justice teaches the next generation about crime prevention, to better understand and address problems that can undermine the rule of law. This approach promotes peace and encourages students to engage actively in their communities and future professions.
Making the RoL and a culture of lawfulness a priority is not just about transmitting knowledge, but also about values and behaviours that are modelled and enforced daily through the 'hidden curriculum'. ‘The ‘hidden curriculum’ of the classroom and school transmits norms, values and beliefs to learners in ways other than formal teaching and learning processes. This ensures that learners develop skills to engage in society as ethically responsible citizens.
Human rights education "Peace education programs centered on raising awareness of human rights typically focus on policies that humanity ought to adopt to move closer to a peaceful global community. The aim is to engender a commitment among participants to a vision of structural peace in which all individual members of the human race can exercise personal freedoms and enjoy legal protection from violence, oppression and indignity" (Clarke-Habibi, 2005).
"Approaches of this type familiarize participants with the international covenants and declarations of the United Nations system; train students to recognize violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and promote tolerance, solidarity, autonomy and self-affirmation at the individual and collective levels" (Clarke-Habibi, 2005).Brabeck, K. (2001). Justification for and implementation of peace education. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 7, 85-87.