Institutionalizing critical peace education in public schools: A case for comprehensive implementation

Abstract

Drawing from critical theories in education, this article empirically examines the role that public schools can play as conduits for critical peace education, particularly for young people who have been historically marginalized from school. Based on two years of ethnographic data collection at a public high school in New York City, I explore how students make meaning of their educational experiences at a school that emphasizes democratic principles and a commitment to peace and social justice. The data suggest that students value the intentional participatory spaces and the thematic, inquiry-based curriculum in the school. Not only do these unique structures re-socialize them academically, but they also encourage democratic participation, reflection, critical consciousness, and a commitment to broader social change. This comprehensive approach, in turn, presumably gives students a platform from which to think about the world differently and imagine new alternatives for the future. As a result, the article concludes that there is potential in enacting critical peace education in public schools, and urges that in order to be most successful, several school structures must collectively support its dissemination.