Pedagogy of tolerance and violence prevention in the Arab world

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article is a conceptual examination of tolerance and pedagogy with regard to the prevention of violence in the Arab world from a critical theory perspective. Tolerance is a socially and culturally bound system, indicating that any pedagogy of tolerance must be authentic to its context. Therefore, the value of adopting a nuanced Western pedagogy in the Arab world is limited. Consequently, a pedagogy of tolerance in the Arab world must incorporate its diverse codes of ethics and reasoning, and the dominant Arabic Islamic culture. However, politically constrained education systems have questionable abilities to help those previously colonised accept the negative impacts of colonialism and serve as an effective tool against ignorance-based intolerance and violence, especially since the tolerance agenda is largely driven by the formerly colonising countries. Thus, to reduce intolerance-based violence in the Arab world, the pedagogy of tolerance must depart from Western-based constructions and reflect the region’s values.