Teachers’ strategies of everyday diplomacy in peace education: A case study of the “infrapolitics” of peacebuilding in Greek-Cypriot schools

Abstract

The aim of the article is to describe and analyze the strategies used by teachers in their everyday encounters with those who express concerns towards peace education—parents, colleagues, head teachers, and students. The analysis uses a theoretical framework that builds upon critical peace education and brings into conversation the notions of “everyday peace” and “everyday diplomacy.” The data are drawn from a qualitative case study based on interviews with 25 Greek-Cypriot teachers participating in a peace education intervention. The findings show that everyday diplomatic strategies invented by teachers help create conditions under which this peace education intervention, as a form of everyday peace, can take place, although it is not clear to what extent these strategies challenge the long-term nature of concerns. The implications of the study highlight the need that teachers and policymakers engage with concerns towards peace education in productive, sensitive and strategic ways.