Critical Peace Education Research Articles

Narratives and common traits of peace education and the ‘Teaching Students to be peacemakers’ programme: rethinking the role of cooperative learning in peace education

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to analyse the ‘Teaching Students to be Peacemakers’ programme, which is frequently cited in the Peace Education discourse, within the context of Peace Education. Based on a systematic literature review conducted using the PRISMA method, the study focuses on this programme that emerged as significant from the review results. It first examines how the programme reflects the fundamental concepts and peace approaches of the Peace Education discourse. The subsequent section compares the programme with various types of Peace Education and the broader discourse of cooperative learning. It investigates whether the shift in Peace Education literature towards postmodern, poststructuralist, and Critical Peace Education approaches can rely on the cooperative learning paradigm. Additionally, the study highlights how a simplistic methodological interpretation of cooperative learning may hinder its use in supporting these increasingly emphasised approaches and explores how a broader understanding of the cooperative learning discourse can aid in dismantling personal, cultural, and social violence structures, as well as in supporting positive peacebuilding processes.

Visions of peace: Exploring how Scottish youth understand and define peace

AbstractIn this article, we report on a study that explored how young people in Scotland understand and define peace. A total of 59 young people aged 12–18, from three schools (independent, state Roman Catholic, and state non-denominational) participated in this study. The young people were asked to participate in a peace data walk and, after that, to draw or paint pictures of what peace means for them in their local community and beyond. We utilize a combination of Personal Meaning Mapping, visual content analytic procedures, and visual art coding scheme to analyse the pictures. We drew on Critical Peace Education as an overarching framework to approach data collection and on the Peace Education Curricular Analysis framework to examine the presence of positive peace elements in youth drawings/paintings. Previous research in different contexts suggests that youth find it difficult to conceptualize peace, whereas it appears to be easy to explain war and negative peace (i.e., absence of war). Previous research conducted in Scotland showed that the curriculum focused on the element of wellbeing, with many other positive peace elements being either absent or not well represented. By contrast, youth in our study showed a strong understanding of positive peace, with a particular emphasis on the following facets: peace zone, eco mind, wellbeing, peace bond, and social justice. In our conclusion, we discuss these findings in relation to Scottish education policies and ways of capitalizing on this method of engagement and overall findings to support youth learning about peace.

Calling for eco-peace: reimagining interconnected peace education

ABSTRACT In this critical co-constructed auto-ethnographic article we draw on research from two contexts, exploring how critical peace education can be more than palliative care in times of ecological collapse and profound crises across ecosystems. Examining the current crises of learning, living and being, we call for eco-peace-based education: grounded in interconnectedness and interdependence, as a way to transgress unsustainable violences on personal, interpersonal, and ecological levels. We focus on three main arguments that extend learning about nature, to learning with and in nature, towards regenerative approaches of learning, living, and being. Firstly, to move beyond the self-centered (ego) towards interconnected and Earth-centered (eco) epistemologies. Secondly, we explore concrete examples of alternative schools that learn from, in and with nature through fostering innate care between students and Earth (in our own contexts, India and Germany). Thirdly, we reimagine possible futures of eco-peace-based approaches, and argue for a shift towards more peaceful and interconnected futures by integrating eco-peace principles, content and pedagogies into current education systems.

Critical peace education and critical hope: co-researching with middle school students in India to imagine possibilities for social change

ABSTRACT An existing culture of conflict tends to shape practices within schools, which often maintain and in turn, contribute towards perpetuating stratifications at the societal level. Through this study, the author seeks to challenge this culture of conflict by creating a pedagogical space and facilitating possibilities of collective thinking, relationality, and action, with a focus on nurturing a culture of peace. With a goal of gaining insight into how middle school students from two school sites in New Delhi, India, are embodying and interacting with notions of peace and conflict as they make meaning of their social worlds, the author conducts a youth participatory action research (YPAR), which is complemented with semi-structured interviews. A total number of 12 participants collectively engage in a YPAR process across 13 virtual sessions, which were held on a bi-weekly basis. Guided by a critical peace education and critical hope framework, the author examines a ‘moment’, which reveals complexities around how pedagogies of critical hope can engage young people in affective, ethical, and political sensibilities to imagine possibilities for social change.

Towards Decolonial Praxes in Critical Peace Education for Sustainable Futures

This paper examines decolonial praxes in critical peace education using philosophical framework of African Conversational School. In the process, it examines: Conversational School of African Philosophy, critical peace education for sustainable futures, the importance of decolonial praxes, conceptual framework for critical peace education for sustainable future, Nigerian educational system and education policies of Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and African Union (AU). The paper theorizes that decolonial praxes in critical peace education should be pursued with a combination of local and global cultures (glocalization) for sustainable futures since both cultures have positive contributions to human life. Therefore, the conclusion and suggestions of this paper are partly based on this theoretical position. Introduction of decolonial critical peace education as a separate subject and as objectives in other subjects is the main suggestion and conclusion made.

Non‐formal peace education founded on European youth work: A practitioner's critical reflection

AbstractThis article is a critical self‐reflection on this author's practice of non‐formal peace education. Such critical reflexivity is considered integral to avoid pitfalls that could lead to the peace education activity inadvertently perpetuating structural violence – a phenomenon known as poststructural violence. Examples include unexamined assumptions about key concepts such as peace, inclusion, and rights. The article drives at the idea of discussing a concrete practice against a theoretical framework of critical peace education, exposing tensions between the two to lay the foundations for an improvement of my peace education practice. The discussion is informed by a positionality description of my own journey to become a peace education practitioner, a thematic analysis of the Erasmus+ programme, which is a key funding source, and a description of a concrete peace education project, all of which highlight influencing factors of my practice.

Mathematics teaching in lávvues from the perspectives of Indigenous education and critical peace education

ABSTRACT This study focuses on how teaching is affected when two cultures meet: the Sámi culture, represented by the lávvu, and the culture of teaching mathematics in a school. It describes the use of the lávvu (a Sámi temporary dwelling) as a classroom for teaching mathematics. For several years, and in cooperation with researchers, the teachers at the Guovdageaidnu Lower Secondary Schoolg have been developing interdisciplinary teaching content related to Sámi traditional knowledge. The findings of this study describe how tenth-grade students taught younger students. The empirical data used in this study originated from students’ teaching in lávvues and consisted of audio recordings, field notes, and notes from conversations between the authors. The teaching was carried out at another Sámi school for students of the same age and younger. The organization of the teaching and the teaching itself can be seen as a hybrid of Sámi child rearing and the ordinary teaching occurring in Sámi schools in Norway.

Envisioning Paths Towards Peacebuilding in Foreign Language Teacher Education

In a country struggling to emerge from the shadows of a relentless armed conflict, where media manipulation puts a stable reconciliation process at risk, foreign language educators are called on to act. This article presents the results of a study conducted with three foreign language students tudying in one of the sites of a public university in the Department of Antioquia, Colombia, located in a region affected by cultural, structural, direct, and ecological violence. The study resorted to critical peace education and critical media literacy theories as well as to local contributions from a pedagogy of memory to foster critical consciousness about the armed conflict in Colombia. Data collection methods included a survey, recordings of class discussions, samples of students' work, and individual and group interviews. Data showed that the participants reflected critically on the role of different war agents, increased their capacity to question media messages, recognized the relevance of including the victims’ voices, and created counter-texts to contest dominant narratives about the conflict. Findings confirm the urgent need to prepare future foreign language educators to respond to their learners’ harsh social realities and exert their agency to generate transformations. They also highlight the need to do more interdisciplinary work in ELT and to value the contributions of local knowledge that helps us both understand the dynamics of violence in our contexts and envision possibilities for peacebuilding in Colombia.

Human and integral education: educational paradigms from the Indian context expanding meanings of peace and conflict

ABSTRACT Post-independence, the Indian context has witnessed conflicts between religious groups, structural/cultural violence, and discrimination based on socio-cultural factors such as socio-economic status, religion, gender, sexual identity, caste, language among others. Even though the perpetuation of these power imbalances at the macro-national level are being manifested in schools through educational interventions, there are ongoing efforts, as part of peace curriculums, to engage with/transform this culture of conflict towards cultivating a culture of peace. This study seeks to understand how school curriculums engage with ideas of peace and conflict. A document analysis of micro-peace curriculum (two school sites) that incorporated both a deductive and inductive approach of analysis was undertaken. Guided by a critical peace education framework implicating that curriculum engaging with conflict, positive relationships, and transformation can contribute towards cultivating peace guided the process of analysis. Curriculums reveal a focus on human education, a sense of oneness with the self, world and environment, and integral education, developing all faculties of the human being-including the soul and spirit, which are both directed towards addressing sources of structural violence while cultivating a sense of collective consciousness to build a peaceful world.

Theatre of the Oppressed for Critical Peace Education Practice: Difficult Dialogues in the Turkish University Classroom

This article emphasizes the urgent need for critical peace education practice in Turkish educational settings. The traditional teacher-centred pedagogies dominant in Turkish higher education make it difficult to employ critical pedagogies in ways relevant to students. This study proposes Theatre of the Oppressed as an invaluable instrument and medium to effectively employ critical peace education and investigates different sociological perspectives of societies, cultures and institutions. Towards this end, I first explain that educating for peace has to be a critical initiative due to its inherently controversial and challenging nature. Theatre of the Oppressed is then explored in detail as an inspiring tool for the aspirations and challenges of critical peace education practice. Finally, an example from a Turkish university classroom is presented in order to illustrate the affordances and limitations of employing Theatre of the Oppressed in similar higher education contexts.

Theatre of the Oppressed for Critical Peace Education Practice: Difficult Dialogues in the Turkish University Classroom

This article emphasizes the urgent need for critical peace education practice in Turkish educational settings. The traditional teacher-centred pedagogies dominant in Turkish higher education make it difficult to employ critical pedagogies in ways relevant to students. This study proposes Theatre of the Oppressed as an invaluable instrument and medium to effectively employ critical peace education and investigates different sociological perspectives of societies, cultures and institutions. Towards this end, I first explain that educating for peace has to be a critical initiative due to its inherently controversial and challenging nature. Theatre of the Oppressed is then explored in detail as an inspiring tool for the aspirations and challenges of critical peace education practice. Finally, an example from a Turkish university classroom is presented in order to illustrate the affordances and limitations of employing Theatre of the Oppressed in similar higher education contexts.

Learner’ school violence using incident logbook: a qualitative research approach

In this paper the notion of leaner’s school is revisited using a silent tool, incident logbook. Research shows that incidents of learner violence has escalated in South Africa unabated. Different approaches to describe and recommend strategies to alleviate cases of violence in schools have been undertaken. This paper aims to describe through incident logbook learner’s behaviour regarded as serious misconducts that involve violent acts. These violent acts might lead to expulsion or suspension of a learner from the school according to the South African Schools Act, 1996 and various school policies. Am interpretivist qualitative research was employed using a purposively sample of 5 incidents logbooks from five secondary schools. The researchers used a thematic data analysis using a Critical Peace Education (CPE) theory to discuss these incidents of school violence. The findings of the study show high incidents of recorded serious misconduct and violations of the school policies by learners by committing, violent acts such as physical, psychological, emotional abuses as well as thefts and vandalism of school and personal property. The research study recommends that CPE be used as tool to educate and foster peaceful co-existence in schools.

9/11 and Social Studies Education

In this article, the author shares a personal reflection of his military and educational experiences in the aftermath of 9/11. He describes his concerns about the ongoing “War on Terror” and the disengaged militarism of the United States and how this has shaped his approach in the classroom. Expanding on his personal experiences, he calls for social studies educators to employ critical pedagogy and peace education to help students develop as thoughtfully and critically engaged citizens who are capable of creating a more peaceful world.

Peace Education Initiative in Nepal: Redressing the Value of 'Celebrating Diversity'

In a multicultural society, education can both foster the value of ‘celebrating diversity’ and thereby the social harmony but it can also foster social tensions and fuel conflicts by promoting cultural homogenisation. Using content analysis of education policies, curriculum and textbooks this study examined the way Nepal’s historical education system shifted from monocultural education towards a multicultural peace education approach. This study revealed that, by including the contents that promote multicultural values, the critical peace education initiative contributes to redressing the socio-political tensions that the monocultural education system fuelled historically. However, the local ownership, longer term commitment of the stakeholders, and regular consultations with the representatives of different cultural groups in curricular reform are essential for a successful peace education initiative.

The Multicultural Peace and Justice Collaborative: Critical peace education in a research training environment.

The Multicultural Peace and Justice Collaborative: Critical peace education in a research training environment.

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

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.

Freirean Dialogue: An Effective Pedagogy for Critical Peace Education

Dialogue promises fundamental opportunities for peace education pedagogy even in the hidden culture of war and violence in varying educational settings. However, despite remarkable theoretical literature focusing on critical dialogue, there is a need for reconceptualizing dialogue in the light of Paulo Freire’s ideas. This paper discusses dialogue as an effective pedagogy for critical peace education. Towards this goal, it first presents an overview of the concept of dialogue. The second part of the paper provides a discussion of dialogue in critical peace education. In the concluding section, it is suggested that Freirean dialogue is a powerful pedagogy to fulfill the aims of critical peace education. It is also highlighted that research and practice regarding employing dialogue as a transformative pedagogy should be investigated and cultivated by peace educators in ways relevant to various contexts.

Reimagining voice for transrational peace education through participatory arts with South African youth

ABSTRACT This article reports on a co-produced project based in South Africa which aimed to support the development of youth committees in Safe Parks operating across Ekurhuleni municipality, by building young people’s capacity to claim greater voice within their communities through participatory arts practices. Drawing on recent perspectives in the field of peace education, our analysis engages a transrational onto-epistemology to examine how voice might be understood through participatory arts in this context. To do so, we critique the prevailing modernist, post-Enlightenment perspective on dialogue and voice in critical peace education, and offer a philosophical framework which moves closer to an acknowledgement of the material, embodied, and collective dimensions of voice. We then use the concept of voice to narrate our inquiry, drawing on data from the project alongside theoretical perspectives from new materialism, language and literary studies, and singing studies, to support and structure our different insights into voice as these emerged. From this analysis we present a conceptualisation of voice as both individually uttered and collectively produced, which acknowledges and accounts for the complexity of learning and knowing as a process inseparable from being-in-the-world. We conclude with a consideration of the decolonising potential of transrational approaches.

Performative Remembering of Hiroshima’s and My Father’s Silence

ABSTRACT In this essay, I explore critical peace education that labours through historical memory. Pulling together various professional and personal experiences, I offer my provisional understanding of critical peace education that labours through historical memory. Such critical peace education understands history as narrative; hence, it requires creativity to engage historical memory. It further understands that creativity possesses an ability to critique. I embody creativity as critical through performative remembering. Performative remembering captures our becoming, relating, and hoping. I use performative writing/autoethnography/creative non-fiction to contemplate, theorize, and experiment critical peace education that labours through historical memory.

Contesting forms of capital: using Bourdieu to theorise why obstacles to peace education exist in Colombia

ABSTRACT Critical peace education literature has focused attention on how programmes that promise to teach peace contribute to and contest existing power relations. However, using social theory to work out the relationship between peace education programmes and their context is only beginning. This paper uses a document review and interviews with experts to examine the expectations for peace education in Colombia and the challenges these programmes face. It finds there is a coherent set of demands that constitute peace education, which primarily focus on developing empathy and critical thinking. These aims face material restrictions of a lack of time and space in the curriculum, but also the problem of embedded competitive behaviour between pupils. Bourdieu’s toolkit of habitus, field and capital frames this obstacle as part of the struggle to determine what constitutes legitimate capital within a field. This framing has two benefits. It prevents the problem of competitive inter-pupil relations being located within the actions of individual teachers and students. It also allows for solutions that address the structural challenges facing peace education. This use of Bourdieu focuses attention on the systemic obstacles facing peace education and so helps move the literature away from problem-solving and individualised analysis.