Building Peace Education Through Teacher EducationBeverly D. ShakleeSupriya BailyGeorge Mason University

Teacher Education

•Non-formal education opportunities▫Informal learning

•Teacher as….researcher, reader, leader•Professional Learning Communities (PLC)•Formal workshops, institutes, conferences

▫AAIE, ECIS, EARCOS, NESA…•Post graduate programs

▫George Mason University FAST TRAIN, PhD. ‘international education’

Peace Education• United Nations Cyber-school website, “Peace

education brings together multiple traditions of pedagogy, theories of education, and international initiatives for the advancement of human development through learning. It is fundamentally dynamic, interdisciplinary, and multicultural.

• Peace education aims to cultivate the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to achieve and sustain a global culture of peace.”

Critical views…• Reis and Romo (2004), argue that while

schools and Colleges of Education have addressed issues of peacemaking, conflict resolution and mediation as management tools in the classroom we have yet to systemically address the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to sustain a culture of peace. We have fallen short of our goals of full access, social justice and peace. Part of the failure can be attributed to teacher education programs which espouse peace but fail at the implementation level.

Implementation of Peace Education•Highly Teacher Dependent•Teachers have to possess the skills and

knowledge•Teachers have to be motivated to carry it

out•Teachers have to be personally aligned

with the objectives of peace education•Most teachers do not go into teaching

aligned with the values of peace education

International SchoolsEnvironment, exposure, front lines often of

potential for greater conflictVarying levels of preparation and backgroundTypically ‘peace education’ is embedded:

Classroom Management Conflict Resolution strategies Cross-cultural competency program Collaboration with colleagues,

families…. Content Personal motivation

Our point of view….

•Not sufficiently explicit•Not universally valued•Competes with current strategies •Competes with limited resources•Global education has been substituted for

peace education•Gap between philosophy and practice•Historical connotations can be negative

▫Peaceniks….

In action•Engagement - if we espouse peace

education what does it mean in our school?• In what ways would we see peace education

in action?•How would it change the environment of

our classrooms, school and community interactions?

•What do we need to make it happen?•What is in place and how do we make it all

work together?

Peace Education involves:

Some examples…•Aotearoa-New Zealand Curriculum

Framework for Peace Education•Canadian Centers for Peace Education•Teacher’s College – Peace education

(TCPEC)▫Further the explicit development of peace

education through outreach, resource and in-service education.

•World Colleges – PACE InitiativeRebuilding post conflict societies through

teacher training and workshops.

In action…In Recruitment

Part of the interview processHire for background knowledge/experience in peace educationTeacher dependent

In School…Consistent across stakeholdersClear and compelling part of the life of the schoolExplicit and articulated throughout the curriculumValued and evaluated across stakeholders

In educating your teachers

•Congruent professional opportunities with peace education

•Encouraging teacher research on the effectiveness of peace education initiatives with students and colleagues

•Provision of resources for peace education

•Differentiation of opportunities based on levels of expertise in peace education

Peace Education