The UNESCO Preamble states that “if wars begin in the minds of men, then it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed.” Peace education is one concrete pathway to challenge war. “Peace education seeks to develop a global perspective on the problems and an understanding that humans are a single species”
(Reardon and Cabezudo, 2002). Peace education can help challenge thoughts that the world is divided into “good guys and bad guys” and that winning over the “bad guys” is the way to go. Peace education seeks to teach the concept of oneness of the human race. Most divisions are socially and culturally constructed. Differences are meant to enrich us, not divide us. Education is a force that can help reduce inter-group conflicts by enlarging peoples’ social identifications beyond parochial ones. This can be done by expanding learners’ understanding and appreciation of security from the traditional national concept to a more human and comprehensive one (Carnegie Council, 1997).
Education should also help alter thoughts with regard to the inevitability of war. Humans should understand that waging war is a choice, not a manifest destiny.
People who have learned the consequences of violence, and have reflected on alternative options would not be easily swayed by propaganda.
Teaching students peaceful conflict resolution skills will also help learners understand that conflicts may be approached constructively and that there are better workable alternatives to aggression. Peace education programs include the teaching of the theories of nonviolence and the practice of nonviolent direct action. Case studies of how nonviolent direct action worked in various parts of the world should make students see that there are, indeed, alternatives to violence.
Teaching-Learning Ideas
Research on laws, decrees and orders in your country that are meant to challenge
• war and its implements. The Philippines, for example, has an Executive Order institutionalizing Peace Education in teacher education. It also has a Firearms Law. Research on the status of their implementation.
Interview people working for organizations in your country that help to
• prevent armed conflict. Ask them about the challenges of doing this work and the visions they have for your country and for the world
Ask your students to read about the United Nations and what it does to
• promote peace and security in the world.
Ask students to research on the Seville Statement. Ask them to write a reaction/
• reflection paper on the Statement.
Ask your students to research on the status of the peace process in your own
• country. If yours does not have one, peace processes, ongoing or completed, in various parts of the world may be studied. Possible examples are those in Sierra Leone, Northern Ireland, Chechnya, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia.
Uprooting the War Tree and Planting the Peace Tree
Draw a dying tree on the left side of the board. Tell the students that the 1. tree is called the “War Tree”.
Ask them to come to the board and write on each root of the tree the 2. causes of war.
When done, draw a tree on the right side of the board and call it the 3. “Peace Tree”.
Ask your students again to come to the board and write on each root of 4. the tree a factor that they think can bring peace.
Draw connecting lines from the “War Tree” to the “Peace Tree”. Ask 5. students to write on each line a concrete strategy they can do to get to
the Peace Tree.
Allow your students to watch films that show the brutality of war. Examples
• of films that have powerful images and messages are “Hotel Rwanda”, “Joyeux Noelle”, and “Schindler’s List”. Process the experience with your students. Ask them to share with the class the scenes that they found meaningful and the reason for such. Ask them for the messages that the film conveyed to them.
Poster Exhibit. Ask students to make posters of quotations against war. Ask
• them to put up these posters around the room and to view each one. Discuss learning from the exhibit.
“I am tired of fighting…I want to have time to look for my children and see how many I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”
-Chief Joseph of the Nez Perces Nation, 1877
“If the world could abolish colonialism and apartheid, why not war? It is time to abolish nuclear weapons. It is time to abolish war.”
-Cora Weiss
“The increasing destructiveness and wanton human suffering that are the hallmarks of contemporary warfare have revealed the cause of the abolition of war to be more a practical necessity than a utopian idea.”
-Betty Reardon
“We must bring love and compassion to the world today. We don’t need guns and bombs to do this.”
-Mother Teresa
“Wars make poor tools for carving out peaceful tomorrows.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Do symbolic acts as a class like the burying of toy guns and other war toys.
•
Visit a Zone of Peace that is near your area. Interview proponents of the
• declaration. Find out the meaning of being a Space or a Zone of Peace. If visiting a Peace Zone is not possible, research about Peace Zones and what they have done to reduce armed violence in their areas.
Letter-writing. After studying budget allocations for military services, encourage
• your students to write their representatives in the Parliament or Congress to express their concern about the issue.
Wars have annihilated countless lives. The good news is that war is not inevitable.
We can choose our own and our planet’s future. The choice is ours to make.
Humans have diverse beliefs, attitudes, behaviors and interests owing to dissimilarities in experiences and contexts. Sometimes, these differences create tensions which may consequently lead to conflicts. Conflict is an inescapable fact of life. If improperly handled, they can have undesirable results. In the larger setting, many conflicts have become violent which have resulted to the loss of lives, destruction of property, disruption of economic and cultural activities, disruption in the delivery of socio-economic services, exploitation of civilians especially women and children, and economic losses, among others. In the interpersonal ground, conflicts have caused anguish and stress among disputants. Unmanaged conflicts have also caused relationships to break apart.
Fortunately, conflicts can be managed and resolved constructively. If handled well, parties in dispute may find opportunities to improve their relationship and grow from experience. Resolving conflicts constructively is a skill that can be taught and learned. It is our belief that if humans are trained how to handle their interpersonal conflicts positively, such skills may be carried on to higher levels of human interaction.