Critical Issues In Peace And Education

Critical Issues in Peace and Conflict Studies: Theory, Practice, and Pedagogy, edited by Thomas Matyók, Jessica Senehi, and Sean Byrne, discusses critical issues in the emerging field of Peace and Conflict Studies, and suggests a framework for the future development of the fie...

This collection asks theorists and educational practitioners from around the world influenced by the schools of feminist pedagogy, critical pedagogy, anti-racist or postcolonial pedagogy, and gay and lesbian pedagogy to reflect upon the possibilities of articulating a "curriculum of difference" that critically examines the cross-cultural issues of peace and education that are at the forefront of global education issues today. Contributors examine the conceptualizations of peace and education within, between, and across cultures through the conceptualization of pedagogical possibilities that create an openness toward the horizons of the other within communal formations of difference permeating the public sphere. They take up new ways of questions related to globalization, difference, community, identity, peace, democracy, sexuality, ethics, conflict, politics, feminism, technology, language rights, cultural politics, Marxism, and deconstruction that have a vast literary history in and outside the area of "education." This volume makes a significant contribution to the question of difference and its quintessential role in peace education for the new millennium.

Forward-thinking pedagogues as well as peace researchers have, in recent decades, cast a critical eye over teaching content and methodology with the aim of promulgating notions of peace and sustainability in education. This volume gives voice to the reflections of educational theorists and practitioners who have taken on the task of articulating a ‘curriculum of difference’ that gives positive voice to these key concepts in the pedagogical arena. Here, contributors from around the world engage with paradigm-shifting discourses that reexamine questions of ontology and human subjectivity—discourses that advocate interdisciplinarity as well as the reformulation of epistemological boundaries. Deconstructing the origins and limits of human knowledge and learning, the book affords educators the opportunity to identify and express common elements of the subjects taught and studied in educational institutions, elements that facilitate students’ apprehension of peace and sustainability. With penetrating analysis of contemporary issues in the field, this volume introduces a range of fresh theoretical approaches that extend the boundaries of peace education, which is broadly defined as promoting the responsible, equitable and sustainable co-existence of differing human communities. In doing so, the chapters show how we can improve our lives as well as our chances of survival as a species by acknowledging the importance of shared human aspirations that cut across borders, of genuinely listening to alternative voices and opinions, of challenging the ubiquitous, socially constructed historical narratives that define human relations only in terms of power. Charged with vitality and originality, this new publication is a critical examination of issues central to the development and utility of global education.

Critical Peace Education and Global Citizenship offers narrative accounts representing multiple ways teacher and learner activists have come to realize possibilities for peace and reconciliation through unofficial curricula. With these narratives, the book demonstrates the connections between critical peace education and such crucial issues as human trafficking, gang violence, contested narratives of nationhood and belonging, gender identities, and the significance of mentoring. Through rich examples of pedagogic work, this volume enhances and illustrates critically oriented understandings and interpretations of peace in real classrooms with diverse populations of students. Written primarily for scholars and graduate students working in the fields of educational theory, critical pedagogy, and educational policy, the chapters in this book tell a compelling story about teachers, learners and scholar activists who continue to struggle for the creation of transformative and meaningful sites for peace praxis.

First Published in 1996. The current world order poses new challenges to the theory and practice of peace education. Drawing on data gathered from around the world, Burns and Aspeslagh focus on how peace is presented in formal and informal educational settings and what effects ideologies have in shaping that presentation. The book views peace education in the context of education about other major social and political issues and in a variety of geopolitical settings, exploring factors that affect the generation, selection, organization, transmission, and evaluation of knowledge for peace. Following a review of major approaches to policy and praxis in peace education, the editors draw on original research to offer interpretations based on pragmatic, normative, and conceptual approaches to the individual, the state, and the role of political literacy. The use of a comparative educational framework that goes beyond curriculum studies and descriptive case studies presents a perspective that is innovative, and timely. The volume includes both bibliography and index.

Here is a tool for teachers, church leaders, community activists, and concerned citizens interested in using educational strategies to bring about a peaceful world. It presents the goals and key issues of peace education, describes the difficulties and obstacles educators are likely to meet (and how to overcome them), and suggests approaches and programs for different age groups. Other information includes religious resources, an annotated list of curricular materials, an annotated bibliography in several categories and grade levels, and a directory of organizations providing resource materials.

Practice and research of peace education has grown in the recent years as shown by a steadily increasing number of publications, programs, events, and funding mechanisms. The oft-cited point of departure for the peace education community is the belief in education as a valuable tool for decreasing the use of violence in conflict and for building cultures of positive peace hallmarked by just and equitable structures. Educators and organizations implementing peace education activities and programming, however, often lack the tools and capacities for evaluation and thus pay scant regard to this step in program management. Reasons for this inattention are related to the perceived urgency to prioritize new and more action in the context of scarce financial and human resources, notwithstanding violence or conflict; the lack of skills and time to indulge in a thorough evaluative strategy; and the absence of institutional incentives and support. Evaluation is often demand-driven by donors who emphasize accounting given the current context of international development assistance and budget cuts. Program evaluation is considered an added burden to already over-tasked programmers who are unaware of the incentives and of assessment techniques. Peace education practitioners are typically faced with forcing evaluation frameworks, techniques, and norms standardized for traditional education programs and venues. Together, these conditions create an unfavorable environment in which evaluation becomes under-valued, de-prioritized, and mythologized for its laboriousness. This volume serves three inter-related objectives. First, it offers a critical reflection on theoretical and methodological issues regarding evaluation applied to peace education interventions and programming. The overarching questions of the nature of peace and the principles guiding peace education, as well as governing theories and assumptions of change, transformation, and complexity are explored. Second, the volume investigates existing quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods evaluation practices of peace educators in order to identify what needs related to evaluation persist among practitioners. Promising practices are presented from peace education programming in different settings (formal and non-formal education), within various groups (e.g. children, youth, police, journalists) and among diverse cultural contexts. Finally, the volume proposes ideas of evaluation, novel techniques for experimentation, and creative adaptation of tools from related fields, in order to offer pragmatic and philosophical substance to peace educators’ “next moves” and inspire the agenda for continued exploration and innovation. The authors come from variety of fields including education, peace and conflict studies, educational evaluation, development studies, comparative education, economics, and psychology.

Forward-thinking pedagogues as well as peace researchers have, in recent decades, cast a critical eye over teaching content and methodology with the aim of promulgating notions of peace and sustainability in education. This volume gives voice to the reflections of educational theorists and practitioners who have taken on the task of articulating a ‘curriculum of difference’ that gives positive voice to these key concepts in the pedagogical arena. Here, contributors from around the world engage with paradigm-shifting discourses that reexamine questions of ontology and human subjectivity—discourses that advocate interdisciplinarity as well as the reformulation of epistemological boundaries. Deconstructing the origins and limits of human knowledge and learning, the book affords educators the opportunity to identify and express common elements of the subjects taught and studied in educational institutions, elements that facilitate students’ apprehension of peace and sustainability. With penetrating analysis of contemporary issues in the field, this volume introduces a range of fresh theoretical approaches that extend the boundaries of peace education, which is broadly defined as promoting the responsible, equitable and sustainable co-existence of differing human communities. In doing so, the chapters show how we can improve our lives as well as our chances of survival as a species by acknowledging the importance of shared human aspirations that cut across borders, of genuinely listening to alternative voices and opinions, of challenging the ubiquitous, socially constructed historical narratives that define human relations only in terms of power. Charged with vitality and originality, this new publication is a critical examination of issues central to the development and utility of global education.