Peace Education

Through education in how to learn, we may achieve a Culture of Peace

What is Peace Education? And what are the obstacles to bringing peace education into the classroom? And what should we teach?

The good thing about recognizing the obstacles is the first step to bringing forth the basic principles of peace education.

Peace education can be found in virtually all subject areas: mathematics, literacy, music, chemistry, environmental, theology, economics, energy, science, health, ethics, astrology, languages, history, geography, anthropology, etc.

The truth is that the above subject courses and others are not seen as peace education. Why? Because they were not created with a bias towards peace or a Culture of Peace. Rather the bias was a war bias. One can analyze this on many levels. This was the very basic logic of the global education (or holistic) movement. Many educational communities are beginning to recognize the necessity of integrating curriculum, in order to shift the balance, but they are not recognizing the full shift that is necessary as the war bias was never fully identified. Peace education is holistic in nature. Its bias is quite different from the confrontational process of existing systems - both educational and structural.

Recognizing the problem is only the first step. Changing the education systems to acknowledge this is a virtual impossibility. There is not enough time, and resources. It was with this in mind that global education was founded. It demanded a change of perspective.

The Pedagogical Solution

Education with a global perspective. By adopting a simple framework for global education, and using the Socratic method of asking questions one can facilitate the shift to peace education.

Utilizing this process of asking questions relative to an unbiased open ended framework, a shift can be effected. This framework can be applied to bring a proposed educational pedagogy forth without promoting a cultural bias - one of the main obstacles to all educational change. And the process becomes value laden.

True also is the application of understanding the notion of time as it affects all aspects of our value systems - time and money, time for family, time for healing, time for love.

We recommend using thinking filters to enhance the process. Combining these filters with an understanding of a plethora of accelerated learning techniques will change the focus of education towards peace education and it will bring forward the understanding that Peace education is truly a process. This process is built on a foundation of knowing that we have to stop feeding the warriors in others on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level. Healing the past is a part of the process too. Learning how to work together, too!

Acknowledging the above and bringing into balance the understanding of the basics of the Golden Rule, learning the importance of breathing, and honouring the sacred in everything will actualize Peace in the home with the family, in the community with your friends and neighbours, in the state with your representatives and leaders, and in the larger context of the Planet which we call Home.

The First Step is to declare that all educators both formal and informal are Peace Educators and support the Hague Appeal for Peace Global Campaign for Peace Education. (Proclamation 2000)

We appreciate and support the Campaign for Education. Through education in how to learn, we may achieve a Culture of Peace. The language of Culture of Peace must be integrated into this Campaign.

Mitchell L. Gold

Vice President of North American Affairs of the

International Association of Educators for World Peace IAEWP

IAEWP was founded in 1967 by Dr. Charles Mercieca, a Maltese philosopher, educator. Now represented in 102 countries, with consultative status at many United Nations agencies, a designated Peace Messenger of the United Nations since 1987, the IAEWP has initiated the International Peace City 2000 Program at it's eighth World Peace Congress. The IPC Programs was officially launched at the United Nations Peace Day September 16th 1997.

Reference: www.homeplanet.org/alliance, and www.homeplanet.org.