Building Peace Education Through Teacher Education Beverly D. Shaklee Supriya Baily George 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 Schools Environment, exposure, front lines often of potential for greater conflict Varying levels of preparation and background Typically ‘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: Teachers and Students Teacher Education CommunityParentsAdministration

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 Initiative Rebuilding post conflict societies through teacher training and workshops.

In action… In Recruitment Part of the interview process Hire for background knowledge/experience in peace education Teacher dependent In School… Consistent across stakeholders Clear and compelling part of the life of the school Explicit and articulated throughout the curriculum Valued 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 “Peace, together with freedom, equality and justice is one of the most desirable values in all most every society…however peace education is by nature elusive.” Bar-Tal, 2001