PEACE EDUCATION: A Pathway to a Culture of Peace Third Edition 1 Third Edition 2 PEACE EDUCATION: A Pathway to a Culture of Peace Peace Education: A Pathway to a Culture of Peace 3 Third Edition First published in 2008 by the Center for Peace Education, Miriam College, Quezon City, Philippines Third Edition, March 2019 With support from: Samuel Rubin Foundation The reproduction of this book or any part of it is permitted provided due acknowledgement is given to the Center for Peace Education. Inquiries regarding orders should be addressed to the Center for Peace Education, Miriam College, Quezon City, Philippines by using this email address: [email protected]. Cover by: Miguel N. Galace Layout by: Jim Marpa Research assistance by: Arlyssa Bianca Pabotoy 4 PEACE EDUCATION: A Pathway to a Culture of Peace Peace Education: A Pathway to a Culture of Peace Loreta Navarro-Castro & Jasmin Nario-Galace Center for Peace Education, Miriam College Quezon City, Philippines 5v Third Edition vi6 PEACE EDUCATION: A Pathway to a Culture of Peace Table of Contents Foreword by Cora Weiss ix Introduction by Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury xi A Note from the Authors xv Part I Toward a Holistic Understanding of Peace and Peace Education Chapter 1 A Holistic Understanding of Peace and Violence 17 Chapter 2 Peace Education as Transformative Education 25 Chapter 3 The Comprehensive Scope of Peace Education 35 Chapter 4 Faith and Spiritual Traditions as Resources for Peace 43 Part II Key Peace Education Themes Chapter 5 Upholding Human Dignity 53 Chapter 6 Making Women Count for Peace 67 Chapter 7 Challenging Prejudice and Building Tolerance 73 Chapter 8 Promoting Nonviolence 83 Chapter 9 Challenging the War System 95 Chapter 10 Dismantling the Tools of War and Violence 107 Chapter 11 Resolving and Transforming Conflict 119 Chapter 12 Sharing the Earth’s Resources 133 Chapter 13 Caring for the Earth 143 Chapter 14 Cultivating Inner Peace 151 Part III The Peaceable Classroom, Teacher and School Chapter 15 Creating a Peaceable Classroom 155 Chapter 16 Teaching-Learning Approaches and Strategies in Peace Education 161 Chapter 17 Attributes of a Peace Educator 169 Chapter 18 A Whole School Approach 173 Conclusion: A Vision for the Future 183 References 184 vii7 Third Edition vii8 PEACE EDUCATION: A Pathway to a Culture of Peace Foreword hat a welcome contribution to the growing and urgent field of peace education! Peace does not come with our DNA. To reach peace we need to teach peace, a phrase well penned by ourW mentor, Prof. Betty Reardon. People usually say, how wonderful, when you tell them you are in the field of peace education, but I doubt they know what it really means. At the Global Campaign for Peace Education, which was born at the Hague Appealfor Peace conference in May 1999, we agreed on the following definition: Peace Education is teaching for and about human rights, gender equality, disarmament, social andeconomic justice, nonviolence, sustainable development, international law and we lateradded, traditional peace practices. And we agreed that the methodology of peaceeducation should include critical thinking, reflection and participation; they are elements that should be integrated into the pedagogy of all teaching at all levels of education. This latest addition to the practical literature of peace education helps the educator,whether in formal or nonformal settings, to understand that peace is a holistic concept andstate of being and that it can not be learned in the traditional lecture-note taking-testing framework. Indeed, peace education can be integrated into many disciplines. The culture of peace must replace the culture of violence if we and our home, planet Earth, areto survive. Tolerance for violence has increased beyond tolerable levels. It was our fervent hope that the most violent of all centuries, the 20th, would, because people were tired of war, and angry that precious resources were being taken from human security needs, transform into a nonviolent 21st century. It is hard to imagine that two major wars opened this new century — wreaking havoc, death, destruction, torture, rape, and trauma — to combatants and civilians, and permanent environmental damage to the land, sea and air. The world can not afford war. People can not stand by while the numbers of war and environmental refugees soar, while poverty spreads like an epidemic, and money for education, health, job training and other needed services are stolen to pay for weapons. Only when ministries of education realize that their responsibility includes preparing future generations to not only know how to read and write, but ix9 Third Edition also to be thoughtful, responsible members of their communities, who will graduate not to make money but to make a difference, will we rest knowing that we have contributed to creating a Culture of Peace. There are many threats to peace, both to humanity and to the environment. Nuclear weapons and climate change are both apocalyptic. One does it quickly, the other may take longer, but global warming is happening at a faster rate than initially thought. Glaciers are melting, oceans are rising and warming, farm lands face drought or floods. Instead of abolishing nuclear weapons, they are being “modernized”, made more lethal. New technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI), drones and cyber which are unregulated for military purposes can be used both for helping humanity and for destruction. And species extinction is also a threat. I believe that merging the movement to abolish nuclear weapons with the movement to prevent further climate change will strengthen our vital interests to save humanity and the planet. We can stop the use of fossil fuels and focus on solar and wind energy. Many speak of nuclear weapons as if they were so-called conventional bombs. Nuclear power is also a serious danger. Waste from Nuclear Power Plants can be used to make nuclear bombs. Radiation spreads cancers in regions near the nuclear power plants. Teaching about these life threatening dangers is the first significant way to protect humankind and the Earth. Finally, 75 years ago people who suffered and survived the devastation of the Second World War, came together to create the United Nations. Its purpose: Determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. Teaching about the United Nations while using this book to teach peace education will prepare new generations of socially active participants in our new needed Democracies. Peace education will help create War No More. Thank you, Loreta and Jasmin, for contributing this wonderful volume to the Global Campaign for Peace Education. Cora Weiss UN Representative, International Peace Bureau Honorary Patron, Committee on Teaching about the UN President, Hague Appeal for Peace 10x PEACE EDUCATION: A Pathway to a Culture of Peace Introduction umankind needs to take lessons from its past in order to build a new and better tomorrow. One lesson learned is that, to prevent our Hviolence-ridden history repeating itself, the values of peace, non-violence, tolerance, human rights and democracy will have to be inculcated in every woman and man — young and old, children and adults alike. No time is more appropriate than now to build a culture of peace. No social responsibility is greater nor task heavier than that of securing peace on our planet on sustainable foundation. Today’s world, its problems and challenges are becoming increasingly more interdependent and interconnected. The sheer magnitude of these requires all of us to work together. Global efforts towards peace and reconciliation can only succeed with a collective approach built on trust, dialogue and collaboration. For that, we have to build a grand alliance for a culture of peace amongst all, particularly with the proactive involvement and participation of the young people. In today’s world, more so, a culture of peace should be seen as the essence of a new humanity, a new global civilization based on inner oneness and outer diversity. The flourishing of a culture of peace will generate the mindset in us that is a prerequisite for the transition from force to reason, from conflict and violence to dialogue and peace. Culture of peace will provide the bedrock of support to a stable, progressing and prospering world for all. The adoption in 1999, by the UN General Assembly, of the Declaration and Programme of Action on Culture of Peace [ UNGA resolution number 53/243] was a watershed event. Nine-month long negotiations that I had the honour to chair led to the adoption of this historic, norm- setting document that is considered as one of the most significant legacies of the United Nations that would endure for generations. The UN’s work has been particularly bolstered by the broad-based support of civil society. We are now in the final years of the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World, proclaimed 11xi Third Edition by the United Nations. This Decade covering the period 2001 to 2010 is spearheading a global movement for the culture of peace. The need for a culture of peace — particularly in today’s world — is evident as we reflect on how our civilization has succumbed, from time to time, and still again very recently, to the human frailties of greed, selfishness, ambition and xenophobia. We have seen that heinous acts are often committed under the veil of public mandates when in fact they are the wishes of the few in power, be they economic, political, military, or even religious. The most significant way of promoting a culture of peace is through peace education. Peace education needs to be accepted in all parts of the world, in all societies and countries as an essential element in creating culture of peace.