PeaceQuest
  • Home
  • Projects
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • Donate
  • Email Us: sstaples@peacequest.ca
  • For teachers: WarandChildren.com
  • Subscribe to our weekly newsletter
PeaceQuest
  • Home
  • Projects
  • Blog
  • About Us
    • Welcome
  • Donate Now

    Scholarship fund studious poor children

    Notice: Test mode is enabled. While in test mode no live donations are processed.

    $
    Select Payment Method
    Personal Info

    Donation Total: $10

Peace education in the COVID-19 context (Part 1)

Homepage Teachers Peace education in the COVID-19 context (Part 1)
Teachers

Peace education in the COVID-19 context (Part 1)

19 March 2021
By Steven Staples
1 Comment
976 Views

How can we promote peace education during a pandemic? This is the first of a 2-part series examining the state of peace education in our schools, and ways that organizations like PeaceQuest can team-up with teachers to provide students with transformational peace learning opportunities.


When the PeaceQuest Leadership and Education Initiative set out in January 2020 to promote peace education – we thought our job was pretty straight forward: promote our online resources, work with teachers, and voila! Millions of students learn about peace, alternatives to war, and ways to prevent conflict.

But things got a little bit complicated when the COVID-19 state of emergency was declared in late March.

How could our organization interact with teachers when all the schools were closed? The situation did not improve much when teaching went online, as teachers and students and parents grappled with the new technology and unfamiliar teaching methods using video chats from home.

As confusion slowly became the “new normal” in the following school year, PeaceQuest joined with The Ripple Effect Education (TREE) and others to find solutions.

In December we wanted to kick-start a conversation about how we can help to advance peace and social justice education during the COVID-19 context.

So, we assembled 20 people working in peace education from many areas, 7 teachers, staff from 2 school boards, and representatives from 11 leading non-profit groups working in peace education.

We asked each other about our knowledge of peace and social justice education:

  • What are the critical challenges that need to be addressed?
  • What are the gaps in our knowledge?
  • What opportunities do we have?

The discussion identified lots of challenges. “Teachers are in “crisis” mode, addressing the pandemic first, extracurriculars and professional development falling behind,” said one teacher.

But even in “normal” times, peace education is not always easy.

For instance, some pointed out that peace education is not explicit in curriculum. “There are refences within different courses and lots of teachers doing creative things around conflict resolution, restorative justice, etc. But it’s not as explicit in the curriculum as we’d like,” said one teacher.

Our educational system is very averse to dealing with subjects that may cause controversy with parents.

Others noted the definition of peace education can be elusive. There is a “lack of clarity about what peace education actually is,” said one participant.

Some researchers have identified the problem that our educational system is very averse to dealing with subjects that may cause controversy with parents. There is a “lack of understanding about how adults can speak with students about the issues,” said a teacher in our group. We need to be, “creating a safe space for dialogue.”

In part 2 of our series on peace education in the COVID-19 context, to be published next week, we will look at how teachers and non-profits are developing innovative solutions to these challenges, and creating opportunities to greatly expand peace and social justice education for students enrolled in K-12.

  • Read part 2 of this series on peace education
Tags: peace education

Previous Story
If you are a teacher, please click here
Next Story
Peace education in the COVID-19 context (Part 2)

Related Articles

Webinar: Learn non-violent tactics for a war-torn world

Starts Monday, March 6, 2023

Did the famous Christmas Truce of 1914 really happen?

Some people think it’s a myth – but here’s the...

1 reply added

  1. Pingback: Peace education in the COVID-19 context (Part 2) | PeaceQuest

    […] week we told you about the challenges that peace and social justice teachers are facing – and the challenges are not all caused by the […]

Comments are closed.

Categories

  • Action
  • Analysis
  • Commentary
  • Event
  • PeaceQuest Cape Breton
  • PeaceQuest Kingston
  • PeaceQuest Regina
  • Resource
  • Teachers

Contact

PeaceQuest Leadership and Education Initiative

c/o Steven Staples, Chairperson

225 Sumach Street W303

Toronto  ON M5A 0P8

Email: sstaples@peacequest.ca

Phone: m. 647-327-7187

PeaceQuest Info

  • Projects
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • Donate
  • Subscribe

Local Groups

  • Cape Breton
  • Kingston
  • Regina

 

 

Teachers

  • WarandChildren.com
Copyright ©2020 PeaceQuest Leadership and Education Initiative
SearchPostsLogin
Friday, 17, Mar
What divides the Left over Ukraine peace negotiations?
Thursday, 16, Mar
Views on Ukraine differ widely, informal survey finds
Tuesday, 14, Mar
Cape Breton activists offer support to Montenegro anti-war conservationists
Saturday, 11, Mar
Invitation: International Summit for Peace in Ukraine
Friday, 3, Mar
All wars must end, but how to negotiate peace in Ukraine?
Thursday, 2, Mar
Webinar: Learn non-violent tactics for a war-torn world

Welcome back,