Global Peace Education News! (GCPE September/October 2019 Edition)
Welcome!
Dear Carole Caparros,
As an avid reader of the Global Campaign for Peace Education News, you may have noticed the absence of our monthly newsletter in your inbox in September. We didn’t forget about you, we were just distracted with the launch of Peace Knowledge Press, our brand new publishing imprint! Peace Knowledge Press will financially benefit our work in peace education (all net proceeds support the Global Campaign and our sister initiative the International Institute on Peace Education) and support the advancement and dissemination of peace knowledge to educators, activists, academics, and new audiences around the world! We also aim to keep our costs low to assure that peace knowledge is accessible to all who wish to pursue it. You can learn more about the vision of Peace Knowledge Press here.
We are deeply grateful to William M. Timpson, whose book, Learning Life’s Lessons: Inspirational Tips for Creating Peace in Troubled Times, is the first publication of Peace Knowledge Press. Here’s a quick description of the book:
For anyone needing to be inspired in these troubled, contentious and polarized times: know that other times have been darker and somehow, someway, people found ways to pull through. Based on those historical examples as well as a few from recent events, “Tips” of core concepts for teaching others can help rekindle hope and possibility including ourselves… The ideas here are drawn from four published books of proven ideas for teaching peace and reconciliation, sustainability, and diversity as well as ideas for experiential learning.
You can pick up your copy of Learning Life’s Lessons today at peaceknowledgepress.com (print edition: $15.99 e-book / pdf: $9.99).
We were also busy this month supporting our colleagues in Nigeria as they officially launched the Nigeria Network and Campaign for Peace Education, which you can read about below. Energy continues to bubble up around the world for mainstreaming peace education. We hope you find the actions of our colleagues hopeful, and contagious, and embark on new efforts to develop and grow peace education in your community.
Please don’t forget to help us “spread peace ed” by using the hashtags #SpreadPeaceEd and #PeaceEd, following us on social media, and by sharing and reposting news on your timeline and in your communities. This is one small way each of us can help grow the campaign. You can also follow the Global Campaign on Facebook and Twitter.
In peace & solidarity,
Tony Jenkins
Coordinator, Global Campaign for Peace Education
Campaign Resources
Quotes
Daisaku Ikeda on education for peace
“Education must cultivate the wisdom to reject and resist violence in all its forms. It must foster people who intuitively understand and know–in their minds, in their hearts, with their entire being–the irreplaceable value of human beings and the natural world. I believe such education embodies the timeless struggle of human civilization to create an unerring path to peace.” – Daisaku Ikeda
News & Highlights
Official launch of Nigeria Network and Campaign for Peace Education
Categories: News & Highlights
Peace education received a boast in Nigeria with the official unveiling of the Nigeria Network and Campaign for Peace Education. This is a network of stakeholders and practitioners in peace education activities.
Culture of Peace Takes Big Stride as UN Observes 20th Anniversary of Norm-Setting 1999 Decision
Categories: News & Highlights
On the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury reminds us that the declaration’s full implementation is dependent upon well-intentioned, sustained, and systematic peace education.
“The Nuns, The Priests, and The Bombs”: a film about activism for the abolition of nuclear weapons
Categories: News & Highlights
In observation of the 2019 UN International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, Betty Reardon offers a commentary on a unique film illuminating civil resistance as a strategy for abolition.
Educating For Peace: new World BEYOND War podcast episode featuring Tony Jenkins, Patrick Hiller, Kozue Akibayashi
GNWP Podcast featuring peace educator Betty Reardon
Categories: News & Highlights
The Global Network of Women Peacebuilders released a special issue of its podcast, “GNWP Talks 1325,” featuring Dr. Betty Reardon, co-founder of the Global Campaign for Peace Education.
Extinction Rebellion Universities group in UK calls for eco-pedagogy centered reform in higher education
Categories: News & Highlights
An Extinction Rebellion group (XR Universities) is demanding eco-pedagogy centered reform, which would include a complete overhaul of university degrees to reflect the severity of the ecological situation we face.
Happy International Day of Peace 2019: ＂Climate Action for Peace＂
Categories: News & Highlights
Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. This year’s theme draws attention to the importance of combatting climate change. As peace educators, today serves as an opportunity and reminder for integrating peace into our curricula.
New UN book club helps children deal with global issues
Categories: Activity Reports
For children in Chad, getting an education can involve manual labour. That’s because, every year, there’s a chance that the rainy season will destroy their school, and they will have to join their teachers in rebuilding it. This is the story recounted in the children’s book “Rain School”, which is on the reading list of the UN’s SDG Book Club.
Refugee education in crisis: More than half of the world’s school-age refugee children do not get an education
Categories: News & Highlights, Research
Of the 7.1 million refugee children of school age, 3.7 million – more than half – do not go to school, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, said in a recently released report.
A teachable moment: educators must join students in demanding climate justice
Categories: Opinion
To not teach, one might argue, is to reject learning. Jonathan Isham and Lee Smithey disagree. To strike in the name of climate justice is a resounding endorsement of learning: it turns out the world’s youth have been listening to their teachers all along.
Requesting the urgent commitment of the Colombian Government to the full implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement and peace education
Categories: Action Alerts, News & Highlights
We invite your support to engage your elected officials in requesting the urgent commitment to the Colombian Government toward the full implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement, the protection of social leaders, and the execution of peace education strategies as a best way to make structural and cultural changes in Colombian society.
Learning for empathy: A world effort to build peace through education
New Pax Christi presidents look to elevate church’s nonviolence teachings
Categories: News & Highlights
Sr. Teresia Wamuyu Wachira, a professor of peace and conflict studies at St. Paul’s University in Nairobi, is the first woman religious to serve as a co-president of the organization.
Promoting Peace Through Art
Categories: Opinion
Art can help develop empathy, and allow viewers to take a new perspective and to understand others better. These qualities are crucial pillars of peace, which begins when we understand the effects that our own actions have on others.
GPPAC Peace Education Working Group Supports Projects in Armenia, Serbia and the USA
Categories: News & Highlights
The GPPAC Peace Education Working Group has allocated funds to peace education projects in Armenia, Serbia and the United States, through a competitive process open to the peace education working group members.
Teachers highlight role of theater, drama in solving conflicts (Rwanda)
Categories: Activity Reports
About 100 primary and secondary school teachers completed a two-week training on applying arts, theater and drama in education and improvement of the new Rwanda education curriculum. The teachers noted that the training equipped them with skills in solving conflicts.
How Gandhi can help Gen Z
Categories: Opinion
The recent shootings in the U.S. are markers of a growing problem for the world. Like many other similar incidents of violence in recent history, the perpetrators were in their 20s, members of Gen Z. Too many young people across the world are succumbing to violence, victims and perpetrators alike.
Enhancing Sustainable Peace Through Youth Empowerment (Myanmar)
Categories: Activity Reports
Naushawng Development Institute has been conducting a series of trainings on Civic and Peace Education with the aim of enhancing young people’s skills and to increase their participation in the Myanmar peace process.
Summer camp empowers young people to use social media to make change in their community (Louisville, KY. USA)
Categories: News & Highlights
Gun violence is one of the top concerns of young people who are learning how to use social media to engage instead of rage.
Reparations Are a Peace Treaty
Categories: Opinion
The first article in this six-part series explores how the wars on drugs and poverty were actually wars on people, making the case for reparations as a way toward peace. Future articles will explore national educational initiatives teaching young citizens about the true history of the US as a nation and educating for peace rather than war.
Education sector moves to inculcate peace values in young children (Rwanda)
Categories: News & Highlights
After realizing many school curricula contained genocidal ideology and discrimination that led to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, the education ministry and schools have moved to scale up curricula with books and programs on peace and genocide.
Launching the Nigeria Network and Campaign for Peace Education
Categories: Campaigns, News & Highlights
Join the Launch of the Nigeria Network and Campaign for Peace Education on Wednesday, August 14, 2019. This network will bring teachers, practitioners, and advocates together to learn, strategize, and take collective action to pursue a culture of peace through peace education in Nigeria.
Events & Programs
The following are events posted on our Global Peace Education Calendar since our last newsletter. Some of these events may have already taken place. To see what’s happening today, tomorrow, or next year, visit the Global Peace Education Calendar. Please also consider sharing your peace education-related events with others as well.
2019 School To Peace Pipeline Conference
This one-day conference, designed for teachers, counselors, administrators, pre-service teachers and parents, provides a dynamic opportunity to develop our practice as teachers and school leaders. By providing a balance of research from experts in the field as well as workshops led by experienced teachers, participants will leave empowered to create the kind of classroom and school climate that fosters equity, …
WEBINAR: Anti-discrimination and Gender Expertise for School Textbooks and Learning/Teaching Materials
Anti-discrimination and Gender Expertise for School Textbooks and Learning/Teaching Materials: Methodology, Criteria, Indicators In this GPPAC webinar, taking place September 24, Dr. Nina Bagdasarova describes the newly adopted procedures and methodologies aimed at integrating textbooks and other school materials with the themes of gender equality and non-discrimination in Kyrgyzstan. During the summer of 2019, the Ministry of Education and Science…
PeaceCon 2019
In partnership with the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), the Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP) is thrilled to host PeaceCon 2019. PeaceCon 2019 will feature the world’s most inspiring and experienced national and local peacebuilders. Together, we will work together to address the most pressing issues in the peacebuilding field and elevate our policy influence and innovative practices. The first day…
2019 Indigenous Peoples’ Day Curriculum Teach-In New York
Join the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian New York (NMAI) and Teaching for Change on September 28, 2019 for talks and workshops on teaching about Indigenous peoples’ histories and experiences today. Click here to register. The speakers and workshops will feature classroom resources for K-12 from Native Knowledge 360°, NMAI’s initiative to transform teaching and learning about American Indians, …
Climate Strike!
With the consequences of climate change becoming ever more clear and dire with each passing day, a new powerful wave of the climate movement has been swelling up over the last couple of years. Young people around the world have been rising up to defend our future, and have been going on strike – every week, all over the planet…
64th Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES)
The online proposal submission system is now open for CIES 2020! The Peace Education SIG is pleased to invite you to submit a proposal to the SIG for CIES 2020 Miami, the 64th Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES). The event will take place in Miami, Florida, from March 22-26, 2020. The theme of the conference…
ICNC’s Free Moderated Online Course on Civil Resistance
Would learning more about civil resistance movements help you be a more effective activist, journalist, scholar, or policymaker? For the fourth consecutive year, the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC) and the Rutgers International Institute for Peace are offering our free, two-month, online course, “People Power: The Strategic Dynamics of Civil Resistance.” In this course, more than 50 highly motivated and…
Childlike Wonder 2019: Resilience, Inclusion, and Peace Education in Early Childhood
#ChildlikeWonderPh is a program designed for early childhood teachers, school leaders, academics, and educators-at-heart. We develop themes that provide exciting and relevant learning opportunities. The theme for this year is “Resilience, Inclusion, and Peace Education in Early Childhood”. Our experts in early childhood and elementary education will discuss current trends and issues that affect children from ages 0-8. The topics and activities…
6th International Sport and Peace Conference
The overall aim of the conference and the work of its commissions is to look at how we can take Madiba’s vision for youth, sport and peace forward in 2019 and beyond. How can Madiba’s view on peace and the role of sport in uniting people and eradicating all types of discrimination and racial barriers and as an effective communication mechanism…
Webinar on Sustainability Education for Schools
Join the Global Network for Sustainable Development for a webinar on Sustainability Education for Schools on July 26 from 10am-12pm EST.
Curricula, Research & Publications
The 1619 Project Curriculum: Challenging the historical narrative of U.S. slavery
Categories: Curricula
The 1619 Project, inaugurated with a special issue of The New York Times Magazine, challenges us to reframe U.S. history by marking the year when the first enslaved Africans arrived on Virginia soil as our nation’s foundational date. The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting has developed a curricula resource guide to bring The 1619 Project into your classroom.
Climate Strike Educator Resource Guide
Categories: Action Alerts, Campaigns, Curricula
A CALL TO ACTION FOR EDUCATORS! Countless young people around the world have walked out of their classes over the past year to demand real climate action from politicians. On September 20, you are invited to support them as part of a global #ClimateStrike to demand solutions to the climate crisis. The Educator Resource Guide outlines practical actions you can take inside and outside of school.
New book! ＂Learning Life’s Lessons: Inspirational Tips for Creating Peace in Troubled Times＂
Categories: Publications
“Learning Life’s Lessons: Inspirational Tips for Creating Peace in Troubled Times,” by William Timpson, is ideal for educators seeking to rekindle hope in contentious political times. Historical examples of individuals and groups overcoming difficulties are explored through “tips” and discussion starters suited for teaching peace education in many contexts. “Learning Life’s Lessons” is also the first publication of Peace Knowledge Press!
What works to prevent violence against children in Afghanistan? Findings of a school-based peace education intervention in Afghanistan
Categories: Research
This paper presents the results of an evaluation of school-based peace education and a community-based intervention to change harmful social norms and practices related to gender and the use of violence in conflict resolution, implemented in Afghanistan with the aim of reducing violence against and between children.
GPPAC Case Study: Armenia’s Peace & Conflict Resolution Education in Schools Program
Categories: Research
Through a series of case studies, the GPPAC Peace Education Working Group highlights examples of how peace and conflict education efforts are being scaled. This case study explores ‘Armenia’s Peace & Conflict Resolution Education in Schools Program’, launched by The Women for Development NGO in 2002 in response to the high rates of poverty, unemployment, socio-economic challenges, high rates of migration and the on-going Nagorno-Karabagh conflict.
Article 370 and the Reorganization of Kashmir: A Teachable Moment
Categories: Curricula
“Your students may have missed the news about the security build-up and the rising tensions in Kashmir over the last week. They cannot possibly miss the headlines about the amendment of Article 370 and the re-organization of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, however. Around them, people are bound to be talking about this news, either jubilant or distressed. In your classroom, they will hear both points of view. This is a moment with rich learning potential,” writes Swarna Rajagopalan for Prajnya’s Education for Peace Initiative.
Online peace education platform launched in Rwanda
Categories: Curricula, News & Highlights
The Aegis Trust and the Rwanda Education Board officially launched the Ubumuntu Digital Platform, an innovative new online peace education platform.
Jobs & Funding Opportunities
Georgetown University seeks Director of Student Programs – Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs
Categories: Jobs
The Director of Student Programs manages the Center’s curricular and co-curricular offerings and other student-oriented programs in support of the Center’s mission to foster a just and peaceful world by deepening knowledge and solving problems at the intersection of religion and global affairs.
Support the Global Campaign
The Global Campaign for Peace Education is your community and source for news, resources, research, and knowledge sharing in the field of peace education. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today to help us pay our bills and to assure we can continue to support and provide resources free of charge to educators and policymakers around the world.
#SpreadPeaceEd
