B. TRANSFORMING EDUCATION FOR PEACE

In order to accomplish the integration of peace education most effectively, schools must undergo a basic restructuring of the way in which they function.  At ‘the end of the day’, we are talking about transforming the education system(s) to a Culture of Peace.

Holders of power over education policy (governments, Ministries of Education, Corporations, Education Boards, administrations, unions, teachers) resist change necessary for peace education.  This is why no (significant) resources are made available for peace education at any level, and why peace education recommendations and curricula are rejected and/or not developed.  It will take time, and the implementation of different strategies to bring about change (transformation).

1. Working With The System  

1.1 Listen

- what are your plans and constraints?

- how can we help?

1.2 Problem identification and solving (Solution development)

- workshop (co-opt)

- data gathering

- best cases (eg. Montessori schools; Rudolph Steiner/Waldorf schools; International Baccalaureate programs; etc. show it can be done; do not fall for the usual stonewalling that ‘it can’t be done’/the curriculum straight jacket)

1.3 Market (sell ideas, strategies)

Overcome the four barriers: no need, no trust, no solution, no hurry

1.4 (or 1.1) Bring them to the table to negotiate (motivation)

- bringing them to the table to negotiate will be more difficult

- will fail without the proper motivation

2. Working Around The System

1.1 Provide Venues (for dialogue and co-operative learning)

- listservers (to promote communication, networking, information dissemination)

- conferences (ditto)

1.2 Provide Tools (information management training)

- curricula, books, videos, posters, etc.

1.3 Provide Leadership (direction and support; leadership & empowerment training; change management training)

1.4 Mainstream

1.5 Provide Centres (of excellence in peace education)

1.6 Media, Publish, TV, Video, Movies

- eg. Movie: Bowling for Columbine; TV: PBS or Vision; Video: Manufacturing Consent; Media: get regular articles in newspapers

Other Insights

There are four main currents in peace education:

I. Systems of Violence

I.1. Direct Violence (can be prevented)

I.2. Structural Violence: the roots of direct violence (the difficult problem)

II. Systems of Peace

II.1. Peacemaking (relatively easy)

II.2. Peacebuilding: approaches to social justice (relatively hard/more difficult)

Peace education is a form of countervaillance, holding government and leaders accountable.

The promotion of human well-being is central to the mission of peace education: Raising children with human values who care about the welfare of human beings, and have the moral courage and ability to stand up for these values. 

Underscore the need to reorient peace education and enlarge its scope of practice.

Peace education can be perceived to threaten the current social order – but a sustainable peace requires it to redress the deeper, more permanent roots of the problem.  We are not talking about subverting the current social order – we are talking about subverting the current Culture of Violence and War.  Akin to the stages of development of individuals, it is time for our systems to mature from egocentric/egoistic to sociocentric (integrative orientations), with increased prosocial behaviour (helping others, sympathy/empathy, altruism).

Peace education must (1) emphasize the nonviolent management of differences, combined with (2) the pursuit of socially just ends.

To paraphrase Brewster Smith, “I see the prospect of an empirically grounded Peace Education with an activist wing, which can contribute substantially to the never-ending effort for social progress and making the human world more liveable for human beings.”

C. WHAT A “CANADIAN PEACE INSTITUTE” MIGHT LOOK LIKE

[Note: the term “Canadian Peace Institute” or “CPI” is used for example.  The name selected should be indicative of our purpose, but may well take a different form.]

I would like to propose that a CPI would include the following characteristics (in no specific order):

1. an excellent education system (holistic)

2. prepared for the information, cultural and spiritual revolutions

3. popular involvement (community based)

4. institution for true freedom & democracy: positive choices; find truth for themselves; independent thought & critical thinking; no or minimal control & coercion

5. factual (true objectivity; critical tools to unveil the ‘lie’)

6. coherent comprehension of the world (adapt a more critical attitude to the world)

7. teachers as mentors helping students discover truth & democracy for themselves

8. no or minimal ideology

9. teach about: engineering social progress; relationship building; independence of thought, finance, self-sufficiency; conflict transformation; transforming the world; hope; ___)

10. information verification (social accountability)

11. distributed education power

12. voluntary (eg. Peace ed., all of above; volunteers teaching students; volunteers administering?; i.e. we have to consider economics, including ‘compensation corrupting the system’; use retirees)

13. virtually all information allowed in school

14. owls (not doves or hawks)

15. human well-being ideology; rule of law; prevention of war

16. produces ethical leaders

17. produces self sufficient people; equity; empowering

18. students as agents for constructive transformation of larger society (“grow champions”)

19. cooperative learning (collaborative)

20. service learning (action orientation/praxis)

21. student centred and student driven (us support them; eg. student positions on Board)

22. student theses as opportunities for service to peace and peace education

23. post the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in each class
http://www.udhr50.org/UDHR/default.htm ; post the Culture of Peace Manifesto in each class http://www3.unesco.org/iycp/uk/uk_sum_cp.htm and
http://www3.unesco.org/manifesto2000/uk/uk_manifeste.htm

24. transdisciplinary, but not duplicate existing modes of peace education (utilize them, & work with them)

25. incorporate a Graduation Pledge to take into account the social consequences of any job considered and try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which graduates work

26. inclusive (for everyone, all ages; involvement of non-academics/informal educators)

27. offer a 3 year Bachelor Program, a 4 year Honours Program, a Masters Degree, a PhD, a 1 year Certificate Program (eg. For teachers, business people, etc.), individual certificate courses as required, and tele-learning (distance education degrees and/or certificates)

28. entrepreneurial; pragmatic; sustainable; value-added solutions; fund raising potential (including designing courses to meet identified needs; offer consulting; export expertise to other countries; etc.)

29. creative; thinking ‘outside the box’

30. independent (i.e. not ‘beholden’ to major funder, particularly government)

31. do no harm

32. seek hiring commitments from wide range of potential employers (identification of required skills; reference Appendix)

33. assemble an excellent peace resource library (including videos, etc.)

I would like to propose that a CPI would include the following learning topics (in no specific order; several items may overlap; many topical items not listed may be included in #7 HAP 50 below):

1. peace education, awareness, knowledge, and pedagogy (curricula: available and development)

2. peace leadership and empowerment (eg. Situational Leadership model reference http://www.peace.ca/peaceleader.htm and http://www.peace.ca/empowerment.htm ; servant leadership; the role of current leaders in the Culture of Violence, and the transformations necessary to a CoP)

3. change management methodology, and marketing/selling peace (agents of social change)

4. problem solving methodology (including conceptual mapping; peace is a ‘problem of convergence’ of many dilemmas; ‘macropeace’)

5. resource management (information/peace informatics and ‘E-peace’, human resources, financial resources, time management)

6. conflict transformation methodology (eg. Galtung)

7. functional issues identified in the Hague Appeal for Peace Agenda (50 items reference http://www.haguepeace.org/index.php?name=agenda_english , plus _?__)

8. linking between building peace at the individual, family, community, and world levels

9. Culture of Peace Program

10. best cases (eg. Montessori schools; Rudolph Steiner/Waldorf schools; International Baccalaureate programs; etc.)

11. negotiating

12. peace psychology (including motivation, behaviour, peace sociology, etc.)

13. media (as part of the problem, and as part of the solution; eg. Galtung)

14. systems of violence and systems of peace (eg. Structural violence, peacebuilding, etc.)

15. social accountability as an important tool for peace

16. engineering social progress (including building grassroots/groundswells)

17. life skills including relationship building and prosocial behaviour (helping others, sympathy/empathy, altruism; nonviolent communication and dialogue; succinct; plain language).

18. teacher training in peace education (engage teachers' colleges)

19. mainstreaming peace: cultivate public awareness and political support for the introduction of peace education, and peace generally

20. peer education in peace (eg. Students teaching students, of all ages)

21. parenting education

22. evaluation (and management generally as it relates to peace; results oriented vs. activity oriented; strategic planning)

23. Global Campaign for Peace Education

24. a substantial Peace Education Foundation in Canada

25. peace and peace education research

26. lobbying (including engaging the various government ministries with peace responsibilities; campaigning the business community and their role; service clubs such as Rotary and Lions to make a global Culture of Peace a priority; lobby Canadian Commission for UNESCO to keep the Culture of Peace Program on the U.N. Agenda; use and support other people's initiatives to promote peace education and they might support us as well; run for School Boards, City Councils, Service Clubs, etc.)

27. the transformation of conflict in Canada (eg. Aboriginal peoples, Francophone/Anglophone, recent immigrants and other minorities)

28. Canadian foreign policy and Canadian security (and U.S. foreign policy, threats, opportunities; the U.N., its importance to Canadian security and related issues; the role of peacemakers such as the Department of National Defence, police forces and their military schools vs. militarism – how we must work with all of this)

29. building peace at the individual, family, community, regional, national and world levels

30. Canadian Peace Education Handbook (to provide a 'common vocabulary', and teacher friendly resource guide; develop models)

31. safe and caring schools and communities programs

32. commitments made by Canada to the United Nations -
http://www.peace.ca/unesco1974recommendation.htm and
http://www.peace.ca/unesco1994declaration.htm and
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001066/106627e.pdf and
http://www.unesco.org/education/pdf/15_62.pdf

33. social contracting

34. competition vs. cooperation (including the dynamics of over-competition, win at any cost)

35. ethics and values (generally and in a Canadian context as they relate to peace)

36. designing a National Culture of Peace Program (including a Department of Peace, Faculties of Peace)

37. futurism (the scientific study of alternate futures as they relate to peace, violence, war; systems crash theories; is time of the essence?; how to affect the future; etc.)

38. peace in the workplace (corporations should want to hire these students because they can transform conflicts and negotiate triple win deals)

39. include sociobiology (altruism and reciprocity theory), game theory (pace Rapaport), weapons systems and their control, arms trade and its control, legal theory, political theory, economic theory, social analysis

40. incorporate a “ Peace Museum ” (it will draw ‘customers’)

D. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES

1. The proposed Canadian Peace Institute would be a major Peace institution, aligned with one or more Universities (it might be slightly removed, similar to the Arctic Institute’s relationship to the University of Calgary; working with other University priorities which impinge upon peace such as environment/health, globalization studies, multi-media studies, leadership in learning, business, etc.).  CPI should be able to ‘grant’ a recognized University degree (through its alignment).

2. It would be linked with other Universities (Canadian and International) offering Peace studies (not duplicating; but working with existing infrastructure).  It would also be linked with high schools, primary and elementary schools, non-governmental organizations providing peace education.

3. Most importantly, CPI should be as independent as possible in order to be as intellectually honest as possible.  CPI should not be subject to unreasonable intellectual pressure by the University that it is aligned with, or any other outside forces (such as government or business).

4. CPI should retain ownership rights to intellectual property, etc.

5. CPI should be protected from loss as a result of law suits, copyrights, slander, etc.

6. CPI should incorporate a ‘Peace Education Foundation’ (charitable & tax issues).

7. A business plan will be required which demonstrates long term sustainability.  Primary sources of revenue, initially, will include tuition fees and volunteered services and space. 

8. There will be other administrative considerations, such as union issues, etc. to be considered.

Accordingly, we must further research the legal, administrative and other implications.

E. HOW A CANADIAN PEACE INSTITUTE CLASS MIGHT LOOK

1. Every Class would Model a "Culture of Peace"

Mindful of the CPI goal to make the Culture of Peace theme ubiquitous, all participants of CPI would pledge to:

1. "Respect all life." - Respect the life and dignity of each human being without discrimination or prejudice;
2. "Reject violence." - Practise active non-violence, rejecting violence in all its forms: physical, sexual, psychological, economical and social, in particular towards the most deprived and vulnerable such as children and adolescents;
3. "Share with others." - Share my time and material resources in a spirit of generosity to put an end to exclusion, injustice and political and economic oppression;
4. "Listen to understand." - Defend freedom of expression and cultural diversity, giving preference always to dialogue and listening without engaging in fanaticism, defamation and the rejection of others;
5. "Preserve the planet." - Promote consumer behaviour that is responsible and development practices that respect all forms of life and preserve the balance of nature on the planet;
6. "Rediscover solidarity." - Contribute to the development of my community, with the full participation of women and respect for democratic principles, in order to create together new forms of solidarity.

2. Every Class would have an "Experienced (Qualified) Educator" to facilitate (lead) it. 

- mindful that learners have a variety of skills and experience, and to achieve collective goals in the class, leadership is required.  Different learners need different types of leadership depending upon their development level in different situations (the definition of situational leadership).  Depending upon the learner and the situation, the experienced (qualified) class educator, as leader, may have to use the following types of leadership: directing (for least developed learners and new tasks), coaching, supporting and/or delegating (for high performers and known tasks).

- mindful of the CPI goal of "student directed" classes, the leader's goal is to help move his/her class to become high performers that can be delegated the responsibility to run day-to-day operations of the class.  However, even high performers may need more direction in new tasks.

- mindful of the CPI goals of "true freedom and democracy ... minimal control and coercion ... distributed education power", a "minimal hierarchy" ("flattest pyramid") will be maintained in the class.  In the anticipated rare instances where collective class goals are 'pitted' against individual learner goals, it may be expected that collective class goals will take precedence in an environment of participative democracy.

- mindful of the CPI goal of "cooperative learning", the class leader will demonstrate excellence in the following characteristics: situational leadership skills, empowerment skills, mentor skills, listening and communication skills, participative democracy, objective, independent and critical thinker ("thinking outside the box"), inclusive, ethical, life-long learner and willing to learn with/from the students

- mindful of the CPI goal of "excellent education system (holistic)", the class leader will demonstrate excellence in the following characteristics: coherent comprehension of the world and peace, coherent comprehension of peace psychology and sociology, entrepreneurial, pragmatic, value-added solutions, results-oriented, accountable, resource management skills (information resources, human resources, financial resources, time resource), research skills  

- mindful that CPI will rely on informal educators and volunteers, and will have to meet acceptable standards of the University it is associated with, CPI will establish suitable criteria for class leaders ("Experienced/Qualified Educator").   "Experienced/Qualified Educators" will be accepted following a rigorous peer review (including qualified learners), and will enter into a suitable contract with CPI to act according to mutually agreed goals. 

[READERS - WE NEED YOUR HELP HERE TO (1) UNDERSTAND THE CURRENT CHARACTERISTICS OF A PROFESSOR OR QUALIFIED CLASS LEADER IN CANADA - I ASSUME THERE IS A RANGE OF ACCEPTABLE QUALIFICATIONS; AND (2) A 'UTOPIAN' CPI EXPERIENCED EDUCATORS QUALIFICATIONS, AND AGAIN THERE MAY BE A RANGE OF ACCEPTABLE QUALIFICATIONS.  WE NEED TO KNOW HOW MUCH ROOM TO MANOEUVRE WE HAVE.  WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO AN ANALYSIS OF THIS ISSUE?  I am wondering to what extent class leaders do not have to be PhD's, or have formal teaching degrees?]

3. Every Class would be Comprised of "Committed Learners"

- mindful of CPI goals of "student directed ... self-sufficiency ... true freedom and democracy ... minimal control and coercion ... distributed education power ... growing champions", learners should be committed to CPI goals and taking responsibility for their own education to achieve personal goals.  (i.e. learners who simply want a degree and/or are not prepared to work 'smarter' should look elsewhere) 

- mindful of CPI goals of "service learning, action orientation, praxis", learners should be committed to working outside and within CPI in a service learning capacity, with achievable goals (to be established with the class leader, assistant and community agency of placement; these can be placements at home or abroad)

- mindful of CPI goals of "excellent education system (holistic)", learners will demonstrate excellence in the following characteristics: listening and communication skills, participative democracy, objective, independent and critical thinker ("thinking outside the box"), inclusive and cooperative, ethical and conscientious, life-long learner and willing to learn with/from the class leader, assistants and students, coherent awareness of the world and peace, desire to 'live on purpose' and make a difference through service.

- Qualified Learners will be accepted following a rigorous peer review (including experienced educators), and will enter into a suitable contract with CPI to act according to mutually agreed goals. 

 4. Every Class would have "Experienced Class Assistants"

- mindful of CPI goals of "cooperative learning ... student driven", experienced class assistants will serve every class.   Class assistants will share characteristics found in the class leaders (above).

- mindful of CPI goals, there should be a maximum number of learners per class assistant (in the order of 10 to 20, to be discussed).

- class assistants will earn credit for their service.

- Class Assistants will be accepted following a rigorous peer review (including experienced educators and qualified learners), and will enter into a suitable contract with CPI to act according to mutually agreed goals. 

5. Every Class would have "SMART Learning Goals"

- mindful of CPI goals of "an excellent education system (holistic) ... producing ethical, self-sufficient agents of social change ... capable of meeting employment requirement", "SMART" (i.e. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Trackable) "Learning Goals" must be established for: a 3 year Bachelor Program, a 4 year Honours Program, a Masters Degree, a PhD, a 1 year Certificate Program (eg. For teachers, business people, etc.), individual certificate courses as required, and tele-learning (distance education degrees and/or certificates).  Within this holistic framework, every class would have "SMART Learning Goals".  [NOTE - THIS IS A MAJOR "TO DO".]

- mindful of CPI goals of "giving students a voice ... democratic participation ... distributed education power", the "SMART Learning Goals" of classes and programs would be developed with the democratic participation of Experienced Educators, Class Assistants and Learners.

- mindful of "C. What a Canadian Peace Institute Might Look Like", "SMART Learning Goals" would take into account the proposed CPI characteristics and learning topics.

- mindful of CPI goals of "empowerment", "SMART Learning Goals" would take into account the three keys of empowerment: share information, create autonomy through boundaries, and replace the hierarchy with self-directed teams and people.  (reference http://www.peace.ca/empowerment.htm )

6. Every Participant will be Called to Account

- mindful of CPI goals of "accountability", each participant's (educator, assistant, learner) actions (performance) will be evaluated according to the shared ("contracted") goals.  This is the process that will determine who is successfully recognized as achieving class and program goals ("certification").  No one "fails" - they simply have not yet been successfully recognized as achieving class and/or program goals ("certification").  (Critics may argue semantics.)   

- mindful of CPI goals of "giving students a voice ... democratic participation ... distributed education power", "accountability" standards will be developed with the democratic participation of Experienced Educators, Class Assistants and Learners.

- mindful of CPI goals of "incorporate a Graduation Pledge", learners will be encouraged (i.e. voluntary) to take into account the social consequences of any job considered and try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which graduates work

- mindful that CPI will have to meet acceptable standards of the University it is associated with, CPI will establish suitable criteria for certification.

[READERS - WE NEED YOUR HELP HERE TO (1) UNDERSTAND THE CURRENT CHARACTERISTICS OF UNIVERSITY "CERTIFICATION" IN CANADA - I ASSUME THERE IS A RANGE OF ACCEPTABLE QUALIFICATIONS; AND (2) A 'UTOPIAN' CPI "CERTIFICATION" QUALIFICATIONS, AND AGAIN THERE MAY BE A RANGE OF ACCEPTABLE QUALIFICATIONS.  WE NEED TO KNOW HOW MUCH ROOM TO MANOEUVRE WE HAVE.  WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO AN ANALYSIS OF THIS ISSUE?  I am mindful of the fact that certain students can get credit for participating in conferences, etc. as part of Independent Studies Program, which implies flexibility.]

7. Every Class will be Different in Action

- mindful of CPI goals of "true freedom & democracy: positive choices; find truth for themselves; independent thought & critical thinking; no or minimal control & coercion", every class will be different in action.  This can be scary.  Have trust in the journey, and the quality of participants, shared ("contracted") goals and accountability criteria.

- mindful of CPI goals of "student driven ... SMART Learning Goals ... accountability", class participants would start the course by planning the curricula, delivery options and venues.  The class leader and class assistants would optimize their availability and accessibility.

- mindful of CPI goals of "service learning", learners will demonstrate their competency through significant accomplishments in service to peace

8. Every Class will Evolve with Experience

- mindful of CPI goals of "an excellent education system (holistic)", we can expect the classroom will evolve with experience.  At the end of each class, participants will make recommendations for improvement.  Recommendations will be considered by our successors (inclusive).

APPENDIX

Sample list of the potential market and/or customers/clients for a Canadian Peace Institute:

In a university situation when a new program is proposed, someone would authorize a study of viability, polling both students and employers (and it would cost a lot of money). In this situation, it would make a lot of sense to make some contacts to have some idea of who would hire the grads, where, what, when, how and how much. Please be as specific as possible in your contribution.

1. Canadian federal government (there are several departments, such as DFAIT, CIDA, foreign diplomats, DND, justice, corrections, health, social services),

2. Foreign governments (e.g.. China 's Ministry of Education is planning a $43 million distance-education project to provide teacher training and degrees in the country's relatively undeveloped western region; there was a ten-year bilateral agreement to educate Indonesian faculty to int'l standards, funded by CIDA)

3. Canadian provincial and municipal governments (teacher education, education systems development, police services, victims services, safe and caring cities, safe and caring schools; responding to real community needs as identified by the community)

4. research institutions,

5. the UN (including many UN agencies, UN Universities, University of Peace/Costa Rica )

6. private research services,

7. businesses (e.g.. international businesses vis international affairs, employee relations, public relations, conflict resolution/ADR)

8. non-government organizations (e.g.. CARE, Red Cross, religions, foreign NGOs; teaching leadership, fund-raising, etc.)

9. individuals (e.g.. target hardening courses, enlightenment seekers)

10. other