Form, Content, and Structure

Pedagogy is the form that peace education takes, and is the teaching approaches and methods used by peace educators. In every educational intervention, peace educators should consider the content, structure, and form in which they are teaching. The pedagogical principles of peace education can be used in any area of teaching, and in any kind of educational setting.

The content  is what is being taught and studied, such as the subject matter. The content may vary, but should be related to the students' lives. The educator should guide the students in making connections between the content, their own lives, and possible contradicatons.

The structure is the educational setting, answering the question where, but is more than just the physical environment. For example, if one is teaching in a formal school setting, the physical space is one component. Other components might include the administration, the rules and regulations of the school, the curriculum (for example, if there is a mandatory curriculum that must be followed), policies, etc.

The form answers the question how. The form of peace education includes pedagogy, but is also more than just the teaching methods used. It also includes the student-teacher relationship and communication style (Please see the section on Paulo Freire for more on student-teacher dynamics).

According to Haavelsrud (1996), there is a dialectical relationship between the form and content, in which the "form determines the content and the content determines the form" (p. 39). Haavelsrud further points out that this relationship is particularly important in peace education because the content is not always known, but is rather produced through the process of education (1996).

Form, content and structure should be considered in each educational intervention. Here, we will focus on the form, or pedagogy, of peace education.

Peace Education Pedagogy

Peace education pedagogy can be used in all subjects and areas of teaching. While different themes of peace education, such as human rights or multiculturalism, can be taught as subjects themselves, these themes can also be integrated into other subject areas (for example, integrating human rights lessons into a math or social science class). The pedagogy of peace education can be applied in any area, subject or discipline. 

The pedagogy used in peace education is inextricably linked to the content. For example, if the teacher stands in front of a classroom lecturing about peace, this would not be peace education, as oppressive, banking-style methods are being used. Paulo Freire, the Brazilian pedagogue and educator who wrote about the banking system, has been highly influential in the development of peace education pedagogy.

Key Pedagogical Principles of Peace Education

Dr. Virginia Cawagas (2007) has identified four key pedagogical principles in peace education:

1. Holism: demostrating that all issues are interrelated, multidimensional, and dynamic. Holism is in contrast to the fragmented way that issues are sometimes taught. A holistic vision allows us to see the complex relationships of different issues. A holistic vision involves looking at the temporal (past, present, future, and how they interrelate) and spatial dimensions (from micro to macro, and across sectors of society) of an issue.

2. Values formation: Cawagas writes, "Realizing that all knowledge is never free of values, educating for a culture of peace needs to be explicit about its preferred values such as compassion, justice, equity, gender- fairness, caring for life, sharing, reconciliation, integrity, hope and non-violence" (p. 302). Peace education involves teaching for these values in all educational interventions.

3. Dialogue: According to Cawagas, "a dialogical approach cultivates a more horizontal teacher-learner relationship in which both dialogically educate and learn from each other" (p. 303). Dialogue is a key component of peace education pedagogy. In addition to class discussion, Cawagas suggests the following tools for dialogic pedagogy:

• guest speakers - example: invite street children to a class to talk about their lives
• web charting - make a web chart using a theme (in a circle in the center), and sub-themes connected to the center, and draw connections
• role-play - example: have students act out a cross-cultural conflict
• simulation - example: simulate a small arms convention for a lesson on disarmament; have students play different roles, such as arms dealer, arms buyer, protester, etc.
• singing
• painting
• poetry
• small group discussion

4. Critical empowerment: Cawagas writes that "in critical empowerment, learners engage in a personal struggle to develop a critical consciousness that actively seeks to transform the realities of a culture of war and violence into a culture of peace and non-violence" (p. 304). Thus, through critical empowerment, learners develop a deeper understanding of problems, and are also empowered to take action to solve these problems. Critical empowerment also requires an understanding of power; in a system of inequitable power relations, empowerment involves reconstructing this system to one of more equitable, horizontal relations. 

In the section on Teaching and Learning Approaches, we will explore examples of different types of peace education pedagogy.

COMMUNICATION - insert section here on how teachers communicate with their students, and on peaceful communication

Maybe questions section here too?
 

Questions for Comprehension and Reflection 

• Describe the content, form and structure of your teaching setting.
• What are the key pedagogical principles of peace education? 
• How can you use peace education pedagogy even when not directly using peace education content?
• How can you integrate peace education pedagogy into all of your teaching? Is there anytime when it would not be appropriate or useful?  

References

Cawagas, V. (2007).

Haavelsrud, Mangus. 1996. Education in Developments. Tromso: Arena.