4.2 Peace Education as Transformative Practice

Lesson Objectives

At the end of this section, the participants will:

• Be able to define transformative learning
• Be able to discuss the importance of transformative learning in peace education
• Understand how to implement transformative practice in the classroom

Guiding Questions 

As you read this section, consider the following questions:

• Why is peace education a transformative practice?
• In what ways does our society need to transform? How can individual transformation lead to societal transformation?
• Is education always transformative? If so, how so? If not, why not? 

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

- Mahatma Gandhi

Introduction

The essence of peace education is transformation – of the educator, the student, and, ultimately, society. The total transformation of society and the economic and social order is integral to peace, as our current economic and social order is rife with physical and structural violence (Turay and English, 2008). Creating a culture of peace requires a fundamental change in knowledge, attitudes, behavior, and worldview, which enables the learners to take action for a more peaceful world. Peace education thus seeks to play a role in this societal transformation. 

Transformative Learning

According to leading theorist Jack Mezirow (1997), transformative learning occurs when individuals change their frames of reference by critically reflecting on their assumptions and beliefs and consciously implementing plans that bring about new ways of defining their worlds. This can happen through critical thinking, which teachers can encourage through dialogue and questioning, and through more creative, emotional processes such as artistic activities. There is no single mode of transformative learning, and as different students learn best in different ways, it is best for teachers to use varied approaches to encourage perspective transformation.

Transformative learning is absolutely critical to the process of peace education. If we consider peace education as a practice for transforming society from a culture of war to a culture of peace, then it is implicit that our current worldview is embedded in the culture of war. Our knowledge, behaviors, and actions are influenced by this worldview, and must change in order to shift towards a culture of peace. Therefore, transformative learning is a necessary part of peace education.

Transformative learning is important for all involved, including teachers, for teachers need to internalize these concepts themselves in order to be able to effectively convey them to their students. To paraphrase the famous quote from Gandhi, we must be the change that we want to see in the world, and therefore, teachers must be the change that they want to see in their students.

The studies and research on peace education do not often concentrate on transformation (Turay and English, 2008). However, this element is important, as peace education “has been implicitly linked to transforming worldviews and to conscientization, which is expressly transformative and socially related” (Turay and English, 2008: 289). Thus, the transformative element in peace education deserves explicit attention and recognition (see section 3.3 on Paulo Freire for more on conscientization). 

Transformative Model of Peace Education

Turay and English (2008) proposed a new Transformative Model of Peace Education (TMPE), which includes five elements: Diversity, Participatory Learning, Globalized Perspectives, Indigenous Knowing and Spiritual Underpinnings.

Five Elements 

Diversity

According to Turay and English, an effective model of peace education celebrates diversity and difference, and at the same time, acknowledges that core values such as respect, honor, and dialogue are universal. By engaging participants in a critical self-reflective process, the diversity element seeks to transform their worldviews about what constitutes diversity and what constitutes peace.

Participatory Learning

The guiding principle of participatory learning is that learners know what they need to learn and how they need to learn it. It is a process that includes the transformation of both the educator and the learners, and values the lived experience of all participants. Through the participatory learning process, community members name the problem, analyze its root causes, view the issue from a variety of perspectives, strategize options for addressing the root causes, and only then move to solutions.

Figure 2: Transformative Model of Peace Education.

Globalized Perspectives

Incorporating globalized perspectives requires the teacher and learners to ”negotiate the tension between the global and the local and to stress the larger sociocultural and economic sphere of which the participants are a part” (p. 295). The teacher should promote the ability to work across cultures, as well as the ability to see the linkages between immediate and so-called removed circumstances. An example of this is exploring how mass consumerism and gross consumption of oil contribute to conflicts.

Indigenous Knowing

The indigenous knowing aspect of the model demands that the model be contextualized to the location where it is enacted. One important aspect is acknowledging that participants may have fluency in indigenous languages and ways of life that are not considered in many international standards of literacy. The transformative model, therefore, must be contextualized in the participants’ location. 

Spiritual Underpinnings

In this context, spirituality is the search for meaning in life. Many people have religious and spiritual beliefs and values that are central to how they deal with conflict, and we need to acknowledge and incorporate these ideas into how we educate for peace. Furthermore, peace, like spirituality, should be a thread that runs across the whole of education – classroom, recreation, and one-on-one interactions.

Implementing the Transformative Model of Peace Education

The following are the key principles for implementing the Transformative Model of Peace Education (Turay and English, 2008):

Phase 1: Beginning with the participants

Assume that learners have knowledge and experience, and that their local context is a teaching tool that must be integrated into the educational experience. 

Phase 2: Movement to emphasis on family and peace

Peace educators gradually guide students from the personal to the family, local community, national, and global levels.

Phase 3: Movement to focus on the community or organizational perspective

Define community, which can be a source of difficulty for some participants.

Phase 4: Movement to the global sphere

Explore the connections from the global to the personal and vice versa. 

The Transformative Model for Peace Education is thus a practical model for peace education as transformative practice, and can be used as a framework to guide classroom learning.

Transformative Practice For Peace Educators 

Effective peace educators understand that they themselves must begin the process of transformation in their own lives before engaging their students in this practice. Peace educators should develop a regular practice of personal reflection, and must employ critical thinking in their own lives in order to help students develop critical thinking skills. It is important to note that this transformation is a long-term process and need not happen overnight. Peace educators should constantly be seeking transformation, constantly questioning their personal assumptions and beliefs, and encourage their students to do the same.

The pedagogies used for peace education must therefore be pedagogies that promote transformation through critical thinking, reflection and action. Paolo Freire was influential in the development of peace education pedagogy, advocating for dialogue and critical reflection as tools for transformation. As noted above, transformative learning can occur on a more cognitive, rational level, or more artistic, emotional level, and thus pedagogies incorporating both modes of learning should be applied. 

Questions for Comprehension and Reflection

1. What is transformative learning and why is it important to peace education?
2. How can you bring transformative methods into your classroom? How would this transform the curriculum and impact the students? Be specific.
3. Critical self-awareness is an important part of transformative learning. What practices can you develop (such as journaling, teacher discussion group, etc.) that can support you in developing critical self-awareness? What can you do on a regular basis, even every day, to build your critical self-awareness? 

References

Mezirow, J. (1997). Transformative Learning: Theory to Practice. In P. Cranton (Ed.)       Transformative Learning In Action: Insights from Practice. New Directions for Adult       and Continuing Education. No. 74.San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. p. 41-50.

O'Sullivan, E. (1999). Transformative Learning: Educational Vision for the 21st Century. New York: St Martin's Press.

Turay, M. and English, L. M. 2008. Toward a Global Culture of Peace: A Transformative Model of Peace Education. Journal of Transformative Education, 2(286).

Retrieved from http://jtd.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/6/4/286?rss=1