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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
July 19, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| June 22, 2004 |
Peace Education – Leah Wells |
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| Young educator Leah Wells, using experience, creativity and common sense to change the dominant system of factory education |
If we wish the world to be a "peace-building, peace-affirming, peace-loving place," then education must shift its focus toward teaching students ways to achieve non-violence, create positive social change and take responsibility for themselves and others, advocates Leah Wells, a practitioner of peace education.
Schools have become a microcosm of today's global society, and though once a safe haven from the troubles outside the classroom, they are now zones for violence ranging from interpersonal conflicts to school shootings and the presence of military recruiters. According to Leah, peace teaching programmes conducted everywhere from schools to juvenile prisons to community classes across the United States seek to engage students in active learning about non-violent solutions to conflicts, as well as highlight successful peacemakers in history.
Teaching peace education is not restricted to a specific methodology or practice. As well as specific peace education classes, the philosophy underpinning peace education can also be mainstreamed into the general curriculum.
For example, science teachers can promote environmental awareness and ecological thinking, and foreign language teachers can use target language resources that feature personal, local, national and global peacemaking efforts. Every subject in the curriculum has a possible space for peace education.
But convincing schools and education authorities about the value and importance of peace education is not easy, confesses Leah. Before reclaiming the "wonderment and exploration" spaces that classrooms used to be, much of the current education methods must be rethought. Without personal peace during the school day, students cannot be expected to be inspired to create external peace when the bell rings to go home. |
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| Participants in a workshop called 'Ideal Schools', imagining what a school that fosters much more than just memorization, recitation and frustration among students would look like |
Formal education often denies students the time to engage in their own emotions, and the uniform measuring of ability by testing and grading does not recognize their different talents and abilities. Leah argues that it is these "regimented learning environments," that lead to the disempowerment and helplessness of students. "By the time students leave school, many cannot trust anyone, least of all themselves."
Emphasizing critical thinking, self-inquiry, relationship building and mindfulness, in and out of the school setting, peace education advocates, "the teaching of ways of behaving that enhance the self-worth of every member of society." It is vital that educators understand learning does not end at the classroom door, and that the whole well-being of the student is considered when creating environments for nurturing our children. Dynamic teaching of peace education connects students with their place in the world, inspiring them to give something back to the communities that raised them.
While onboard Peace Boat, Leah conducted several workshops in the practical application of peace education, working with participants in exercises that take a creative approach to education reform, develop the ability to recognize multiple viewpoints, build analytical problem solving skills and the ability to empathize with another party if in disagreement.
To give future generations a chance of inheriting a peaceful world tomorrow, we must teach the knowledge to achieve this today. Martin Luther King said, "The choice is not between non-violence and violence, but between non-violence and non-existence."
For more information on the Peace Education efforts of Leah Wells visit – www.peaceed.org
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