What Is Peace Education And Its Importance?

22.04.2023 Grady A. Lowry 0 Comments

The importance of peace education | à propos What is peace education? Fundamentally, peace education aims to counter a culture of war by promoting a culture of peace. It challenges the assumption that violence is innate to the human condition and seeks to equip students with the capacity to resolve conflict without violence.

Peace education aspires to enable students to become responsible citizens who are open to differences, capable of empathy and solidarity, both within and across borders and social groups, and who can deconstruct the foundations of violence and take action to advance the prospects of peace.
Peace education includes a wide range of approaches.

Some focus on promoting individual and interpersonal skills such as emotional awareness, anger management, empathy, cooperation, and kindness. Others focus on the social, cultural, and political aspects of peace, including environmental education, human rights education, development education, cross-cultural studies, and social justice.

Schools as sites of violence Formal school settings are often sites of violence – including direct, cultural, and structural violence – and there is some doubt that schools provide an enabling environment in which the aims of peace education can take root.
However, formal schools help to shape social and cultural values, norms, and attitudes.

Education can support children and young people in building positive relationships and creating safe learning environments where children thrive. Moreover, according to published data and studies, peace education interventions have been proven to result in improved attitudes and cooperation and decreased violence and dropout rates.

Given the importance of schools in the lives of children and young adults and the need for concerted efforts to work within educational environments to develop cultures of peace, there is a strong case for advancing the understanding and practice of peace education in formal schools and to highlight the crucial role schools can play in furthering the aims of peace. How can peace education be mainstreamed? International Alert’s research suggests to effectively advance peace education in schools, where we must promote healthy relationships and a peaceful school culture; address issues of structural and cultural violence; take account of the way education is delivered and packaged, not just the content of the curriculum; combine peace education approaches that are focused on individual transformation and interpersonal relationships with wider socio-political outcomes; connect efforts to advance a culture of peace within schools to wider community initiatives and policy-making.

Mainstreaming peace education is neither linear nor straightforward. Formal schools cannot be radically changed overnight. But we can aim and find the space to create change in existing systems and where we can do complimentary work. : The importance of peace education | à propos
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Contents

1 What is the meaning of peace education?
2 What are the three main purposes of peace education?
3 What are the two types of peace education?
- 3.1 What are the two major objectives of peace education?
4 What are the advantages of peace education?
5 What are the 4 components of peace?
6 What are the 5 types of peace?
- 6.1 What is taught in peace education?
- 6.2 What is the key element of peace education?
7 What are the 4 components of peace?
8 What do you teach in peace education?
9 What is the meaning of peace?

What is the meaning of peace education?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Peace education is the process of acquiring values, knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behaviors to live in harmony with oneself, others, and the natural environment, There are numerous United Nations declarations and resolutions on the importance of peace.

Ban Ki Moon, U.N.
Secretary General, dedicated the International Day of Peace 2013 to peace education in an effort to focus minds and financing on the preeminence of peace education as the means to bring about a culture of peace,
Oichiro Matsuura, the immediate past Director-General of UNESCO, has written that peace education is of “fundamental importance to the mission of UNESCO and the United Nations”.

Peace education as a right is increasingly emphasized by peace researchers such as Betty Reardon and Douglas Roche, There has also been a recent meshing of peace education and human rights education,
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What are the three main purposes of peace education?

Peace Education: Importance Strategies for achieving peace fall under three basic categories: peacekeeping, peacemaking, and peacebuilding.
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What is the importance of peace?

Peace is the path we take for bringing growth and prosperity to society. If we do not have peace and harmony, achieving political strength, economic stability and cultural growth will be impossible. Moreover, before we transmit the notion of peace to others, it is vital for us to possess peace within.
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What are the importance of peace studies in the society?

Why Peace Studies? // Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies // University of Notre Dame

provides undergraduates with the opportunity to envision the world as it ought to be, rather than simply how it is. Peace studies equips students with the knowledge to understand the causes of violent conflict, develop nonviolent ways of addressing violence, and build peaceful, just societies. Peace studies links with and challenges students to develop new and better ways of both thinking and acting. Peace studies deepens critical thinking and provides a useful framework for analyzing and understanding current events, global issues, and policy decisions. It gives students an additional perspective that sets them apart within the next generation of global leaders. Peace studies is an interdisciplinary program. It allows students to explore important topics and questions from a variety of academic perspectives that supplement the disciplinary training they gain from their major. Peace studies empowers students to combine their multiple intellectual interests with their personal ideals. They can shape their time at Notre Dame into a meaningful experience that prepares them for the work of building a better world.

: Why Peace Studies? // Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies // University of Notre Dame
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What is an example of peace education?

Practices in Peace Education – Peace education is generally understood as encompassing two dimensions of practice, characterized by Reardon (2000) as “education about peace” and “education for peace.” Education about peace refers to education primarily concerned with the acquiring of knowledge about violence and peace.

This may include teaching about the negative effects of war and violence, or about the history and possibility of nonviolent alternatives, for example. Education for peace refers to education which focuses on learning the skills necessary for living peacefully and promoting action to create peaceful alternatives.

This may include developing skills for constructive conflict resolution, intercultural communication, or nurturing orientations of respect, equity, and democratic participation, for example. This latter dimension highlights the importance of achieving coherence between the aims and modes of pedagogical practice.

The combined attention to content and method are central to peace education. Scholars have underscored the influence of progressive and critical pedagogies within peace education practice ( Hantzopoulos and Bajaj, 2021 ; Bajaj, 2008 ). They highlight the influence of education theorists such as John Dewey in the United States, Maria Montessori in Italy, and Paulo Freire in Brazil.

These pedagogical theorists emphasized the union between purpose and process in education. They proposed and put into practice experiential, student-centered, and dialogic pedagogies to create democratic, inclusive, and autonomous learning processes that promote values of collaboration, independent thinking, democracy, and internationalism.

For example, Dewey encouraged pedagogic approaches that emphasized learning through doing, where students and educators reflect on context, build connections, and carry out collaborative problem-solving. Such pedagogy replaces hierarchical processes based on rote memorization with experiential learning that blends theory, reflection, and practice in ways that embody democratic interactions.

Similarly, Montessori emphasized the education of the “whole child” and the integration of learning processes. She advocated for classroom environments that are student-led, where students can learn at their own pace and through interaction with others.

She believed this would help to foster autonomous thinking and build skills for cooperative relationships, thus contributing to a more peaceful world.
Finally, Freire’s work examined the ways that traditional modes of education denied the agency of learners and served the interests of the status quo.

He advocated for dialogic approaches where the student and teacher come together to coconstruct knowledge through reflection on real-world problems and the recognition that no knowledge is neutral. Peace education evokes such forms of pedagogical practice wherein the student is viewed as an agent of his/her own learning, relational dynamics mirror the respect of human dignity, and learning is collaborative and oriented toward analysis of the world, its injustices, and the many possible alternatives.

In this sense, peace education practice is future-oriented and looks to foster transformative agency.
The implementation of peace education has emerged in two broad arenas: formal education (including primary, secondary, and higher education) and nonformal education (including extracurricular programs, community-based initiatives, among others).

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In each of these, a wide range of practical approaches have been implemented. Some examples include: • Social emotional learning (SEL) : SEL emphasizes the importance of social and emotional development. It includes the nurturing of self-awareness, emotional management, social awareness, and decision-making.

SEL programming allows young people to acquire pro-social skills, while teachers and school leaders model and support positive and caring behaviors and inclusive pedagogical strategies that bring children’s voices into the classroom and school.
Conflict resolution education (CRE) : CRE programs offer skills training to support participants to engage constructively in conflicts that occur in their everyday lives.

This has included skills workshops, peer mediation programs, creative controversy and cooperative learning methods, and restorative justice approaches. They also encompass efforts to build school climates that promote constructive engagement of conflict.

Problem-based, transformational approaches: These approaches encourage students to examine specific social problems affecting their community and develop ways to address and transform them.
Practices center on supporting the development of capacities for critical and complex analyses, while also fostering transformative agency, often by supporting the development of specific skills as relevant to the specific issues (for example, supporting students to design and implement community-based change initiatives).

• Human rights education: HRE, a field of its own, encompasses education geared toward fostering human rights knowledge, skills, and values. This includes teaching about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent international treaties, as well as building awareness and skills to exercise and respect human rights and human dignity.

Encounter and integration approaches : In settings marked by histories of intercommunal violence, peace education initiatives have worked on bridging divides through peer-exchange programs, integrated schooling, and dual narrative textbooks, which contrast divergent versions of history.
Based on the contact hypothesis, these methods aim to build intergroup understanding.

• Memory and transitional justice pedagogies : A range of educational efforts in peace education are geared toward supporting students to understand the legacies of history and reflect and experience processes of accountability and reconciliation. This includes attention to how collective history informs current realities.

Intercultural and antiracist education: A broad area of practice in peace education addresses the ongoing dynamics of racism and discrimination in communities across the world. Examples of this include efforts to foster critical analysis of systemic racism, reflexivity to uncover and transform internalized racism, and cross-cultural dialogue and understanding.

• Safe schools and cooperative school climate : Another area of practice within peace education focuses on diminishing school violence and building a school climate centered on cooperation and well-being. These approaches blend efforts to integrate peace education curriculum, peer mediation, restorative justice, and other practices to schools in order to foster a positive and cooperative relational climate.

These are a few examples of peace education approaches. They do not capture the full range of peace education practice, yet offer some insights into the multitude of ways that peace education has been implemented. It is also important to note that these approaches are not mutually exclusive, and they are often put into practice concurrently.

Read full chapter URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128201954001722
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What are the two types of peace education?

According to Harris (2004), peace education is divided into five categories: international education, development education, environmental education, human rights education, and conflict resolution education.
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What are the two major objectives of peace education?

The objectives of peace education include: (1) appropriating intellectual and emotional development of the individuals ; (2) developing a sense of social responsibility and solidarity; (3) observing the principles of equality and fraternity towards all; (4) enabling the individual to acquire a critical understanding of
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What are the advantages of peace education?

Conclusion – Education is the best way to earn a living and live a satisfactory life. However, it also has another motive. Peace education goes beyond the concept of making a living. It teaches the students how to maintain harmony and peace in the world and have critical and logical thinking.
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What is the key element of peace education?

Peace Education Discrepancies: Individual, Group Conflict – In the active process of achieving positive peace, peace education is faced with a few basic discrepancies: discrepancy between the individual and the group, discrepancy between groups within one society or from different societies, and the discrepancy of conflict as an imbalance of different interests that need to be resolved without violence.

Discrepancies between individual and group. The modern liberal theory puts the individual’s equality, values, and rights in the center of a successfully functioning society. This basic thesis is the beginning of the philosophy and practical protection of human rights. From the individual psychological point of view one thinks in terms of educating a complete person.

In the educational system this does not mean transmitting only the facts, but it includes the complete social, emotional, and moral development of an individual; the development of a positive self-concept and positive self-esteem; and the acquisition of knowledge and skills to accept responsibility for one’s own benefit as well as for the benefit of society.

The development of a positive self-concept is the foundation for the development of sympathy for others and building trust, as well as the foundation for developing awareness of interconnectedness with others.
In that sense a social individual is a starting point and a final target of peace education efforts.

Discrepancies between groups. People are by nature social beings, fulfilling their needs within society. Many social psychologists believe that there is a basic tendency in people to evaluate groups they belong to as more valuable than groups they do not belong to.

This ingroup bias is the foundation of stereotypes, negative feelings toward outgroups, prejudices, and, finally, discrimination.
In the psychological sense, the feeling of an individual that his or her group is discriminated against, or that he or she as an individual is discriminated against just for belonging to a particular group, leads to a sense of deep injustice and a desire to rectify the situation.

Injustice and discrimination do not shape only the psychological world of an individual but also shape the collective world of the group that is discriminated against–shaping the group memory that is transmitted from generation to generation and that greatly influences the collective identity.

Belonging to a minority group that is discriminated against could have a series of negative consequences on the psychological and social functioning of its members, for example, leading to lower academic achievement or negatively influencing the self-concept and self-esteem.
Therefore, peace education is dealing with key elements of individual and group identity formed by historical and cultural heritage, balancing the values of both of these, and trying to teach people how to enjoy their own rights without endangering the rights of others, and especially how to advocate for the rights of others when such rights are threatened.

This motivating element of defense and advocating for the rights of others is the foundation of shared responsibility for the process of building peace. Conflict and its role in peace education. Conflict is a part of life, and its nature is neither good nor bad.

On the interpersonal and intergroup level, conflict describes an imbalance or an existence of difference between the needs and interests of two sides. It becomes negative only when the answer to a conflict is aggression. It is possible, however, to resolve the difference positively, by recognizing the problem and recognizing one’s own needs and interests and also acknowledging the needs of the opposing sides.

In this way, constructive nonviolent conflict resolutions are possible. An important aspect of conflict is that it includes potential for change, and it is in this context that peace education addresses the issues of conflict and conflict resolution by teaching students how to take creative approaches to the conflict and how to find different possibilities for the conflict resolution.
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What are the two important elements of peace?

History – Croeseid coin of Croesus (c.550 BC), depicting the Lion and Bull – partly symbolizing alliance between Lydia and Greece, respectively. In ancient times and more recently, peaceful alliances between different nations were codified through royal marriages.

Two examples, Hermodike I (c.800 BC) and Hermodike II (c.600 BC) were Greek princesses from the house of Agamemnon who married kings from what is now Central Turkey.
The union of Phrygia / Lydia with Aeolian Greeks resulted in regional peace, which facilitated the transfer of ground-breaking technological skills into Ancient Greece; respectively, the phonetic written script and the minting of coinage (to use a token currency, where the value is guaranteed by the state).

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Both inventions were rapidly adopted by surrounding nations through further trade and cooperation and have been of fundamental benefit to the progress of civilization. Throughout history, victors have sometimes used ruthless measures to impose peace upon the vanquished.

In his book Agricola, the Roman historian Tacitus includes eloquent and vicious polemics against the rapacity and greed of Rome. One, that Tacitus says is by the Caledonian chieftain Calgacus, ends with: Auferre trucidare rapere falsis nominibus imperium, atque ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.

(To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace. — Oxford Revised Translation). Discussion of peace is therefore at the same time a discussion on its form. Is it simply the absence of mass organized killing (war), or does peace require a particular morality and justice? ( just peace ).

A simple silence of arms, absence of war.
Absence of war accompanied by particular requirements for the mutual settlement of relations, which are characterized by terms such as justice, mutual respect, respect for law and good will.

Since 1945, the United Nations and the United Nations Security Council have operated under the aim to resolve conflicts without war. Nonetheless, nations have entered numerous military conflicts since then.
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What is the importance of peace education for development?

This report explores what peace education in schools looks like, its potential impact and how it might be realised in practice. The research involved a literature review exploring the purpose, theory and practice of peace education. This included case studies of peace education programmes delivered in formal schools within various conflict-affected contexts.

Ey issues and questions emerging from the review were then investigated through interviews with leading peace education academics and practitioners.
The report argues that there is a strong case for advancing the understanding and practice of peace education in formal schools and that schools can play a crucial role in furthering the aims of peace.

After all, formal schools not only provide knowledge and skills, but they also shape social and cultural values, norms, attitudes and dispositions. It has been proved that peace education interventions in schools result in improved attitudes and cooperation among pupils, and decreased violence and dropout rates.

promoting healthy relationships and a peaceful school cultureaddressing structural and cultural violence within schoolstaking account of the way education is delivered in the classroomconnecting peace education approaches focused on the individual as well as wider socio-political outcomesconnecting peace education within schools to wider community practices and non-formal actors, such as nongovernmental organisations and civil society organisationswhere possible having education policies and legislation that support peace education to achieve full integration into formal school settings

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What are the 4 components of peace?

Lecture Series February 14, 2013

Johan Galtung on Peace: Four Components

This lecture will focus on how peace concepts should be applicable across history, geography, and level of human organisation. It will explore the formula for peace and outline four tasks required in its creation—constructing equity, constructing harmony, reconciling past trauma, and resolving present conflict.

It will draw on Johan Galtung‘s experience in acting as a mediator in more than 150 conflicts the world over to demonstrate the working of this formula.
Some of the major historic and current conflicts will also be discussed along with methods for their possible resolutions.
Listen to or download lecture in audio format Introduction Lecture Discussion Johan Galtung is a distinguished Norwegian sociologist, mathematician, and the founding father of the discipline of peace and conflict studies.

He is also one of the most famous and influential thinkers—both in terms of the academic community as well as among practitioners. He is known for contributions to diverse fields such as mathematics, sociology, political science, economics, history, macro history, anthropology, and theology.

He is also associated with the concepts of structural violence and negative vs positive peace, among others. Professor Galtung founded the world’s first Peace Research Institute in Oslo (PRIO) in 1959, serving as its director until 1970 and also established the Journal of Peace Research in 1964. In 1969, he was appointed to the world’s first chair in peace and conflict studies at the University of Oslo.

He continues to hold professorships at various universities around the world. He is still active in publishing his pathbreakiing work and engaging in peacebuilding internationally. Professor Galtung has authored and edited more than 150 books and written over 1500 articles and book chapters.
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What are the 5 types of peace?

Addressing the audience on using religion for violence across the world, Karan said, “Wherever extremism exists in any community, religion, or caste, it is them which suffers the most from it”. The Preamble to the Constitution of UNESCO declares that ‘since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed’.

The world has already seen the worst bloodshed in the last century in the form of two world wars which perished a million lives. On the importance of bringing peace, Dr. Karan Singh, Member of Parliament delivered a keynote at the Gandhi Mandela Peace Initiative at New Delhi on July 11. The event was organised by Believe Foundation in partnership with RBG Foundation and Sunday Guardian Foundation.

While remembering the two stalwarts of peace, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, Singh shared his harmonious meetings with them. He further said, “There are great similarities between the two leaders and when Mandela got out of jail, it appeared like our leader Nehru or Gandhi has come out of the prison”.

Karan addressing the audience also highlighted that it was Mahatma Gandhi who inspired legends like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, etc., to raise voices against racism, xenophobia, and false prejudices. “Both Gandhi and Mandela had a tremendous impact throughout the world”, he further added. Further, Karan urged the need for five different peace in order to create a harmonious world.

According to Singh, they were, “World peace, regional peace or continental peace, internal peace within the country, social peace, and inner peace”. Showing concern on the growing violence across the world, Karan came up with a solution of creating an organisation which will thrive for escalating peace within societies, countries, and in the world.

“For this organisation people working for women rights, educational rights, social workers, NGOs have to come forward and work in a collaborative manner”. Addressing the audience on using religion for violence across the world, Karan said, “Wherever extremism exists in any community, religion, or caste, it is them which suffers the most from it”.

To substantiate his statement, he gave examples of African, Middle-eastern countries like Nigeria, Iran, Iraq, Syria, etc. Karan concluded his talk by urging the audience to have some inner life and not just skim over their lives and promoting equality between the two genders.
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What is taught in peace education?

January 2022 Blog By Ed Deroche Like you, I received a few “Peace on Earth” holiday cards and they reminded me of the blog I wrote in January 2015 on peace education, Another reminder was the fact that I just co-authored, Lessons for Creating a Culture of Character and Peace in Your Classroom: A Playbook for Teachers, (Information Age Publishing) with two peace-loving veteran teachers, CJ Moloney and Patricia McGinty.

I decided that a good way to start this New Year was to answer the question: What is Peace Education? “Peace” has been defined as a “state of being that encompasses harmony and balance of mind, heart, and action.” The objectives for character and peace education are to help students learn and practice such traits/skills as caring, empathy, compassion, responsibility, commitment, respect, courage, perseverance, trust, honesty, cooperation, integrity, kindness, tolerance, gratitude, diligence, justice, wisdom, self-discipline, and love.

Most Peace Education Programs encompass the virtues that underscore good character and citizenship. The program objectives are offered with the hope that they will help:

students learn alternatives to violence, and adults and students learn to create a school and home environment that is peaceful and conducive to nonviolent attitudes and behaviors; students learn skills including identifying bias, problem-solving, sharing and cooperation, shared decision-making, analysis and critical thinking; enhance students’ self-esteem enabling them to imagine life beyond the present; students to recognize and express their feelings in ways that are not aggressive or destructive by using conflict resolution strategies, being empathic, and engaging in nonviolent action in relation to problems both personal and societal; students understand the nature of violence, examine the causes of conflict, stress the benefits of non-violence, and how to handle conflict.

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Rhonda Jeffries and Ian Harris note that Peace Education Programs properly implemented in schools ” improve school climate, help students learn alternatives to violence, address the acts of violence in a student’s school and community, nurture the seeds of compassion rather than hatred, competition, and revenge, and helps create a school and home atmosphere that is peaceful and conducive to nonviolent attitudes and behaviors.” “Cooling the Climate Using Peace Education in an Urban Middle School,” Middle School Journal, November 1998 Many Peace Education strategie s, ” woven into the day-to-day fabric of school life,” are planned primarily through instructional methods such as:

cooperative learning, reflection circles, student leadership programs, case studies, storytelling, role-playing, peer mediation programs, journaling, using posters and bulletin board messages, using special teachable moments, and, creating ways of teaching character and peace in subject matter areas with units and lessons that incorporate peace themes.

To help you and others to implement a peace education program at your school, these questions should be discussed by all personnel (including parents and students):

What is a peaceable school? (Examples are out there for review and for ideas.) What are the concerns, if any, at the school? What does the group want to do and how will they do it? What resources will be needed; i.e., professional development? What strategies will be used to start the program? What happened after the plan was implemented? What changes need to be made after the first six months; at the end of the first year?

You should also know that The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) support the idea that ” teachers play an essential role in helping young people obtain the knowledge, skills, and perspectives to envision their role in creating a more peaceful world.” The Institute has a teacher award program that selects “six outstanding American middle and high school teachers each year to receive education, resources, and support to strengthen their teaching of international conflict and the possibilities of peace.
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What is the key element of peace education?

Political advocacy of nonviolent resolution of con- flict is a key element of peace education and you can just imagine the benefits that will be reaped when this becomes the dominant mindset and value in our country and in the world!
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What are the 4 components of peace?

Lecture Series February 14, 2013

Johan Galtung on Peace: Four Components

It will draw on Johan Galtung‘s experience in acting as a mediator in more than 150 conflicts the world over to demonstrate the working of this formula. Some of the major historic and current conflicts will also be discussed along with methods for their possible resolutions. * * * Listen to or download lecture in audio format Introduction Lecture Discussion Johan Galtung is a distinguished Norwegian sociologist, mathematician, and the founding father of the discipline of peace and conflict studies.

He is also associated with the concepts of structural violence and negative vs positive peace, among others.
Professor Galtung founded the world’s first Peace Research Institute in Oslo (PRIO) in 1959, serving as its director until 1970 and also established the Journal of Peace Research in 1964.
In 1969, he was appointed to the world’s first chair in peace and conflict studies at the University of Oslo.

What do you teach in peace education?

Most Peace Education Programs encompass the virtues that underscore good character and citizenship. The program objectives are offered with the hope that they will help:

To help you and others to implement a peace education program at your school, these questions should be discussed by all personnel (including parents and students):

What is the meaning of peace?

: a state of tranquility or quiet : such as. : freedom from civil disturbance.
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Grady A. Lowry