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Peace Education Resources

A great deal of exciting educational reform and just generally good teaching falls under the heading of Peace Education. According to one international authority on this, “Peace education is a participatory holistic process that includes teaching for and about democracy and human rights, nonviolence, social and economic justice, gender equality, environmental sustainability, disarmament, traditional peace practices, international law, and human security” (Hague Appeal for Peace, 2005)

Conflict Resolution Education is typically understood to focus on the local/domestic level while the focus of Peace Education is generally more global in perspective. Peace Education also “has a stronger emphasis on social justice orientations and larger systemic issues of violence than conflict education programs” (Jones, 2004).

A portion of the growing collection of free Peace Education print resources found in our catalog is displayed at the bottom of this page. You can also choose to directly browse the full list of items categorized under peace education in our catalog. Other especially relevant materials include

all of which are hosted by our site. Lots of good content!

If you are interested in a broader bibliography of Peace Education readings, check out this Peace Education resource collection from Ian Harris and Mary Lee Morrison.

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Sample Catalog Resources

Below you'll find a randomized listing of up to 20 related items (we may have more...) drawn from our Resource Catalog.

Resource Title Description Links
Peace education in UNICEF: Working paper 52-page PDF paper "produced to describe Peace Education programmes in UNICEF. Peace education programmes have been developed in a number of UNICEF country offices and National Committees for UNICEF over the past decade. Ideas are continually evolving about how to use the full range of children's educational experiences to promote commitment to principles of peace and social justice. The purpose of this working paper is to stimulate further discussion and networking among UNICEF colleagues, to move towards a clearer articulation of good practice in Peace Education, and to pave the way for further exploration of how best to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of this area of UNICEF activity."
Practicing peace: A peace education module for standards 4 through 6 in Solomon Islands 87-page word document which presents peace education for the Solomon Islands context. "The primary method used in peace education is generally referred to as a "facilitated" or "interactive" model of teaching. In this method, the teacher becomes a facilitator of learning and a co-learner with the students. Students and teachers use experiential strategies to practice skills for peace. There is a shift in the value placed on being a teacher. Using the facilitated processes of conflict resolution and peace education, teachers and students learn together and teach each other." Covered areas include: Interpersonal skills; Understanding and accepting differences; Children's rights; Building community and Mediation.
Peace Education for Youth: A Toolkit for Advocacy and Planning In 2022, the Global Campaign for Peace Education identified a concerning gap between youth’s desire for peace education and its implementation in their schools and communities. To mitigate this, the Global Campaign Youth Research Team developed ‘Peace Education for Youth: A Toolkit for Advocacy and Planning’ to support students across the world in advocating for the integration of peace education opportunities in their schools, universities, and communities. This 35-page "living" toolkit was designed to provide information on what peace education is, how it might be practically implemented, and how to advocate for it in various contexts.
Exploring Humanitarian Law Curriculum Package Exploring Humanitarian Law (EHL) is an adaptable toolkit that gives educators easy-to-use materials to expose students to issues of international humanitarian law, the rules that ensure respect for life and human dignity in war. The toolkit offers educators primary source materials and strategies that reinforce and enrich existing curricula and educational programs. The full curriculum is available for download as a 360+ page pdf. Humanitarian law is a body of international law that aims to protect human dignity during armed conflict and to prevent or reduce the suffering and destruction that results from war. All nations are party to the Geneva Conventions, and therefore have a legal obligation to encourage the study of humanitarian law as widely as possible. These laws, together with the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, should be viewed as an integral part of today's basic education. Aligned with social studies requirements around the country, Exploring Humanitarian Law offers educators activities that can be used as a whole or mixed and matched into current lessons. High-quality materials, including news accounts, photos, letters, videos, case studies and interactive projects bring real events and people to life, helping teachers connect lessons of the past with events of today.
Community-Based Institutes on Peace Education (CIPE) organizer's manual: A peace education planning 78-page pdf manual "designed to assist formal, non-formal and grass-roots educators and educational planners by providing ideas and tools for the development of community-based peace education learning projects that might contribute to the reduction of violence at all levels of the global social order. More specifically, it has been developed to aid in the planning of "Community-Based Institutes on Peace Education (CIPE)," a special community-centered initiative of the International Institute on Peace Education (IIPE) ... As you explore the contents you will see that this manual is arranged like a workbook. It is organized around inquiries into practical considerations for designing peace education initiatives in multiple and varying contexts. These inquiries are designed to engage you - the educator/planner - in reflections upon your own unique situation and possibilities for affecting change through education."
Peace education: A pathway to a culture of peace 178-page pdf document which "helps the educator, whether in formal or non formal settings, to understand that peace is a holistic concept and state of being and that it can not be learned in the traditional lecture-note taking-testing framework. Indeed, peace education can be integrated into many disciplines. The culture of peace must replace the culture of violence if we and our home, planet Earth, are to survive ... teaching the value of tolerance, understanding and respect for diversity among the school children could be introduced through exposing them to various countries of the world, their geography, history, and culture. At the appropriate levels, curricula must include human rights, the rules governing international law, the United Nations Charter, the goals of our global organization, disarmament, sustainable development and other peace issues. The participation of young people in this process is very essential. Their inputs in terms of their own ideas on how to cooperate with each other in order to eliminate violence in our societies must be fully taken into account. In addition to expanding the capacity of the students to understand the issues, peace education aims particularly at empowering the students, suited to their individual levels, to become agents of peace and nonviolence in their own lives as well as in their interaction with others in every sphere of their existence ... We have organized the book into three sections. Part I presents chapters that are meant to help us develop a holistic understanding of peace and peace education. Part II discusses the key themes in peace education. Each chapter starts with a conceptual essay on a theme and is followed by some practical teaching-learning ideas that can either be used in a class or adapted to a community setting. Part III focuses on the peaceable learning climate and the educator, the agent who facilitates the planting and nurturing of the seeds of peace in the learning environment. Finally, the whole school approach is introduced to suggest the need for institutional transformation and the need to move beyond the school towards engagement with other stakeholders in the larger society."
Food, education, and peacebuilding: Children's learning services in Sierra Leone Second online chapter from "Education That Makes a Difference: Success Stories for Conflict Resolution Educators," dealing with the Children's Learning Services established in Sierre Leone. Since 2001 CLS has mobilized volunteers and practitioners in peacebuilding, quality basic education, and nutrition security in and out of school. Original Source: Chapter 11 from People Building Peace II: Successful Stories Of Civil Society (Project of the European Centre for Conflict Prevention) by Paul Van Tongeren, Malin Brenk, Marte Hellema, and Juliette Verhoeven (Eds), Lynne Rienner Publishers (2005)
Inter-agency P.E.P.: Skills for constructive living: Teacher activity book 361-page pdf manual which "is one of the components of the Inter-Agency Peace Education Programme, the programme is designed for education managers of ministries dealing with both formal and non-formal education and for agencies which implement education activities on behalf of the government ... the teacher's main resource it has a lesson-by-lesson curriculum for formal schooling structured according to the children's cognitive and emotional development."
Peace and conflict resolution education at schools of Shirak Region (Armenia): Final report Report presents the experience stored up in Armenia in the field of peace education, gained successes, educational course developed by the authors, opinions of the beneficiaries and policy makers in the area of education to integrate the training course into school curriculum, future strategy, etc. Report was developed for the First UNESCO/EURED In-Service Teacher Training Course "Human Rights and Peace Education in Europe" 2004-2006. Authors are members of Women for Development NGO. Includes bibliography.
Strategies for teaching peace and CR in U.S. undergraduate environments 22-slide Powerpoint presentation given at the Sustaining Conflict Resolution Education: Building Bridges to the Future conference in Fairfax, VA, which "provides an overview of approaches that undergraduate institutions are using to teach about peace and conflict resolution, all forms of undergraduate education will be considered including liberal arts institutions, religious affiliated schools, state universities and community colleges."
Opening the door to nonviolence: Peace education manual for primary school children Electronic version of the second edition of a teacher's guide for teaching peace education to primary school students. "Part I is designed as a training in affirmation, cooperation and communication. Part II deals with the healing of trauma; Part III is about bias and prejudices. Part IV introduces peaceful problem solving and nonviolent conflict resolving and Part V is about peaceful living. There are 20 chapters/sessions in the book, each session developed through step-by-step activities."
A Social Justice Lens: A Teaching Resource Guide This 12-page guide provides a lens that applies social justice and critical theory to all aspects of an educators professional life. The tool provides a framework for unions and schools to help guide policy, plan actions, and evaluate resources for social change. Social justice theory focuses on equity for all and critical theory requires action and systemic change. These two concepts form the basis of the British Columbia Teachers Federation social justice lens. The lens has four distinct interconnecting filters -- access, agency, advocacy, and solidarity action. Each represents an aspect of social justice work, and, while we may focus on one filter at a time, the true potential of these filters lies in engaging with all four simultaneously. Participatory democracy, civil society, transformative practice, and systemic change found on the rotating outer ring of the lens are necessary to achieve the ultimate goal of equity found at the centre of the lens.
Empowering students for just societies: a handbook for primary school teachers
Pioneer Peace Pack This resource collection includes information and activities for groups of 10 - 12 year olds who are participating in the U.K.-based outdoor education group known as the Woodcraft Folk. The resource includes instructor overviews and associated handouts and reading materials for activities focused on the following themes: Bullying, Conflict Resolution, War Toys, War Detectives, Child Soldiers and Positive About Peace. The Conflict Resolution module alone includes 6 separate activities. The Woodcraft Folk group describes their goals as follows: "Our aim is to have great fun, but also to try and develop children’s self-confidence and build their awareness of society around them. Through our activities, outings and camps we help our members understand important issues like the environment, world debt and global conflict and, in recent years, we have focused on sustainable development. By encouraging children to think, we hope they will help build a peaceful, fairer world."
Learning to live together: Building skills, values and attitudes for the 21st Century 167-page pdf study which, "represents an attempt to interpret the aim of ‘learning to live together’ as a synthesis of many related goals, such as education for peace, human rights, citizenship and health-preserving behaviours. It focuses specifically on the skills, values, attitudes and concepts needed for learning to live together, rather than on ‘knowledge’ objectives. The aim of the study is to discover ‘what works’ in terms of helping students learn to become politely assertive rather than violent, to understand conflict and its prevention, to become mediators, to respect human rights, to become active and responsible members of their communities—as local, national and global citizens, to have balanced relationships with others and neither to coerce others nor be coerced, especially into risky health behaviours ... The recommendation emerging from the study for national policy-makers and curriculum specialists is that a core national team of educators committed to the goals of peace-building, human rights, active citizenship and preventive health should be created, in order to put together and pilot test materials and methodologies related to these goals."
Eight Ways to Celebrate the International Day of Peace with Your Family A 3-page pdf prepared by PeaceFirst providing creative and fun ways for families to celebrate the International Day of Peace. Provides links to materials in the PeaceFirst Digital Activity Center.
Youth and Conflict: Best Practices and Lessons Learned Mercy Corps, as an international NGO focused on "saving and improving lives in the world's toughest places" believes youth are a force for positive change -- the generation that can help transition their countries into productive and secure nations. However, youth are the primary participants in conflict today. The reasons they participate in conflict are multi-dimensional - they lack economic opportunities, political voice and a sense of belonging or connection to their communities. Often the only way young people can imagine changing their predicament is through violence. In Mercy Corps programs the focus is on catalyzing youth's desire for change into positive outlets. This 11-page pdf publication is a sample of Youth and Conflict Best Practices and Lessons Learned drawn from Mercy Corps' programs, other agencies, donors, think tanks and researchers. It is divided into six sections: * General Program Design and Implementation. This section includes advice on training, as it is a central part of many of our youth programs. * Economic Engagement * Political Participation * Youth-to-Community Connections * Youth-to-Youth Connections * Addendum: Lessons from Our Colleagues
Peace education and conflict resolution: Handbook for school-based projects 44-page pdf "handbook about project-work on peace education and conflict resolution in schools is based on the experiences of the International School Network: Peace Education and Conflict Resolution from 1994 - 1998. The aims of the Network were to create an international community of researchers, to learn skills of conflict analysis and conflict resolution, to learn research skills, to co-operate across cultures to resolve conflicts, to gain insight into different possibilities for conflict resolution in different settings and cultures and to make a contribution to the theory and practice of conflict resolution." Includes resource list.
Nonviolence History Coloring Pages
Induction pack for tutors of citizenship education: Global conflict 29-page pdf packet to help trainees "understand the nature of global conflict, understand how issues of global conflict relate to citizenship and use issues of global conflict in their teaching in secondary schools." Includes bibliography.