CR Education

Author: creadmin

Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Turn Spotlight on Need for Education of Children in Conflict

7 January 2009
creadmin
Categories: Global CRE
Tags: Requests for Assistance, Social Commentary

Here are a selection of quotes from Nobel Peace Prize winners speaking on the importance of education for peace. From a post at Save the Children.net.

“Education provided must be relevant and of high quality – and should teach students the skills of non-violent conflict resolution and help them develop a vision for a just and peaceful world, a world without war, a world where war has in fact become obsolete.”
Ingeborg Breines, Vice-President
Permanent International Peace Bureau, Nobel Peace Prize, 1910

Giving the children the opportunity to learn, write and rewrite their future with a leitmotif of peace calls for broad-based action – for the seeds of peace to grow in the minds of children, many hands have to plant water and nurture them.
Juan Somavia, Director-General
International Labour Organization, Nobel Peace Prize, 1969

Education is a virtue for many reasons, and is the ver y basis of human progress. It is also among the most powerful tools we have for building sturdy foundations of peace. I commend the invaluable efforts of UN partners such as Save the Children, and welcome efforts to “rewrite the future” and ensure that children and youth throughout the world receive the quality education that is their birthright.
Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General
United Nations, Nobel Peace Prize 1998 and 2001

A better understanding of each other and a willingness to accommodate inevitable differences through direct communication or mediation can almost always lead to peace. Our children, with their inherent innocence and idealism, can be a driving force in seeking this goal.
President Jimmy Carter
Nobel Peace Prize laureate 2002

The old adage ‘education is easy carried’ is so true. It gives one a sense of dignity, of feeling in control of one’s own life. Lack of education can lead to frustration, anger, violence, a sense of alienation and a society storing up problems for the future, when its citizens feel that their right to a good education, and subsequently, being able to obtain employment and fulfilment, is beyond their reach.
Mairead Maguire
Nobel Peace Prize laureate 1976

We must learn to resolve the conflicts that we have… the discord, the discrimination, the racism, the exclusion. We can’t aspire to peace if we don’t have harmony with others… Our youth are no longer going to be intolerant, racist or discriminatory but who enthusiastically want to be diverse, multicultural, multiethnic, multilingual Guatemalans.
Rigoberta Menchu Tum
Nobel Peace Prize laureate 1992

The twenty-first century, for children neglected, abandoned, humiliated and sacrificed, should bring safety and joy for humankind and the future. As always, achieving this will depend not only on children but on us, on our generous and enthusiastic support, so their future becomes one full of love, of life and of warmth. And of peace – the greatest of victories.
Elie Wiesel
Nobel Peace Prize laureate 1986

The education of war has long traditions, compared to the traditions of peace education… There is an evident need in the whole world to increase both the effort given, as well as the level of ambition regarding, the results of peace education… Focussing only on children in peace education is merely a gesture of our own powerlessness and unwillingness to change our global beliefs. This means developing new ways to cooperate with societies, teachers, adults and parents.
Professor Vappu Taipale, Co-President
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Nobel Peace Prize 1985

You can also read the letter (pdf with signatures) and the full selection of statements (pdf).

Harmony Island Game – Anybody Testing It?

7 January 2009
creadmin
Categories: CRE Researchers
Tags: Requests for Assistance

Academic Edge Inc. developed an intriguing conflict resolution game for middle and high school age youth called Harmony Island. They were inviting classrooms to participate in additional research on the product, giving away free site licenses to participant schools. Has anybody taken them up on this offer? Looks like a good opportunity if it is still in effect.

HarmonyIsland.jpg width=311 height=217

An invitation to the Spring Peace Academy 2009

17 December 2008
creadmin
Categories: Global CRE
Tags: Resource Reviews

International Peace and Development Training Center (IPDTC) and
Peace Action, Training and Research Institute of Romania (PATRIR)

IPDTC 2009 Spring Peace Academy

IPDTC is launching its 2009 Spring Peace Academy with a range of programmes addressing the core skills, knowledge and experience of all practitioners working in the field of peacebuilding, conflict transformation, development work, humanitarian aid, gender, governance and other related areas.

* Peacebuilding, Conflict Transformation & Post-War Recovery, Reconciliation
and Healing
11th – 16th of May, 2009 – Cluj-Napoca, Romania

* Designing Peacebuilding Programmes (DPP)
18th – 22nd of May, 2009, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

* Integrating Gender and Peacebuilding Practice (IGP)
25th – 29th of May, 2009, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

* Training of Trainers in Peacebuilding (ToT)
25th – 29th of May, 2009, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

For more information on course content, fees and application procedure, please see attachment or visit the IPDTC web-site: http://www.patrir.ro/training
or write to training@patrir.ro

Please feel free to share this information with individuals and organisations that you think would be interested in attending the IPDTC training programmes.

We are looking forward to welcoming you to our trainings.

With best wishes,
IPDTC Team

Research on Truancy Mediation Program

10 December 2008
creadmin
Categories: CRE Researchers
Tags: Field Reports

Recognizing that truancy is a significant predictor of juvenile delinquent behavior and long-term economic hardship, the Truancy Prevention through Mediation Program (TPMP) intervenes with elementary, middle school, and high school students and their families who display a pattern of absenteeism. The program targets students, who during the school year, experience a minimum of 10 absences. A five year evaluation conducted by an independent evaluator confirms that the majority of TPMP students significantly improve their attendance rates as a result of intervention (OCDRCM, 1999-2004).

Although the Truancy Prevention through Mediation Program (TPMP) has consistently demonstrated positive results in the effort to combat truancy, absent from these evaluations has been an examination of the impact of the program on the academic performance and behavior of the children whose families participate in the program. To fill this void, the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and the Supreme Court of Ohio collaborated to commission an independent evaluation to ascertain answers to these questions. You can read the full report here: Evaluation of the Truancy Prevention through Mediation Program (Ohio) (pdf).

More on Truancy Mediation from Ohio

10 December 2008
creadmin
Categories: Administrators & Policy Makers
Tags: Expert Advice, Field Reports

Truancy Prevention Through Mediation Program

The Truancy Prevention Through Mediation Program in Ohio, commonly known as truancy mediation, has grown in just over six years from 7 counties, 58 schools to 30 counties, over 460 schools in close to 120 school districts. It has grown at this rate because it works. Documentation is available at http://disputeresolution.ohio.gov/courtcommunity.htm.

Programs are run locally, with technical support, training, mentoring, and grant writing assistance provided by the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management, and with training assistance from the Supreme Court of Ohio’s Dispute Resolution Section.

Although it is common when districts first approach the Commission to ask about help with high school truancy and drop-outs, research and experience clearly show that a school district benefits most by building a program from the early years up. The Commission advocates having the program only in K-6 for two to four years, then adding the middle schools that those elementary schools feed, then in a year or two adding the high schools. If a district starts at the high school level they usually are dealing with students who have been missing days for many years, who are under-achieving, and who are close to dropping out – thus using time and resources but not addressing the systemic problem. If a district wants to permanently reduce truancy and tardiness it needs to be addressed in Kindergarten and the other early years, building the program upward.

Here are some of the core values of the program:

1. Mediations take place in the school, during or immediately before or after school hours. 2. In K – 6 the teacher always attends, and often is the only person meeting with the parent[s]. 3. The goal is to, in a non-punitive, non-disciplinary way, identify the family problems that are causing the poor attendance, and to then help the family reach a voluntary solution. Those solutions often involve reaching out to a government agency, social service provider, or non-profit organization. 4. Confidentially is maintained. 5. The emphasis is on K – 6 truancy and tardiness, with higher grades added only after the elementary school program is well established. 6. The family is asked to come in for a mediation very early in the pattern of truancy, usually the third to fifth missed day. This is a significantly lower threshold than the number of missed days for court referrals. The emphasis is on very early intervention and help in a respectful manner, as opposed to late intervention [15+ days is common] and a disciplinary attitude. 7. The mediator is a person trained in mediation in general and truancy mediation in particular, who does not represent any particular entity or interest but rather is in the room to facilitate the discussion and search for mutually acceptable solutions.

For information contact Ed Krauss at ed.krauss@cdr.state.oh.us. 614 444 5872

ADR Research “Portal”

8 December 2008
creadmin
Categories: CRE Researchers
Tags: Resource Reviews

The Center for Legal Solutions has pulled together a nice collection of research studies on various aspects of the mediation process. The collection is called [url=http://www.centerforlegalsolutions.org/research.overview.shtml]Practical Research on Alternative Dispute Resolution[/url]. If you are looking for a quick snapshot of the kinds of research that has been done on mediation, this is a great place to start. Includes a listing of [url=http://www.centerforlegalsolutions.org/links.adr.scholars.shtml]ADR Researchers[/url] active in the field.

Truancy Mediation is growing

8 December 2008
creadmin
Categories: Administrators & Policy Makers
Tags: Field Reports, New Developments

A new use for mediation skills and techniques that has been growing rapidly is Truancy Mediation.

The National Center for State Courts has been compiling a list of information on the growing number of states (18 and counting) that are offering Truancy Mediation service. You can view the Truancy Mediation Materials online.

A well developed example is the statewide program the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management administers. The Truancy Prevention Through Mediation Program is a statewide effort run in cooperation with The Ohio Supreme Courts Office of Dispute Resolution, school districts and local courts, which is designed to address attendance concerns in public schools. The program has been used in grades K – 12, but the primary focus is on grades K – 8.

A set of Standards of Practice for Truancy Mediation has been developed and is available on the web.

GPPAC Partners with CREPE Activities in Western CIS

24 November 2008
creadmin
Categories: Global CRE
Tags: New Developments

Dear colleagues,
I want to give you a very brief information of two more NGOs in our region that could be the partners for your inter-networking.
1. Patrir, Romania – Peace Action Training and Research Institute of Romania http://www.patrir.ro/index.php?newlang=english . Among other activities they conduct a lot of trainings on peacebuilding for different groups of participants in their International Peace and Development Training Center http://www.patrir.ro/training.
They also have special youth programs like “Youth for Peace” (available in Russian at http://youth-for-peace.blogspot.com/)

2. Inter-regional Social Movement “Conflictological Forum”, Russia. http://www.conflictology.spb.ru/index_en.html An assistance in research and activity in creation of new methods and techonolgies of CR and development of education in CR are among the main tasks of this organisation. Their partner – the chair of Conflict studies of St.-Petersburg State University. It is the only chair that gives CR specialization (the diploma) at the university level within the whole post-soviet space.
I also would like to draw your attention at the III INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS of CONFLICTOLOGISTS organised by Forum and its partners. It will take place at September 30 – October 2, 2009. Deadline:  March 1, 2009 More information you can find at their website, listed above.

News from Shalom – Educating for Peace in Rwanda

23 November 2008
creadmin
Categories: Global CRE
Tags: Field Reports

Posted for Cori Wielenga
Co-director, Shalom, Educating for Peace
Pretoria, South Africa

Shalom Educating for Peace is a non-governmental, non-profit organization working for building and sustaining positive peace through education in the Great Lakes region of Africa. Shalom pursues the following objectives: (i) educating for peace, (ii) researching for peace and (iii) cultivating the culture of nonviolence.

Shalom is a relatively young organization and we have spent the past few months establishing ourselves in Rwanda and Burundi. Our primary activity has been developing proposals and networking for the purpose of raising interest and funds for our projects.

Basabose has continued to broadcast our weekly peace program on a community radio station in Rwanda where the message of nonviolent means to resolving conflict has reached a wide audience and solicited high levels of debate.

Together with an American volunteer we have been initiating a peace education project with self-help cooperatives in rural Rwanda to assist in nonviolent means of communication and resolving conflict. Thanks to Megan Colnar from San Antonio Texas for her help!

For more information on Shalom’s activities and staff, please see our latest newsletter.

Summary of Peace Education Programme in West Africa by WANEP

9 November 2008
creadmin
Categories: Global CRE
Tags: Field Reports

A culture of non-violence is an imperative for our society if we are to achieve the dream of sustainable just peace and development, which has been enshrined in almost all national development plans of the various nations of the sub-region. Sustainable peace in the West Africa sub-region depends on individuals possessing the knowledge, the skills and the passion to use non-violent means to deal with conflicts that they may be involved in and also having the space and opportunity to promote the use of these non-violent conflict resolution skills.

WANEP’s Peace Education programme was implemented in selected schools in 7 West African countries from 2001 to 2004. Though the pilot phase ended in 2004, the programme lives on in different forms at both national and regional levels. Different activities within the schools such as peace posters and peace poem competitions, peace marches not only by school children but also by community youth, and peace day celebrations are carried out in some schools in all the countries, while teachers continue to devote part of their teaching time to topics developed in the peace education materials from WANEP.

Currently in Ghana, Peace Education has been formally integrated into the curriculum of the Ghana Education Service and is being taught in schools. A peace education manual jointly developed by WANEP and the Ministry of Education in Ghana and other stakeholders in Education is being used in that regard.

In terms of future plans for Peace Education in West Africa, Oxfam GB has expressed interest in funding WANEP’s Peace Education programme and a process will start very soon to develop a project proposal to that effect. I have also being in communication with the President of the Society for Peace and Reconciliation in Sierra Leone at the University of Sierra Leone to establish a Mediation Centre. This project will be supported by GPPAC Global Secretariat.

By Francis Acquah Junior,
Programme Officer, WANEP, Ghana

2008 Meta-Analysis of SEL Programs

3 November 2008
creadmin
Categories: CRE Researchers
Tags: Field Reports, New Developments

Some of the most compelling information supporting Social Emotional Learning (SEL) comes from findings of the largest, most scientifically rigorous review of research ever done on interventions that promote children’s social and emotional development. This review of more than 700 studies published through 2007 included school, family, and community interventions designed to promote social and emotional skills in children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 18. This large sample of studies was divided into three main areas: studies about (a) school-based interventions, (b) after-school programs, and (c) programs for families. Results of the school-based research, which included 207 studies of programs involving 288,000 students, is of key relevance here.

In this meta-analysis (study of studies), researchers used statistical techniques to summarize the findings across all the studies and found a broad range of benefits for students:

9% decrease in conduct problems, such as classroom misbehavior and aggression

10% decrease in emotional distress, such as anxiety and depression

9% improvement in attitudes about self, others, and school

23% improvement in social and emotional skills

11% improvement in achievement test scores

More information on the research results is available in a CASEL briefing paper and as an archived teleconference.

School Administrators Podcast

3 November 2008
creadmin
Categories: Administrators & Policy Makers
Tags: Expert Advice, Social Commentary

A new Web site sponsored by McGraw-Hill Education’s Urban Advisory Resource is directed towards school administrators, especially those working in urban areas. The forum, District Leader’s Podcast districtleaderspodcast.org, is “the only national podcast created expressly for district leaders. Many features included are interviews each week with different district leaders from around the country.” There are 25 sessions available to listen to, with the most recent being a Superintendent from a school district in Texas. Many of the podcasts deal with violence and delinquency in schools and conflict resolution techniques.

U.K. Video – Teachers Discuss Approaches to Resolving Conflicts

30 October 2008
creadmin
Categories: CRE Teachers & Trainers
Tags: Field Reports, Resource Reviews

Readers might appreciate this video from the U.K.’s Teacher.tv website.
The 15-minute video is in two parts, the Challenging Behavior Workshop for the teachers in this U.K. School and the training for the secondary school students. The training for the students talked about the students personal issues, trust, and how to manage themselves in conflictual situations. Additionally, they trained the students how to be peer mediators and how to open up and talk about their own triggers. The Superintendent of the Ridgewood School District in the U.K. expressed pleasant surprise at the success of the training.

Teachers Discuss Approaches to Resolving Conflicts
Here’s the link to the video.

Celebrating the International Day of Peace by Launching a Peace Education Book

2 October 2008
creadmin
Categories: Global CRE
Tags: New Developments, Resource Reviews

The world marked the International Day of Peace (September 21) in different and creative ways as electronic reports have indicated to us. In my case I am happy to report that my colleague, Jasmin Nario-Galace and I celebrated it by launching a book that we conceptualized long ago but had the opportunity to write and complete only recently.

The book is entitled Peace Education: A Pathway to a Culture of Peace. The overall goal of this book is to provide educators with the basic knowledge base as well as the skill- and value-orientations that we associate with educating for a culture of peace. Although this work is primarily directed towards the pre-service and in-service preparation of teachers in the formal school system, it may be used in nonformal education. It can also be a resource for those who want to understand peace issues and some of the ways by which they can help work for change towards a more peaceable society.

Jasmin and I are pleased that we can offer this small contribution to the Global Campaign for Peace Education, which seeks the introduction of peace education in all educational institutions in the world. It is our hope that our work can help in the realization of this vision. This book is firmly rooted in the belief that deliberate and sustained peace education, both in our schools and in our communities, is an important force and pathway towards a culture of peace and the prevention of violent conflict.

This book is based on our study and research as well as on our experiences as teachers and trainers. By writing about what we have come to know and experienced, we are pleased that we are now able to reach a larger community of educators and other concerned people. It is our hope that the ideas contained in this book will circulate widely and promote enthusiasm for both education and action for peace.

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.

“To reach peace, teach peace!”