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New Research Publications from Australia’s Values Education Initiatives

8 July 2009
Categories: CRE Researchers
Tags: Field Reports

Australia has been a leader in developing [url=http://www.valueseducation.edu.au/]system-wide values education initiatives[/url] since the release of the National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools in 2005. Many of these projects have been studied and the research reports are now becoming available. Some recently released items that may be of interest to CRE Researchers are noted below.

[i]The Values Education Good Practice Schools Project – Stage 2 Final Report[/i] ([url=http://www.valueseducation.edu.au/verve/_resources/VEGPSP-2_final_3.pdf]Link to PDF[/url])
At the Heart of What We Do: Values Education at the Centre of Schooling – The Final Report of the Values Education Good Practice Schools Project – Stage 2 outlines the learnings and outcomes of twenty-five school clusters from around Australia that were funded by the Australian Government to design, implement and evaluate quality projects in values education which reflected and utilised the National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools in local contexts.

Bezzina, Associate Professor Michael, Butcher, Professor Jude, [i]‘Promoting Interfaith and Intercultural Understanding in School Settings: Review of the Pilot Project’[/i] ([url=http://www.valueseducation.edu.au/verve/_resources/Interfaith_and_Intercultural_Review_Report.pdf]Link to PDF[/url]), produced for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) by the Flagship for Creative and Authentic Leadership and the Institute for Advancing Community Engagement of the Australian Catholic University, 2008.

This mid-term review of the pilot program: Promoting Interfaith and Intercultural Understanding in School Settings (IIU) was carried out in the second year of the pilot which was conducted by Erebus International for DEEWR. The review concludes that the pilot has been successful in its own right, and in terms of the learning it has generated for the future. It documents significant shifts in people’s understandings and attitudes in the area of IIU and in the capacities of their schools. Recommendations are presented for the continued implementation of IIU.

Lovat, Professor Terence, Toomey, Professor Ron, Dally, Dr Kerry, Clement, Dr Neville, [i]‘Project to Test and Measure the Impact of Values Education on Student Effects and School Ambience’[/i], ([url=http://www.valueseducation.edu.au/verve/_resources/Project_to_Test_and_Measure_the_Impact_of_Values_Education.pdf ]Link to PDF[/url]). Final Report for the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) by the University of Newcastle, 2009.
The study aimed to provide quantifiable and defensible data about links between values education practices and quality teaching outcomes. The research built on previous work, the Australian Council of Deans of Education Values Education Partnerships Project, in order to elaborate and strengthen, in an empirical sense, the findings of this study that argued that values education and quality teaching are closely linked. Its sites and case studies were drawn principally from schools that had engaged in the DEEWR-funded project, Values Education Good Practice Schools Project—Stage 2 (DEEWR, 2008). The research reviews and reports on how the explicit teaching of values impacted on a number of areas in school education. The research provides empirical evidence that values education had a positive impact on developing student-teacher relationships and improving school and classroom ambience, which led to more settled and productive classrooms. The report also documents the positive impact that values education can have on student and teacher wellbeing.  

[i]‘Values and Other Issues in the Education of Young Australians: A study among parents with children at non-government schools’[/i], ([url=http://www.valueseducation.edu.au/verve/_resources/Values_and_Other_Issues_in_the_Education_of_Young_Australians.pdf]Link to PDF[/url]). A paper prepared for the Australian Parents Council and the former Department of Education, Science and Training, 2008.

The objective of this study was to explore attitudes to a range of issues among parents with children in non-government schools across Australia. The main focus of the study was on their perspectives on values education, the values parents wished to see inculcated in their children, and the role they expected school to play in that process. In addition to this, the study explored parents’ attitudes to choice of school, the concept of family–school partnerships, and school funding. The study found parents considered the Nine Values for Australian Schooling list to cover all the important values that young people should learn. It also found that when parents choose a primary school it is often based on religious and cultural affiliations and the school’s capacity to offer the right balance between academic standards and personal development, whereas parents choosing a secondary school are more likely to put the right balance between academic achievement and personal development at the top of the list.

Video on Restorative Justice in Schools (from the UK)

11 May 2009
Categories: CRE Teachers & Trainers
Tags: Field Reports

RSA Lectures – Restorative Justice in Schools

In this 60-minute video available from the UK-based Teacher.TV site, a group of experts look at restorative justice, a practice which brings together the victims and the perpetrators of conflict in order to find an agreed resolution. As they note, the approach has had a clear and positive impact on behavior where it has been used is schools.

Tennessee’s Annual Character Education and Conflict Resolution Report

8 May 2009
Categories: Administrators & Policy Makers
Tags: Field Reports

Administrators working in the field might be interested in reports generated in Tennessee where each year the Commissioner of Education reports on CRE work in the schools. Here’ an excerpt from the Tennessee Office of School Safety and Learning Support that describes the approach and links to a recent report.

“Tenn. Code Ann. §49-2-118 and Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-6-1007 provide that the Commissioner of Education shall annually report to the General Assembly regarding the implementation of conflict resolution and character education programs in Tennessee schools. Below you will find our reports for the 2006-2007 school year.

Character education and conflict resolution programs support the social, emotional and moral development of our students while addressing the negative behaviors, attitudes and beliefs that frequently serve as a barrier to learning. The preceding report provides an overview of the nature and extent of these programs in schools across the state.

Questions regarding the report may be directed to Laura Nichols by phone at (615) 741-3248 or via email to laura.nichols@tn.gov.

(SY 2007-2008) Included in the Safe and Supportive Schools: An Annual Report from the Office of School Safety and Learning Support
(SY 2006-2007) Annual Character Education and Conflict Resolution Report “

Report from Workshop on Peace Education for Educators in Southeast Asia, January 19 to 23, 2009

12 April 2009
Categories: Global CRE
Tags: Field Reports

The Center for Peace Education (CPE) in cooperation with GPPAC-SEA Peace Education Working Group organized the Workshop on Peace Education for Educators in Southeast Asia. Financial support came from CORDAID and GPPAC.

The training sought to: train a core of formal and community educators on the knowledge base, attitudes, and skills that comprise peace education; encourage them to generate doable action plans that they can implement in their schools, organizations and/or communities; encourage them to serve as a beginning core team for the promotion of peace education in their country. The workshop also sought to enable the group to build on the beginnings of a Southeast Asia Peace Education Network that was started in September 2007.

There were 27 participants from 8 Southeast Asian countries: the Philippines, Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam. Two Ministries of Education were represented (Cambodia and the Philippines) and the rest were either educators from the formal school system or from community-based organizations.

The results of a qualitative evaluation questionnaire given at the end of the workshop showed that they have found the workshop helpful. They also indicated many types of significant learnings. The main outputs were doable action plans prepared by the country teams to help build a culture of peace in their respective spheres. Two of the most frequently mentioned plans were: sharing their learnings with other teachers and exerting efforts to integrate the peace ideas, perspectives and values that they acquired into the content of their education programs as well as in their student or youth activities.

Peace education upholds the values of respect for human dignity, nonviolence, socio-economic justice, tolerance and other peace values that are deemed essential toward a sustainable and humane society. Key to the promotion of these values would be the training of those who, in turn, can promote the knowledge among other teachers and community educators. Hence it is deemed important to undertake this type of training regularly until a pool of trained participants can organize themselves as a peace education core group for each of the countries. It is also because of this goal that having a coordinator per country is essential. At the moment this work of coordination is being done by many of the GPPAC-SEA National Initiators or by their designated people, such as in Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia and Timor Leste.

Prepared by: Loreta Castro Chair, Peace Education Working Group GPPAC-SEA

School Program Evaluation Reports from Armenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

8 April 2009
Categories: CRE Researchers
Tags: Field Reports

These reports are cued up for entry into our resources catalog, but I wanted to mention them here for researchers interested in the implementation of school-based conflict resolution and peace education work in divided societies like Bosnia and Herzegovina or Armenia. Thanks go out to Carolyne Ashton for sharing these reports!

Armenian Life Skills Curriculum Integration Evaluation Report (doc format)
Armenian Life Skills Curriculum Integration Evaluation Report (pdf format)

Evaluation Report on OSCE’s Efforts to Unify the Gymnasium Mostar (doc format)
Evaluation Report on OSCE’s Efforts to Unify the Gymnasium Mostar (pdf format)

Solomon Islands Peace Education Curriculum

8 April 2009
Categories: Global CRE
Tags: Field Reports, Resource Reviews

In the aftermath of five years of civil unrest in Solomon Islands during the late 1990s, educational institutions, the National Peace Council, and NGO leaders expressed a need to build capacity in educational and community settings to teach peace building concepts and skills. This curriculum, subtitled “Come Together, Talk Together, Work Together” is one example of the work being done. The content was prepared in response to interviews of nearly 50 community leaders, educators, young people, and NGO representatives in Solomon Islands in 2004. The content and skills of the highest priority identified by these stakeholders included:

• Understanding rights and responsibilities
• Understanding cultural diversity
• Restorative justice and reconciliation
• Gender relationship skills
• Ability to live with change
• Leadership qualities
• Conflict prevention
• Traditional definitions of peace
• Understand interdependence between individuals and society
• Respect different cultures

These content and skill areas have been incorporated into the curriculum, which consists of four units. All of the conflict scenarios that serve as the basis for skill exercises have been drawn from examples that educators, community leaders and young people provided during interviews. “COME TOGETHER, TALK TOGETHER, WORK TOGETHER” Practicing Peace: A Peace Education Module for Youth and Young Adults in Solomon Islands (UNICEF May 2005) should prove interesting and inspiring to peace educators.

Practicing Peace: A Peace Education Module for Youth and Young Adults in Solomon Islands (UNICEF May 2005 – doc format)
Practicing Peace: A Peace Education Module for Youth and Young Adults in Solomon Islands (UNICEF May 2005 – pdf format)

Practicing Peace Curriculum Activites Organized by Educational Standard (doc format)
Practicing Peace Curriculum Activites Organized by Educational Standard (pdf format)

Aceh (Indonesian) Peace Education Curriculum – Translated to English

8 April 2009
Categories: Global CRE
Tags: Field Reports, Resource Reviews

Readers of the the Global CRE blog should really appreciate these new contributions to the Conflict Resolution Education Connection website. Carolyne Ashton, a program evaluation specialist with an extensive background in conflict resolution and peace education, passed along these documents representing peace education from an Islamic and Acehnese perspective. The curriculum was developed for use in Aceh (Indonesia) schools, and Ms. Ashton served as an evaluator for the materials. The principal parties to the development of the curriculum were UNICEF, Nonviolence International (Washington, DC), AusAID (UNICEF Australia) and education experts in Aceh. The latter formed the curriculum development team and a team that revised the original curriculum. The director chosen for the project was a native Acehnese, Dr. Asna Husin.

Indonesian Peace Education Curriculum – Programa Pendidiken Damai (doc format)
Indonesian Peace Education Curriculum – Programa Pendidiken Damai (pdf format)

Evaluation Report – Program Pendidiken Damai (doc format)
Evaluation Report – Program Pendidiken Damai (pdf format)

Reporting on Peace Education Conference in Kenya

12 March 2009
Categories: Global CRE
Tags: Field Reports

In December 2008, I travelled to the Kenyan capital of Nairobi to attend a four day Conference on Peace Education in Eastern and Central Africa: The state of the art, lessons and possibilities. The aim of the conference was to create a forum where participants could share, learn and discuss the current status of peace education and its application in East and Central Africa.

The conference was organized by the Nairobi Peace Initiative (NPI), a regional secretariat of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) in collaboration with the GPPAC International Secretariat, The Global Campaign for Peace Education and Kenya’s Ministry of Education. The conference addressed the important role of education in peace-building.

A major focus of the conference was on garnering regional and international linkages that could be used to improve national approaches through partnering and information sharing.

The conference was divided into two parts. The first two days provided an opportunity to examine the ‘art’ of peace education and the lessons and issues emerging from its implementation particularly in East and Central African countries; Burundi, Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Gabon, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. The second two days were dedicated to peace education in Kenya.

I attended the conference as arepresentative of the GPPAC Working Party on Peace Education and presented a workshop on the second day of the conference.

GPPAC was established by the UN in 2003 as civil society led world-wide network to build international consensus on peace-building and contribute to the prevention of armed conflict. Other Working Party members from the Philippines, Ukraine, Palestine, Columbia, Serbia, Spain, Ghana, Japan, Sri Lanka and Montenegro also attended. The group included GPPAC General Secretary, Paul Van Tongeren. Peace education is a GPPAC priority and complements the work of a global network of educators committed to investing in future generations through the development of skills, understanding and values needed for participation in peaceful communities.

The Conference was a significant event grappling with profound and challenging regional and local issues. Despite the magnitude of the task, particularly in relation to building peace in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan there was strong sense of optimism and commitment. Obviously the challenge is to translate the ideas and enthusiasm into practice.

Political, social and economic factors will, as they always have, influence implementation of peace education initiatives. In Kenya the next steps involve providing immediate relief to ease the stress and causes of violence as well as implementation of prevention strategies. Education is one part of a broader solution for creating peaceful communities and national unity.

Experience from around the globe indicated that peace building is not easy work. This challenge was magnified most recently in post-apartheid South Africa with the xenophobic murders of Zimbabwean refugees. Recent post-election violence and school strikes in Kenya reminded people how fragile peace is and galvanized a strong collaboration between the Ministry for Education and Civil Society Organisation partners. As one delegate reminded us, ‘Don’t take peace for granted! It is hard to get back once it’s gone’.

There are however many things that can be done in schools. The Kenyan Government’s commitment, endorsed by the Minister, the Permanent Secretary, senior officials and demonstrated in productive collaboration with CSO’s, goes a long way towards creating the conditions in which schools can contribute to the ideals of civil society. Investments in extra curricula activities such as sport and music festivals or creating opportunities for student voice will be important. An emphasis on student centered learning can make a difference.

I think that an optimal learning environment is engaging and challenging, where theory and practice promote relevance and authenticity and one in which educators and students feel safe and valued. Whilst this may be considered an ideal I believe it is in such environments that quality learning and productive relationships flourish. Schools that work this way are worth striving for and provide places where young people can rehearse active citizenship, conflict resolution and peaceful relationships.

I understand this was the first time that Kenya had hosted a conference on peace education. The global network expands opportunities and shares the load. My heartfelt congratulations go to the organizers. This was an exceptional event, rich with the challenges and possibilities of education. I wish everybody well in their efforts and that the productive collaboration continues.

Gary Shaw – shaw.gary.r@edumail.vic.gov.au

High School Peer Mediation in the News

14 February 2009
Categories: Administrators & Policy Makers
Tags: Field Reports

Schenectady High School in upstate New York was featured in a recent news story exploring how mediation is part of a broader “incident reduction plan” enacted by the district. As noted in the story, “Of the 260 cases mediated last year, 216 reached a successful resolution.” Read more about it here.

Research on Truancy Mediation Program

10 December 2008
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
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

Truancy Mediation is growing

8 December 2008
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.

News from Shalom – Educating for Peace in Rwanda

23 November 2008
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.