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The aim of this study is to reveal the literacy levels and metaphors of Social Studies teacher candidates regarding the concepts of war and peace taught in secondary school. The research may be important in terms of revealing how Social Studies teacher candidates interpret the concepts of war and peace and how they perceive these concepts metaphorically. Phenomenology, one of the qualitative research designs, was used in the research. The study group of the research consists of 60 teacher candidates studying in the 4th year of the Social Studies Teaching undergraduate program of two state universities. In the research, it was determined what meanings Social Studies teacher candidates attributed to the concepts of war and peace. The collected metaphors were classified according to the metaphors used by teacher candidates. In addition, the resulting metaphors were grouped around certain common themes. Accordingly, the prospective teachers who participated in the research created 33 metaphors regarding the concept of war and 30 metaphors regarding the concept of peace. According to the research results, the most frequently repeated war metaphor is "massacre", followed by metaphors such as "murder", "apocalypse", "grim reaper" and "virus". The most frequently repeated peace metaphor is "breathing", followed by Metaphors such as "peace", "friendship", "mother" and "obligation" were followed. Metaphors related to the concepts of war and peace were grouped under two categories: "positive" and "negative". While metaphors about war were concentrated in the "negative" category, metaphors about peace were observed to be concentrated in the "positive" category. When the participants' reasons for the decision to go to war were examined, the most recurring answers were "if the future and security of the country is in danger" and "to guarantee peace". It has been determined that Social Studies teacher candidates who are new to the profession view war as a negative concept and peace as a positive concept. On the other hand, the fact that they create simple and easy justifications for deciding on war can be interpreted as their failure to internalize peace sufficiently.

Educational theory and practice is dominated by mass formal schooling systems, which routinely and unjustly harm many students. I call this stance "educational pacifism," and in this paper argue that Montessorians ought to be educational pacifists. That is, they ought to recognize, understand, and reject systemic educational harm and ensure that it does not occur in their own practice, so that Montessori students are not harmed during their education and so that Montessori education might provide a nonharmful educational alternative to mass formal schooling. I suggest that Maria Montessori was, broadly speaking, herself an educational pacifist, and that not only is educational pacifism the morally right position for a Montessorian, but also that it is naturally a Montessorian position.

This work provides an overview of the use of Virtual Reality (VR) technology in the context of training through the documentation of a project produced by Ohio University's Game Research and Immersive Design (GRID) Lab involving the development of a cine-VR series for police officer training in areas such as suicide prevention, mental health, crisis intervention, domestic violence resolution, and school violence prevention. The article starts by introducing the concept of VR training with its subdivisions and its benefits, including the promotion of learning and empathy through immersion. Followingly, it describes the process of planning for a VR training. Subsequently, it breaks down the several stages of creating VR training content from scenario exploration, scriptwriting, recording, to postproduction. In conclusion, this paper recognizes the challenges of creating compelling VR content such as storytelling, editing, and resources. Additionally, it attempts to pave the way for similar VR training projects by providing recommendations and emphasizing the importance of communication, adaptability, and experimentation.

The main purpose of this research is to comparatively examine the views of social studies teacher candidates in Turkey and the USA towards war and peace, and to reveal the similarities and differences. In parallel with the increasing violence and wars in the world, literacy of peace has become a concept that attracts more and more attention. Each country includes war and peace issues in its curriculum in different ways. Literacy of peace has become one of the basic elements of citizenship education in democratic societies. Social studies is one of the most powerful components of citizenship education. In the social studies course, while trying to raise patriotic individuals by teaching about the wars of the past, they are also trying to raise democratic citizens who have gained peace awareness. The research is a descriptive study in which quantitative and qualitative research methods are used together. As a quantitative data collection tool, The Attitude Inventory Regarding Peace and War developed by Bizumic et al., was used. Moral dilemma stories were used as a qualitative data collection tool. Qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques were applied together to transform the obtained data sets into findings. Working group of the research is 60 teacher candidates in total, 30+30 each studying at state universities in Türkiye and the USA. Descriptive analysis method was used to analyze the data. A comparative analysis of participants' perspectives on war and peace can give us an idea about how war and peace can be included in the teaching process. According to the results of the research, it was seen that the attitudes towards peace of the participants from both countries were high and when compared, the attitudes of the participants from the USA towards peace were higher than the participants from Turkey. The findings of the qualitative analysis also support this conclusion.

This research analyzes the contribution of learning the history of early independence in fostering a philosophical understanding of nationhood. The research questions are: 1) What kinds of philosophical understanding of nationhood are perceived as pro-Islamism and pro-secularism by high school students? 2) How is nationalist behavior expressed as an act of accepting secularism and opposing Islamic fundamentalism by high school students? Moreover, 3) How do factors contribute to high school students' actions and philosophical understanding of nationhood? This research was carried out using qualitative methods. This research involved 34 students enrolled in class XI 6. We researched at SMA 1 Semarang (a High School) in Indonesia. This research analyzed data from memos written by students, class activities, and conversations. Data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The findings showed that the nation's pro-Islamist philosophy is reflected in an attitude of fanaticism, difficulty accepting differences, and support for a closed system. A pro-secularism attitude is reflected in accepting differences, moderation, and prioritizing universal values. Accepting secularism and rejecting Islamic fundamentalism is perceived as an attitude of accepting historical agreements, moving away from fanaticism-based conflicts, and preparing for a more democratic future. The philosophical understanding of nationhood is formed by in-depth arguments on socio-political-religious phenomena, acceptance of historical agreements, and hopes for a peaceful future. The findings indicate that future research needs to investigate the teaching of national philosophy in Indonesian history material in different periods or events. They can also be carried out for teaching national philosophy in other places or countries.

Global literacy partnerships between the Global North and Global South inevitably reside in the expansive waters of neoliberal reforms and coloniality. Global North and Global South literacy educators within global literacy partnerships must decolonize life through a liberatory praxis whereby they are convinced of the right and the duty to fight, to denounce and to announce. Nonviolent Communication, with its focus on speaking honestly and listening empathetically, provides a framework for cultivating the criticality, awareness, and connection needed to disrupt neoliberal reforms and coloniality within partnerships. Through NVC, the everyday dialogic experiences of Global North and Global South educators can generate a "power with" relationship instead of a "power over" relationship of oppression and coloniality.

This study presents a list of 2022 Bulgarian-Turkish cognate words that can be used to facilitate vocabulary acquisition and cross-linguistic awareness. The list was created manually through a multi-step process that involved scanning the database of an online dictionary to identify Bulgarian words that had the same or similar forms in Turkish. For each cognate word identified, its Bulgarian and Turkish forms and English meanings were recorded, and their accuracy was checked through additional sources and expert consultation. The final list of cognate words includes only those confirmed based on linguistic criteria and expert judgement. The use of cognate words in language teaching methods such as total physical response and teaching proficiency through reading and storytelling can enhance the effectiveness of these methods by helping students understand and remember new vocabulary and building their confidence in language learning. Additionally, this study highlights the potential of cognate awareness to promote peace in the world by emphasizing the commonalities among languages and cultures. By recognizing the abundance of cognates across different languages, we can reinforce the idea that we are all part of the same human family and share a common linguistic heritage. Moreover, the study demonstrates how a new and innovative multilingual education can be achieved through cognates, showing that language education does not necessarily have to be limited to bilingual instruction. The use of cognates as a tool for vocabulary acquisition and cross-linguistic awareness can open up opportunities for multilingualism and facilitate communication across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Future research could explore the use of cognate words in other language teaching contexts and investigate the potential benefits and limitations of using cognates in language learning.

History education that deals with the controversial and sensitive past is a vehicle for peacemaking in conflict-affected societies. However, its success is dependent on teachers taking risks to challenge entrenched 'us versus them' views of history. How does a student teacher in Northern Ireland grapple with risk-taking when learning to teach controversial history? What tensions are involved in bringing a different perspective into the classroom that challenges identity-based understandings and emotions? This paper analyses interview data from a study on the preparation of preservice teachers for teaching controversial issues. It uses dialogical self theory to examine competing voices that animate a student teacher's practice and reveal how her interpretation of pedagogical lessons from university coursework and professional norms bump up against her identity, family loyalty and related emotions. Her conflict brings into relief tensions of learning to teach controversial history in divided societies.

This article focuses on civic education and the constitution of subjects within a complex landscape of peace and war making in Colombia. Using a genealogical approach to study the manufacturing of citizens, and drawing on a document analysis of policies, curricular guidelines, and teaching resources, this paper evidences an increasing attention to students' skills, conducts, and interpersonal relations, rather than structural inequality and injustice. Through the examination of the "integral citizen," I argue that the development of students as skillful civic subjects has become central to the aspiration of building and sustaining peace and democracy. Such citizens are described as individually embodying the virtues and skills of problem-solving, conflict-management, autonomy, and self-regulation of emotions. This research adds to our understanding of the construction of the ideal citizen in conflict-affected settings, and how education policy intersects with larger efforts for meaningful and sustained change.

To address the great challenges facing humanity, humans need to feel united as inhabitants of the Earth, to feel that their future is tied to the future of all living beings, and that the universe contains all levels and all relationships that encompass its parts. To achieve this requires widening knowledge of the interconnection and interdependence that govern the world on all scales, accessing an individual and collective understanding that impacts not only the rational dimension but also the emotional and embodied dimensions. This article addresses the theme of embodied knowledge and awareness/consciousness as a key for individuals and the human community to develop the sensory and emotional perception of being part of a greater whole, of relationship as an ontological condition, and of interconnectedness and interdependence as the basis of life and the universe. Embodied knowledge is capable of nourishing aspiration and being nourished by it. Aspiration is needed to guide and to sustain action, and at a point in history like the current time, it is necessary for humanity to feel "in the flesh" that it is in relationship with and a part of a greater whole, to become a peaceful, equitable, sustainable community, in harmony with the Earth.

Trust in the potential of education as a common good is the cornerstone of the bond between citizens and their institutions. Changing current patterns entails lifting barriers to a culture of peace and uprooting all forms of violence. Education needs to be resilient enough through its citizen education to provide a framework for thriving societies. Governing education as a common good requires questioning educational models and curricula, considering how notions of peace are integrated into those models, which can serve as a basis for schooling as an integral part of society for the well-being and advancement of citizens. Therefore, we ask, how can citizenship education impact public institutions peace-wise? And conversely, how can citizenship education foster proximity peace and disseminate ethics for citizens, the planet, and peace building. How can citizenship education be beneficial to society as a whole? This article attempts to address these questions by exploring the benefits of rethinking curriculum beyond performance, while recentering and converging efforts into educating caring citizens in peace with each other and their environments.

The aim of this study is to contribute to the understanding of culturally responsive care in multicultural Early Years classrooms. Through an exploration of teachers' narratives in an Indian school, the study highlights the tools and strategies used by teachers to promote an ethic of care among a diverse student population of over 16 languages, 5 religions, and 35 ethnic communities. The study identifies three key categories of care practices: affirming and attuning, diffusing and soothing, and anchoring and building. Overall, the findings suggest that teachers employ a range of relational and aesthetic strategies to promote equality, collaborate with students in inclusive policies, and preserve marginalised cultural heritage. They also narrate folktales and mythology to reject exclusionary discipline and model peaceful responses to conflict. Finally, teachers build a shared classroom identity and cultivate students' capacities for care. This study aims to contribute to the theory and practice of an ethic of care in Early Years education and offer culturally responsive pedagogical tools for inclusive and peace-promoting classrooms.

In this reflective article, we offer innovative approaches to creating opportunities for leadership learning through questioning the intentions versus impacts of leading short-term study abroad courses. We consider the critical relevance of approaching a course like this from a learning disposition--recognizing our roles as learners, as well as facilitators of learning. We note the impacts of hegemony and identity, the effort and skills of dialoguing across difference, the complexities of constructive ambiguity, and the necessity to be adaptable as we navigate liminal spaces, concepts, and efforts for peace leadership. In the end, although this was a brief, 10-day experience, we came to realize our entire outlook on facilitating leadership learning shifted to recognize and grapple with these complexities.

Introduction: School mediation training is important because it teaches students to resolve differences in a non-violent way. Despite the benefits it offers, research on the subject is scarce and the background is mostly focused on theoretically understanding the conflict to develop specific techniques and tools that are useful for peer students, teachers and school counselors (Benítez, 2020). In this sense, the need to expand knowledge that allows education from a socio-emotional perspective is identified and therefore, the objective of this research is to establish the influence of multidimensional social competence in the formation of socioemotional skills for school mediation. Method: 1025 Colombian students participated (40.6% men and 59.4% women), aged between 12 and 19 years (M = 14.86; SD = 1.43). A structural equation model informed the relationships and influences of prosociality, social efficacy, and cognitive reappraisal on mediation skills. Results: Specifically, prosocial behavior and cognitive reappraisal affect the understanding and management of conflict. Social efficacy and prosociality would be important in the ease of generating assertive communication. Meanwhile, social efficacy and cognitive reappraisal influence the ability to generate awareness and emotional regulation. Discussion and Conclusions: The mediator's prosociality is the most relevant characteristic because it implies displaying helping behaviors in accordance with the needs expressed by the students. For its part, social efficacy is an important factor because it is associated with motivation, the person's commitment to the task, resistance to frustration, and the management of emotions in relationships. While cognitive reappraisal is influential thanks to the use of strategies such as acceptance, positive focusing and perspective taking.

Most research exploring school-based forgiveness education programs focuses on student outcomes. However, some scholars have begun studying teachers' views of forgiveness. We build on this work by exploring teachers' views of forgiveness education in Greece and Saudi Arabia. A total of 134 teachers (76 Greek and 58 Saudi) completed a survey asking about the meaning of forgiveness, topics to include in forgiveness education, and benefits and challenges of forgiveness education. We compared responses between Greek teachers with and without experience delivering forgiveness education and between Greek and Saudi teachers. Greek teachers with and without forgiveness education experience had different views of the benefits and practical challenges of forgiveness education. The Greek and Saudi teachers differed in how they understood forgiveness in relation to reconciliation, excusing behavior, mercy, and beliefs about the benefits of forgiveness education for the classroom. Implications for the implementation of forgiveness education and teacher training are discussed.

National brands of the Kazakh people are insufficiently researched based on the special criteria for defining the concept of a brand from a scientific perspective. This article is relevant in this context. Interest in branding and its formation is a topic staying relevant. It is a driving force behind globalization and international competition. The brand is recognized as attracting tourists and investors, strengthening business, forming the country's image, and achieving international supremacy. The study of the national brand in the field of education is also critical. In particular, it is necessary to identify national brands through associative studies for economics and tourism students. The article analyzed the concepts recognized as national brands of the Kazakh people. The frequency index of the words recognized as Kazakh national brands was determined. According to the word stimulus, "Kazakhstan," "homeland," "peaceful, independent country," and "What is the Kazakhstani brand?" "National cuisine" and "art forms" were the most answered. The experience of identifying the association has shown that using national characteristics, art, national food, and national clothes in everyday life as a national brand is not accidental. The mental characteristics and culture of the Kazakh people in the formation of a brand were determined during the research. They were introduced in the domestic and world markets, stabilized in the minds of consumers, and explained in the education system, marketing, and tourism. This situation would impact their use in the field.

The dominant analytical and programmatic frameworks used when writing about conflict-affected contexts such as Libya in Global Northern academia belong to the interdisciplinary field of peace and conflict studies (PACS). Within this, education is increasingly gaining attention as a tool for building peace and developing social justice. This article is a cautious conceptual exploration of how pragmatism might be a timely intervention in the fields of PACS and peacebuilding education. In particular, the article takes a deeper look at the American philosopher John Dewey's pragmatist approach to politics and education, and his conceptualisations of a context-specific 'public', teachers and enquiry for peaceful and democratic living. Throughout, I argue that a pragmatist philosophy is a worthwhile pedagogical project in a challenging context such as Libya, as it is an internal and ground-up discourse, compared to the often externally initiated and top-down discourses of peacebuilding. I speak as an adjacent and connected critic, because I am both a Libyan and a German researching a problem in my country to which I hope to find possible solutions by engaging with discourses and practices in an academic institution in the Global North.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how education can help students develop democratic resilience as a bulwark against terrorinduced fear, securitization, and possibly even extremism itself. Approach: This article presents findings from a qualitative study exploring security governance in Norwegian secondary schools. The empirical corpus draws on 16 semi-structured interviews with educators to explore their perspectives on security governance in schools. Findings: The securitization of education risks normalizing fear culture in schools. Trust can likely be used to prevent or reduce the emergence of such fear. This study explores educational narratives by analyzing how a combination of cognitive trust and emotional trust may help students to build democratic resilience against terror-induced fear. In this context, helping students develop more sophisticated understandings of the social world and ensuring trustful relationships is a promising peacebuilding and potentially de-securitizing approach to explore in education.

Adolescence is a critical phase that can cause a problem, one of which is violence. This condition is detrimental to the dynamics of school academic activities. School counselors are one of the parties who have a central role in developing peace-loving characters to suppress student violence. This research is a systematic literature review that describes the role of counselors as agents of peace whose primary focus is to build peace in students in the school environment through social sensitization strategies based on the teachings of KH Ahmad Dahlan. Systematic literature review searches and reviews various articles using search engines of reputable article journals. The study reviewed ten articles with the following procedure steps: identification, screening, eligibility, and included. The data analysis of this research used data extraction. The results showed that the counselor could use a social sensitization strategy containing the teachings of KH Ahmad Dahlan. The peace values of KH Ahmad Dahlan include sincerity, humility, critical thinking, tolerance, and compassion. This paper discusses the operational description of a social sensitization strategy based on the teachings of KH Ahmad Dahlan that consists of four phases (sensitivity to security, sensitivity to the surrounding environment, sensitivity to discrimination, and sensitivity to victims of violence). This study recommends further research to identify the effectiveness of the social sensitization strategy containing the teachings of KH Ahmad Dahlan to achieve peace among students at school.

In the context of martial law in Ukraine, the educational sector has faced unprecedented challenges, particularly in the realm of preschool education. This paper presents a case study of the Zakarpattia Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education and its rapid response to transform its curriculum to support preschool educators in these trying times. Through a comprehensive review of the curriculum changes, the study documents how the Institute has tailored its educational offerings to foster peace, cultivate a culture of peace and tolerance, and empower educators with critical thinking skills necessary for decision-making in crisis conditions. The paper explores the significant shifts in teaching strategies, content delivery, and psychological support mechanisms that have been implemented to address the pressing needs of educators. These adaptations are crucial not only for immediate conflict resolution but also for the long-term objective of building a peaceful society. By enhancing the quality of education for teachers, the study underscores the Institute's role in shaping a future that is resilient, educated, and peace-oriented for Ukraine and beyond.

Knowledge systems and social philosophies from Indigenous communities in the Global South have long promoted non-violence through a sense of shared humanity and community building, and as such are valid counter-hegemonic alternatives to the existing colonial, Eurocentric model of knowledge production in use. This article details the contributions made by two specific Indigenous wisdom traditions -- ubuntu and Buen Vivir -- to a non-violence education teacher training programme in Chile framed within decolonial epistemologies. Using participatory workshops as a method, this study sought to offer Chilean trainee teachers a set of tools to explore issues of discrimination and exclusion and to deal with tensions arising from these issues informed by non-violent approaches. Participants read and reflected on how these wisdom traditions could contribute to their own teaching practice and later planned and facilitated a session with their peers to help them develop awareness on the principles of ubuntu and Buen Vivir. Results show paradigm shifts in three areas: individual versus collective action; their perception of human interconnectedness and of our interconnectedness with the environment; and how these perspectives could inform their teaching practice to foster greater inclusiveness.

The current school climate is no longer peaceful because the prevalence of conflict and violence tends to increase from time to time. In general, students have not been able to resolve conflicts constructively, and the majority of student conflicts are helped to develop by teachers and administrators. Indonesia's education vision is towards global education and peace education, but peace education in Indonesia does not yet have a clear platform. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of peace education in developing a peaceful classroom climate based on school type and gender. The research approach used is quantitative with quasi-experimental methods and non-equivalent pre-post group design. The research participants were 15 teachers and 72 students who were selected by purposive sampling form vocational high school and senior high school in West Java Province. The results is that peace education in total has not been effective in building peaceful classroom. Partially, peace education is more effective in developing respect for female students in vocational secondary schools than male and female students in senior high schools. In the future, recommendations are needed to improve the focus of intervention, strengthen the competence of peace education for teachers, and target interventions that are carried out in stages so that a peaceful climate can be formed in schools.

The Fulbright Program is the United States' flagship educational exchange program. Since 1946, the program has been heralded as a program that promotes mutual understanding across cultures. However, the Fulbright Program's role as a U.S. Department of State initiative warrants further examination of how this educational exchange program functions as a foreign policy effort on behalf of the United States. This mixed methods study uses data presented in five years of data available in the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board's Annual Reports of the program. The study finds seven themes present in the written content of the annual report: Human rights, peace and security; access, diversity, and opportunity; collaboration and partnership; mutual financial investment; excellence as a result of Fulbright; program impact; and solving global problems.

Purpose: The Basque Country has been suffering political conflict and human rights´ violation for decades, tearing the social fabric. Human rights and peace education carried out through the testimony of the victims and their memory about this recent violent past can play an essential role in reestablishing the social understanding. This article aims to make known the experience of Adi-Adian initiative developed with the victims of the politic violence in the Teacher Training School of the University of Basque Country and asses its effectiveness in terms of critical thinking and empathy. Design/methodology/approach: This research is based on group discussion and personal surveys focused on students' feedback as a suitable method to analyze the way of thinking of students, their feelings and opinions about the violence. Findings: The results indicate that these initiatives implemented at school might be suitable to achieve the goals of human rights and peace education and deepen on democratic citizenship.

Purpose: The article explores the roles of war and violent conflicts in citizenship education. Approach: This is a theoretical article, drawing on literature from the interdisciplinary fields of political science, history, citizenship education as well as field studies in different learning arenas, war memorial sites- and museums. Findings: There are divergent roles of war in citizenship education, and the typology of five didactic perspectives illustrates the challenges concerning the types of citizenship it aims at. Narratives of war could produce and contribute to different forms of citizenship or even represent the opposite of the concept. Research limitations: Further empirical research is needed to develop knowledge on how to deal with war and conflict in educational practice, both in schools and other learning arenas. Practical implications: The article contributes to addressing and structuring the challenges and potentials of didactic approaches to war and violent conflict in citizenship education.

This research aims to examine the relationship between the influence tactics used by school principals and the organizational peace of teachers. The research was carried out with the relational survey model and the random sampling method was used. 307 teachers, who are working in high schools, participated the study. According to the results of normality tests, correlation and regression analyzes between variables were performed. According to teacher perceptions, it was concluded that school principals mostly used the tactics of complying with the rules and using personal intimacy the least. It has been determined that the teachers' perceptions of individual, relational and organizational peace are high, and the perceptions of disturbers are low. In the study, positive and negative significant relationships were found between organizational peace and the dimensions of influencing tactics. Influencing tactics explain approximately 52% of the variance in teachers' perceptions of organizational peace. The results obtained have revealed that organizational peace studies should be increased, while shedding light on new studies to be carried out in the context of organizational peace.

The purpose of this study was to explore college students' and educators' (N = 29) perceptions, experiences, and recommendations around cultivating wisdom, compassion, and courage as key tenets of global citizenship. Based on pragmatic research design and thematic analysis, we sought multicultural education approaches that could strengthen campus communities' capacity to advance peace, sustainability, dignity, and well-being of all forms of life -- all across the world. We have discussed the findings in the context of specific pedagogical practices focusing upon: (a) emergent praxes and curriculum to foster wisdom, (b) courageous dialogues for mutual understanding, and (c) restoring compassion and humanity.

This study aims to investigate students' awareness of the level, causes and negative effects of noise in schools through the utilization of creative drama activities. The objective of this sample application is to contribute to the development of a more tranquil and peaceful school environment. A single case study design was employed for this research, with the study group comprising 16 fourth-grade students from a primary school. Student interviews served as the primary data collection tool, supplemented by observations and video recordings. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the data, resulting in the identification of four main themes related to noise awareness: "lack of tranquility," "noise phenomenon," "conflict exacerbation," and "creative ideas". By incorporating the Visual Arts and Science curriculum, students demonstrated important life skills such as innovative thinking, effective communication, and analytical reasoning. Additionally, this interdisciplinary approach allowed for the attainment of learning objectives within the Science curriculum's sound unit, while also addressing the "Visual Communication and Formation" domain of the Art curriculum.

No preschool teacher starts off the year aiming for a chaotic classroom filled with squabbling students. However, if they do not have a purposeful plan, that is likely what they will end up with. Small changes can make huge differences, and a year started off right can lead to a joyful preschool experience for the precious children in our care. This article will present a plan for engineering the classroom for peace. This evidence-based, developmentally appropriate plan will focus on strategies to prepare the physical environment, set the tone, and be available.

This paper analyses the development of UNESCO's Mahatma Gandhi Institute on Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP), examining its record from global, national and institutional perspectives. The global perspective encompasses challenges to UNESCO's attempts to articulate a distinctive, humanistic vision in competition with other multilateral bodies. The national perspective relates to India, which hosts MGIEP, provides the bulk of its funding and exerts significant influence over its governance. Consideration is also given to the relationship between MGIEP's work and Mahatma Gandhi's ideas. Finally, the institutional perspective relates both to the author's own experience with MGIEP, and to information gained through interviews with others involved with the institute. It is argued that MGIEP's story illuminates challenges to attempts, within India and internationally, to sustain a humanistic vision of education in the face of powerful countervailing interests.

Schooling for Northern Ireland children has over decades been in denominationally separate schools, until an integrated system was instigated by concerned parents in the late 1970s amidst growing political violence. By educating together Catholic and Protestant pupils and those of other religions or none, the hope was to contribute to peace in a conflict-prone society. The first integrated schools were planned and government funded. Then, in the early 1990s, some segregated schools sought to transform to integrated status through a detailed, formal process. In individual, face-to-face interviews, 11- and 16-year old pupils (n = 20), representing both school sectors and both the main cultural backgrounds, described their experiences of learning side by side for the first time with peers of a different tradition. Both younger and older pupils could discern the differences between their previous (segregated) and current (integrated) settings, saw the benefits of accepting and acceptance, and perceived sameness as well as difference. They could appreciate the global perspective, understood the purpose of outward, visible changes such as emblems and school displays, and welcomed curriculum change, particularly in Physical Education. Pupils understood the value of having difficult conversations without acrimony at the same time as learning about and respecting others' viewpoints.

Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, in-person data collection methods have been considerably hampered by requirements for social distancing and safety. Consequently, academic inquiry has shifted largely to virtual means, leading to the considerable growth of virtual qualitative research. Conducting virtual research in post-conflict contexts, such as Sri Lanka, with increased state surveillance, security concerns, and censorship presents researchers with additional tensions, particularly during a pandemic. Limited literature, however, has grappled with these unique situations. This paper addresses this gap by reflecting on the process of conducting virtual qualitative research through a case study of faculty members in peace education instruction at Sri Lankan universities. The study drew on semi-structured interviews (n = 32), documentary evidence, and memos created during the data collection and analysis stages. This paper discusses the challenges and complexities of conducting virtual research within the intersections of peace education, post-conflict legacies, ethical dimensions, and positionality dimensions, which are interwoven, adding several layers of considerations in this context. Furthermore, the paper chronicles the key tensions faced: surveillance and consent, residual embodiments, and the choices made in response to navigate them. This paper concludes with a discussion around these tensions and aims to expand the literary discourse beyond the technological aspects of conducting virtual research. The study highlights the need for future research into residual embodiments, ethical and micro-ethical issues, and practical challenges in virtual research in conflict-affected contexts, suggesting that institutions should provide researchers with training to address these complexities and support robust knowledge co-creation.

This article is an effort to unveil how colonialism gets inscribed in research education initiatives during peace-building. To this end, we look behind the scenes of an education development project that sought to support a rural school in consolidating high-quality education during Colombia's recent peace process. We examine how, in our roles as principal investigator and research assistant, our enthusiasm inadvertently contributed to perpetuating the colonial rule of the state in an area traditionally controlled by revolutionary groups. To do so, we follow the project from its design and negotiation to the delivery of results. By depicting how enthusiasm may shape a researcher's reasoning, we aim to complicate our understanding of the research process and the enthusiasm that underpins peace efforts.

The issue of violent extremism has given rise to new policy debates in Norway. A key limitation of these debates, often grounded in naïve assumptions about the peacebuilding effect of education, is the downplay of emotions and dissent in democratic engagement. This article analyses how selected educators in Norway describe encountering and engaging with extremist students for educational interventional purposes. Previous research suggests that educational efforts to counter violent extremism can be exclusionary from the perspective of target audiences. In contrast, this study draws on agonistic pluralism to provide an alternative to understand educational approaches that may help students disengage from violent extremism. The findings show that the selected educators argue the importance of trust, support and tolerance when engaging with extremist students. For these professionals, education should not downplay radical or extreme emotions but rather place them at the centre of educational engagement. Furthermore, it is suggested that educators' empathic engagement may open the path for young people to disengage from violent extremism.

Peace museums play an important role in peace education by offering visitors informal and non-formal education. As sites of remembrance, peace museums are rich pedagogical spaces for experiential learning and reflection. Educating children in the spirit of peace, tolerance and harmony between nations has been central to the work of the Museum of Peace in Rivne in Ukraine. Whilst peace museums usually engage in peacebuilding and memory making in times of peace, post conflict, this article reports on the work of the Museum in Rivne in a time of war. Wartime brings difficult questions about engaging in peacebuilding in the face of military aggression and about sustaining memory-making work when violent conflict makes memories too immediate and painful. As explained in the article, the reinvigorated peacebuilding effort at the Museum in Rivne demonstrates that, in a time of war, it is even more important to promote peace, in opposition to war. Through the annual event 'I Vote for Peace', the Museum has sought to create a network of schools committed to global tolerance and peacekeeping, as well as offer Ukrainian children a space for talking about their experiences and their hope for a peaceful future.

This study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of diverse moral and value-based frameworks within the context of peace education. The selected schools represent three distinct ideological orientations: secular and faith-neutral (Roots Millennium School System/RMS), faith-inspired (International Islamic University School-IIUI School System), and faith-based Deobandi Madrassa (Jamia' Faridiyya Islamabad). Employing a comparative case study approach, the research endeavors to address several key research questions: What religious or moral-ethical philosophies underlie the distinct moral frameworks of each school system? How have these schools developed formal and informal strategies to translate these philosophies into practical implementation? To what extent are these frameworks influenced by specific religious worldviews and responsive to challenges in political, economic, or cultural spheres? What dimensions of peace education are encompassed within these values-based frameworks? The findings of the study reveal that all three types of schools possess the potential to foster peace education. However, each school employs a unique approach based on its underlying ethical framework. This study underscores the importance of considering the ethical frameworks of educational institutions when devising peace education programs and policies. Furthermore, it emphasizes the significance of cultivating an inclusive and diverse learning environment that nurtures respect for varying moral frameworks and cultivates critical thinking concerning ethical dilemmas.

This study examines the contribution of university educators toward prefiguratively creating tomorrow today in the higher education classroom. Educators often teach for peace and social justice through a variety of normative pedagogical frameworks. Yet, this linkage of pedagogy and prefigurative politics in university classrooms is frequently under-examined. Moreover, such research has not yet been conducted within the context of Korea. Hence, this paper investigates -- through a qualitative case study methodology -- the varied approaches to pedagogy for social change in Korean universities today, including but not limited to: (a) democratic pedagogy, (b) critical pedagogy, (c) peace and social justice pedagogy, and (d) decolonial pedagogy. The paper examines these intersectional pedagogies through the lens of prefigurative politics, which is understood as a form of praxis that attempts to (re)construct through education a more just society. Findings indicate challenges and opportunities that Korean university educators face today in teaching for social change in higher education classrooms.

This paper examinations the nexus between creativity and teacher identity in post-war peacebuilding. It aims to understand how infusing creativity into teacher preparation geared towards peacebuilding can help language educators reflect on their identities, values and their roles in bridging a fragmented society at the end of a war. Drawing on data generated from a visual ethnography carried out in the aftermath of Sri Lanka's civil war, one of the longest civils wars in recent history, this study explores the power of self-generated identity portraits in helping teachers to visualise their identities as second language educators. This paper highlights the potential of creativity and creative approaches to teacher education to help teachers articulate their identities, expectations, responsibilities towards their learners and challenges they face. The paper highlights the power of creative approaches to meaning making, especially in tapping into identities that are otherwise hidden and the need be for teachers to be included in larger discussions on educational reforms towards peace.

In Kenya there are an increasing number of applied theatre and peacebuilding projects taking place. Currently, the perspectives and experiences of those undertaking this work, on the ground, are not adequately reflected in academic discourse or in the processes of setting up projects or establishing modes of support and collaboration. In this article we address this by outlining findings from a series of two-day workshops with theatre practitioners. In doing so, we map the challenges practitioners face, the skills and knowledges they feel they already have, those they lack, and the future support and opportunities they would value.

This paper presents the results of a critical ethnography of literacy practices experienced by a group of university students, who perceived them as promoting social exclusion in the Colombian educational system. It also gives an account of their views about how this educational system could be more inclusive and contribute to peacebuilding in the country. Inspired by Paulo Freire's understanding of literacy and Hannah Arendt's political theory, the meaning reconstructive analysis of 46 stories reveals a thematic universe composed of three main categories: understandings of social exclusion from schooling experiences, types of social exclusion as lived in schooling, and social exclusion-related factors of literacy practices. Based on two discussion groups, and an analysis in the light of the theory of practice architectures, it is argued and empirically substantiated that ethical literacy, as a way of being-with-others, is a practice that must be at the core of an education for peace.

Drawing on ubuntu philosophy and notions of otherness, this paper and refers to, but is not limited to, the South African experience. In a relatively humanising turn, "Ubuntu" draws our attention to wider forms of interdependence with all that surrounds us: the dead, the living and the yet unborn, the physical and social environment, what is closest to us and furthest from us, the visible and the invisible. In this world of neoliberal globalisation, "ubuntu" emerges as an ecopolitical alternative. It is a form of knowledge that makes us more humane. To explore the educational legacies of Post-Colonial Africa, the following questions were asked: in the field of peace education, do we have more to learn from the culture of the ruler or of the ruled? However, "ubuntu" philosophy potentially represents an invaluable contribution to the education of anew humanity capable of implementing perpetual peace.

Teaching youth how to self-regulate is a focus of a trauma-informed school approach. Peace Spaces, including Peace Corners and Peace Rooms, are a trauma-informed intervention used to teach self-regulation skills to students. The current study used a Consensual Qualitative Research design to identify and describe the thoughts, concerns, and experiences of teachers who implemented Peace Spaces within a middle school in a small urban center of Pennsylvania. Results of qualitative data analyses provided insight into teachers' perceptions of strengths and challenges to the implementation of Peace Rooms. Additionally, using the school's archival data, the study examined how students were using the Peace Room. Domains from interviews with teachers included: (1) How Peace Spaces are Used; (2) Reasons for Using Peace Spaces; (3) Benefits of Peace Spaces; (4) Peace Space Strategies; (5) Challenges of Peace Spaces; (6) Attitudes about Peace Spaces; and (7) Future Directions. Themes from analysis of archival data indicated that students used the Peace Room for one or a combination of five stressors, with Peer-Related Stressors and Mental Health as the top reasons. Collectively, these results suggested Peace Rooms were useful to students who needed a space to self-regulate and/or talk through their problems with a trusted adult. Finally, the school's data indicated a downward trend in the number of referrals for discipline.

African countries experience a lot of recurring conflicts because the underlying causes of most conflicts on the continent have either been unresolved or tackled at the surface level. This situation leads to the loss of lives and property. Ghana's National Peace Council (NPC) is one of the existing peace infrastructures whose mandate is to educate the public on peace and conflict management. However, there is a paucity of literature on how this peace council educates the Ghanaian population on peacebuilding. The study, therefore, sought to uncover strategies employed by Ghana's NPC in educating the public on peacebuilding. Data was gathered through interviews and focused group discussions with participants who work with the NPC. The study also relied on secondary data, which consisted of recordings of peace education programmes through mass media such as TV and radio. The findings revealed that two main strategies are employed by the NPC of Ghana, namely, the use of media platforms (TV and radio) and socio-entertaining strategies. In addition to traditional media, this study argues that the NPC should utilise modern media, such as social media and the Internet, for peace education. If utilised, these two media forms would reach a much larger audience and could be used to prevent conflict in Ghana.social medi

We explored the potential of using a peer relations approach for researching children's citizenship in elementary classrooms. Children express or enact citizenship through their behavior toward classmates and the relationships they engage in (i.e., lived citizenship). These behaviors and relationships can be more or less in line with goals for citizenship education. We propose that, through peer relations methodology, these behaviors and relationships can be assessed systematically. In addition, some of the widely researched behaviors and relationships in peer relations research already closely align with goals for citizenship education. With this theoretical and methodological argument, we consider recent publications on classroom behaviors (i.e., prosocial behavior and aggression) and relationships (i.e., positive and negative affect) and their meaning for exemplary goals for citizenship education (i.e., solidarity, peace, and social cohesion). We show how individual children and classroom peer groups differ in these regards and thus in their citizenship and how these differences can be stratified by gender, ethnic background, and socioeconomic status. Specific attention is paid to the role of teachers, as organizers of the social structures in their classrooms and as educators who can promote citizenship. Finally, we propose new ways for using peer reports to study citizenship in elementary classrooms more directly and to discover potential avenues for teachers to foster citizenship through peer relations.

Purpose: This research aimed to assess the leadership role of principals in the implementation of peace education in selected secondary schools in the Western Cape, South Africa. Design/methodology/approach: This study employed qualitative research approach to assess the leadership role of principals in the implementation of peace education in selected secondary schools in the Western Cape, South Africa. Data were gathered from a small sample of six principals from six selected secondary schools which were engaged in the implementation of a peace education programme, and data were analysed using thematic content analyses. Findings: Findings of the study suggest that principals possess a low level of understanding or awareness of their leadership role in the implementation of peace education. The study pointed out the constraints such as time constraints and learners' negative attitudes and social influences hinder the effective implementation of peace education in selected secondary schools. Research limitations/implications: First, the data were self-reported and therefore subject to social desirability bias; participants may have provided socially desirable responses rather than their true belief or experiences. Thus, participants may have overstated their role in and commitment to the peace education programme. Originality/value: Studies that aim to explore alternative approaches to combat violence, such as peace education, are still limited in South Africa. Hence, this paper served to close that gap by contributing to the growing body of research on the leadership role of the principal in the implementation of peace education in the school and exploring barriers hampering its effective implementation.

This paper narrates the concept of Sustainable Peace Leadership and examines how three prominent Peace Activists from South and Southeast Asia measure up to the concept. The article will consider the works and ideas of Mohandas K. Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi), Lhamo Thondup (The 14th Dalai Lama), and Nguyen Xuan Bao (Thich Nhat Hanh). Mahatma Gandhi was instrumental in achieving Indian independence from the British Empire. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and has managed a difficult relationship with the Chinese government following the occupation of Tibet. Thich Nhat Hanh was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peace activist and is known as the 'father of mindfulness'. The paper identified several characteristics of Peace Leaders. These include being a charismatic leader who motivates their followers to achieve their goals in a non-violent and inclusive manner. Peace leaders meditate and spend time developing inner peace which then leads to outer peace. The paper also asserts that peace leaders are capable of recognizing the humanity in their opponents and seek a mutually beneficial solution. The three chosen individuals are all recognised as being charismatic leaders who were prominent peace leaders. All were deeply spiritual and practiced meditation and other inner work on a regular basis. They stressed the humanity in their opponents, based on their religious beliefs and the concepts of non-duality and interdependence.