Engaging With Root Causes of Conflict and Constructing a New Ethos of Peace

• In Event: Rethinking the Curriculum Toward Liberatory Peace Education

Abstract

Peer-reviewed published literature was examined from the year 1965 to 2020. The author researched (1) School curriculums engagement with constructs of peace and conflict (2) Integration of student voices in peace education curriculum (3) Students’ interaction with the school curriculum. Findings revealed that peace education in classrooms has been mainly considered an interpersonal experience with a focus on redressing direct violence through peacekeeping (control-oriented) and peacemaking (conflict resolution approaches). With a connection being drawn between interpersonal experiences of bullying and social dimensions of structural injustices that are perpetuated within school systems, some empirical work demonstrates efforts being taken to engage with the broader structural issues of violence that are normalized to the point of invisibility in systems and cultures.

Author

• Kamiya Kumar, Teachers College, Columbia University