Closing the gap in teacher preparation: Teaching peace to pre-service educators

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Teacher preparation through peace education and global engagement

Proposal

In the United States, there is no single national list of required courses for pre-service teachers since each state sets its own teacher licensure requirements, and each Educator Preparation Provider (EPP) (university or college program) designs its curriculum within those state rules. That said, there are strong common patterns across most Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) accredited programs and state-approved pathways. Typically, pre-service teachers complete coursework in five main categories (Barbour, 2024; CAEP, 2020/2022; Darling-Hammond, 2006; Zeichner, 2010):

• Foundations of Education;
• Curriculum and Instruction;
• Special Populations and Inclusive Education;
• Professional Preparation and;
• Clinical and Field Experiences.

Unfortunately, courses in peace education, human rights, and global competence are not standard requirements for pre-service teachers—even though scholars argue (Longview Foundation, 2025; Merryfield, 2000; Suárez, 2007) these are crucial for preparing globally competent educators.
So the question is – if we want to incorporate peace and human rights into curricula and policies, if we want teachers to empower students to be peacebuilders, advocates, and globally competent citizens, where do pre-service educators learn peace, human rights and global competence skills if it is not a required part of pre-service teacher education programming in the United States?

This mixed methods study investigates the requirements of pre-service teacher education in CAEP-accredited EPPs while also asking in-service teachers about the experiences in the pre-service programs and in professional learning for peace education, human rights education (HRE), and global citizenship.

The following research questions were explored:

1. What are pre-service teachers required to study to obtain educational licensure?
2. Are there institutions that require pre-service teachers to take courses concerning peace studies, HRE, or global citizenship?
3. What experience in peace education, HRE, and global citizenship did in-service teachers have?

Methods

There were two parts to this study – investigating the CAEP requirements and programs and then following up with interviews to obtain voices and confirmation from teachers. For the requirements and programs, a mixture of document review and AI-assisted research was used to isolate programs that fit specific structured queries. Once a list of education programs with peace studies, human rights education, or global citizenship was established, the researcher reviewed the university or college program website to ascertain if courses were required or electives. In a few cases, clarifying phone calls were made to the institution.

Teacher participants were solicited through an education program alumni group and a professional community (also related to education). Both groups contained members who taught in PK-12 settings. All interviews were conducted via Zoom. The 12 participants (8 female, 4 male) represent different American states and different subject areas. The participants vary in age, years of experience. I also asked if any had achieved National Board Certification.

After initial contact was established and an interview time was set, teacher participants were engaged in a semi-structured protocol with the researcher. Discussions were recorded. The semi-structured protocol began with questions about personal and professional explorations of peace education, HRE, and global citizenship and then moved to classes and professional learning in these areas. I also asked participants how these topics show up in their classrooms and lessons. Data was transcribed and descriptive and initial coding was completed. Codes were refined and another coding run was completed.

Findings

Results concerning the CAEP EPPs conformed my suspicion that peace, HRE, global citizenship are not required but only taught as electives at many institutions. Further, the requirements that many students have to fulfill to obtain initial licensure do not allow them the time to take additional coursework, especially if they are already working adults. When courses were required, it was usually through a social studies education program, although no U.S. state licensure requirement mandates a dedicated peace, HRE, or global citizenship requirement for initial social studies licensure.

Interviews revealed that each teacher had explored the peace, HRE, or global citizenship in relation to the population of the students they served. Teachers revealed curricular choices stemmed from the student population of the schools where they taught but also current events. While some schools were a welcoming place for discussions of peace, HRE, and global citizenship, other teachers did not feel the school environment was always open to these conversations as political climate and daily objectives were mentioned. Teachers also discussed a need for professional learning and pre-service teacher education regarding peace, human rights, and global citizenship as only 2 had received any instruction in their teacher education programs and almost all other professional learning was self-initiated rather than school or district led. Those teachers that did receive instruction in the pre-service teacher education program was related to global citizenship and not peace or HRE.

Significance

The study is significant to the field of teacher education because it investigates how our pre-service education programs are not providing pre-service teachers with the skills to have discussion of peace, HRE, and global citizenship with students. If we want to empower students to be peacemakers, it is imperative to educate the teachers who are in the classrooms with them, especially in an often-hostile political climate and a polarized world. The study is significant to the conference theme because it exposes a gap in the United States that will be a detriment to humanity later. As paraphrased from Nelson Mandela, if we don’t teach our students peace, we lose the ability to create an environment where all can flourish.

Author

• Kimberley Daly, George Mason University