Learning peace (and conflict): The role of primary learning materials in peacebuilding in post-war Afghanistan, South Sudan and Sri Lanka

• In Event: Peace education analysis of learning materials

Abstract

This paper examines the role of primary curriculum learning materials in contributing to sustainable peace-building in post-war countries, using Afghanistan, South Sudan and Sri Lanka as case studies. Often in post-war contexts, education is seen as a contributing factor in peacebuilding (Lopes, Cardozo & Hoeks, 2014, Tebbe, 2009). Education systems have the potential to address and transform fundamental social inequities and injustices (Pigozzi, 1999; Seitz, 2004). Education can help invigorate war-torn inequities, cultivate peaceful civil relations and foster societal reconciliation (Maclure & Denov, 2009). However, education can also reinforce divisive perspectives among a fragmented population still suffering the effects of war (Bush & Saltarelli, 2000; Davies, 2010; OECD, 2008). Learning materials are among the educational inputs that can play an important role in maintaining and/or exacerbating existing insecurities (INEE 2012; Seitz, 2004). Textbooks in particular are seen as important agents in empowering individuals “to find peaceful solutions to their differences” (INEE, 2012, p.82). For education to have a positive role in the development of peace, an explicit and implicit message of peace, inclusion and reconciliation must be evident throughout the curriculum (Davies, 2004). The authors in this paper present three case studies that explore the role of textbooks in dealing with existing challenges and possibly creating new ones. The theoretical framework guiding this exploration draws from notions of schools as sites where social inequality and divisiveness are not only maintained or reproduced (Bourdieu, 1973; 1998), but possibly challenged and transformed (Giroux, 1983; 2003).

Research Design

Our research project takes a two-stage approach: the first is a literature review examining academic and grey literature as well as popular media sources for scholarship and reporting related to primary school textbooks, learning materials and curriculum in each case study country. The second stage will be a document analysis of selected textbooks from each country’s primary curriculum. This paper reflects upon results from the first stage only. Our analysis is guided by the Birmingham Education Security Index that provides indicators to assess education’s contribution to human security within a framework of passive and active approaches to negative and positive conflict (Davies, 2006).

Results

While recognizing great differences between countries, our analysis highlights common challenges and opportunities within five main themes, briefly described in the following.

Development Assistance
Progress made toward rebuilding the education system within each country may not have been possible without external assistance, but large amounts of aid have created systems of dependence in which establishing local ownership over curriculum and learning materials is highly complex.

Language
Within each country, efforts are being made to provide learning materials within local, historically marginalized languages. Unfortunately, implementation of these strategies is proving difficult due to low government capacity, teacher shortages, and the prioritization of English in spite of inclusive policies.

Religion and Ethnicity
Each curriculum has taken a different approach to addressing the extremely sensitive topics of religion and/or ethnic differences. Approaches include emphasizing a single unifying religion despite religious diversity in South Sudan, having primary students study their own religions in schools often divided along ethnic and religious lines in Sri Lanka, and the politicization of Islam in the Afghan curriculum to reflect the dominant political ideologies of the day.

Historical Context
Education has historically played a central role in mobilizing support and opposition for conflicting groups in each country. During the conflicts, the curricula reflected the political and social views of the groups in power. Since the conflicts have technically ceased, ideologies have become less prominent, but implicit biases continue to foster divisiveness in more subtle ways. This is particularly concerning as access to education is often prioritized over educational quality and content.

Governance
While each country’s government espouses the importance of education, the education systems are often characterized by corruption, fragility, decreasing financing and low capacity, including in relation to textbook development, procurement and distribution. These limitations constrain the government’s ability to implement policies of social cohesion and reflect a lack of dedication to values that must be institutionalized and culturally reproduced in the education system in order to foster long-term peace.

Conclusion

This paper illustrates the politicized role that learning materials play in efforts to (re)build peaceful societies in the aftermath of war. While efforts toward inclusivity and equality are evident in each case study, divisive, unaccountable and hostile elements are similarly present. These findings illustrate the necessity of prioritizing the objective of peacebuilding and inclusivity during curriculum development and throughout the production, distribution, and use of learning materials.

Authors

• Thursica Kovinthan, University of Ottawa

• Catherine Vanner, University of Ottawa

• Spogmai Akseer, OISE-University of Toronto