Educating for Culture of Peace-II

Social justice and civic responsibility (ages 14+)

By

M.VIJAYALAKSHMI

Assistant Professor

Objectives

At the end of the course the student teacher will

1. Understand the concept of peace education.

2. Understand the dynamics of transformation of violence into Peace.

3. Understand the nature of conflicts and their resolution.

4. Imbibe the knowledge, attitudes and skills needed to achieve and sustain a global culture of peace.

5. Adopt peace education in the curriculum.

Unit – 7: Educating for Culture of Peace-II

• 7.1 Social justice and civic responsibility (ages 14+)

• 7.2 Leadership and global citizenship (ages -16+) - knowledge, attitude and skills to be learnt - classroom activities

• 7.3 The role of Peace education in developed and developing countries - Adoption of peace education in curriculum at various level.

Unit – 7: Educating for Culture of Peace-II

7.1 Social justice and civic responsibility (ages 14+)

• Civic responsibility means active participation in the public life of a community in an informed, committed, and constructive manner, with a focus on the common good.

• Civic responsibility is to be exhibited in the following characteristics:

• Addressing society’s problems in an informed manner

• Showing respect as well as dissent for laws

• Recognizing the difference between legally-defined and culturally- defined citizenship

• Engaging in an active process that goes beyond passive citizenship

• Establishing a balance between rights and responsibilities

• Being able to negotiate differences

• Involving the community in decision-making processes

• Embracing the concept of participatory democracy

• Questioning governmental policies and practices

• Determining ways to alter public policy

• Recognizing the value and human dignity of each person

• Reaching varying degrees of political awareness and advocacy, ranging from basic knowledge (e.g., knowing the local mayor’s name) to developing a voice and making oneself heard

• Social justice is the principle of positive peace that complements the notion of peace as the absence of direct and institutional violence. Students can be exposed to explore issues of social justice by asking following questions:

• Why is it not possible for human civilisation, with its abundance of natural, economic, technological, and cultural resources, to provide adequately for the basic needs of all people on the planet?

• What are the roots of world hunger and poverty?

• What is the current distribution of the world’s wealth and how did it get that way?

• What is the average level of education for citizens of the world’s poorest countries and the world’s richest countries?

• What is the impact of globalisation on rural communities throughout the world? On organised labour? On the fulfilment of human rights?

• How does pollution affect the lives of women, men, and children in developing countries? In industrialised countries?

• What is the impact of long-term military presence on the environment? On child and maternal health?

• These kinds of questions illuminate the dimensions of social injustice throughout the world.

• Challenging students to increase their awareness of local, national, and global inequities presents an opportunity for them to become active in finding solutions:

• One way to increase their awareness among students about local and world issues is to critically examine news and media.

• The mass media have an essential part to play in the education of young people in a spirit of peace, justice, freedom, mutual respect and understanding, in order to promote human rights, equality of rights as between all human beings and till nations, and economic and social progress.

• Equally, they have an important role to play in making known the views and aspirations of the younger generation.

• Do popular media today live up to this standard? The following exercise allows students to investigate the role of media resources together and, in the process, explore current challenges to social justice. This activity is most appropriate for students aged fourteen years and older.

Learning Objectives

At end of the activity students will be able to achieve the following:

Knowledge

• Exhibit characteristics of an engaged citizen.

• Understand civil responsibilities

• Gain awareness of local, national and global inequities

• Gain awareness on the dimensions of social injustices throughout the world

Attitudes

• Demonstrate civil responsibility

• Display cooperative approach to learning

Skills

• Practice skills in conflict analysis and critical thinking

• Increase their ability to filter information presented in the media

• Practice skills of teamwork and communication

• Enhance their capacity for informed civic participation

• Exhibit leadership skills

Learning Activity 1: Types of Conflict

• This activity should be introduced in the context of other learning in the class. For instance, analyzing text and images in newspapers, magazines, and other media could be integrated into lessons on current events and social movements, etc.

• While the theme of this particular example relates to news about conflict, a variety of peace-related topics (such as world politics, the environment, health care, the workings of the United Nations, regional development, etc.) could also be investigated through the same exercise.

• Because Peace Education aims to connect learning rather than separate subjects, this activity should be related to previous and forthcoming lessons.

Step 1:

• Ask students to bring in media articles about a specific local national, regional or international conflict.

• Specify the conflict during class so that all students can investigate the same topic.

• The teacher should also provide at least two articles on the conflict taken from different sources that seem to represent opposing viewpoints.

• Students should be asked to find out diverse sources so that the class can understand the conflict from many different points of view.

• If possible, students may also bring in news articles found online, but they must always cite the source and, whenever possible, explain the perspective of that source.

Step 2:

• After all the sources have been collected, choose a few (up to five) of the most informative articles representing different perspectives.

• Then divide the class into three groups: a red group, a blue group, and a green group.

• Distribute copies of the articles to each group member.

• All students should write on their own individual copies because they will need the papers later on.

Step 3:

• Ask the first group (red) to underline in red any part of the text which explains the underlying causes of the conflict.

• Ask the second group (blue) to underline in blue any part of the text which explains the immediate or long-term consequences of the conflict.

Step 4:

• Ask the third group (green) to underline in green any part of the text that explains who is involved in the conflict, and then to categorise these individual or groups as the major “parties”.

• When the groups have completed the task, ask them to form new groups of three or more with at least one red, one blue, and one green member in each.

Step 5:

• Ask them to explain their text selections to the others, discuss the findings and draft three sentences to describe the conflict behind the stories.

• These sentences should include information about the root causes of the conflict, the parties involved, and the short and long-term consequences.

• Students should then share these concise descriptions with the other members of the class.

• Note that the same information may often lead different people to make different conclusions.

• If you have used articles from different sources or various perspectives, highlight the different interpretations that may be drawn.

Assessment:

• Students should be made to gain feedback in pairs about the activity and then report back to the class as a whole. Students should ask each other the following questions:

• Which part of this activity was most engaging for you?

• Which part was most difficult?

• What would you do differently?

• What is one thing you learned in this Unit?

• Flow would you teach a friend or relative about human dignity?

• How would you teach a friend or relative about identity?

• Do you think dignity and identity matter in your life? Why or why not?

Sources are taken from

• Slidesharenet.com

•Web sources