by Cheryl Woelk
August 20, 2011
On the final day of the peace education course, three groups presented their peace education "learning units" to the rest of the class. While there was limited time for both preparation and presentation, it was a good chance to experience thinking through, planning, and trying to implement a lesson from a peace education perspective.
One group designed a lesson for students about prejudice and building awareness of prejudice in schools. They used "experiential learning" to help the group feel the negative aspects of prejudice, then debriefed with the group.
The other two groups both looked at militarization. The first group framed their class around the expenses of military and its ineffectiveness. They asked provoking questions like, "What are the needs that military is supposed to fill? Has it done that in your country's history?" and "How could these needs be satisfied without military?" The group came up with some creative responses, like having a humanitarian response team to provide aid during natural disasters, and cooperating with other nations for collective security rather than national defense.
The final group led us in an exploration of militarization and military culture. They linked the ways that the culture which comes from military actually influences our daily lives through media, toys, organizational structure, communication, and social norms. Participants reflected on the ways in which they unknowingly continue the military culture and asked questions about how they could start to make changes.
At the end of the class, we were reluctant to say good-bye. It has been a good week of learning, sharing, and reflection on peace education. I'm sure that all the participants will take new ideas and information with them into their contexts of education.
