EXPLORING MEANINGS OF PEACE EDUCATION

Get Complete Project Material File(s) Now! »

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW ON PEACE EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION

In this chapter, the researcher reviews scholarly literature on peace education in order to show the importance of introducing it in the pre-service teacher education programmes offered in Zimbabwean teachers colleges. For the purposes of this research, the introduction of peace education in Zimbabwean teachers colleges is regarded as an effective strategy for establishing structures and process for positive peace much needed in contemporary Zimbabwe. As pointed out in chapter one, Zimbabwe has been experiencing a negative peace environment for more than a decade and this means that there is an absence of positive peace in the country as a whole (Makuvaza, 2013:241). Scholars such as Bratton and Masunungure (2011:23) and Sachikonye (2012:xiv) have attributed the absence of positive peace in Zimbabwe to a series of political, social and economic crises that have afflicted the country since the attainment of independence in 1980. In agreement, Makochekanwa and Kwaramba (2009:6) assert that Zimbabwe has been very susceptible to a multitude of crises in its political, economic, and social systems. Similarly, Dube and Makwerere (2012:297) portray Zimbabwe as an example of a country in which conflict fault-lines can be felt at all levels of society. According to Murithi (2008:160), the persistence of conflict in a given society demonstrates failure by members of that society to implement sustainable and effective peace building and nonviolent approaches.
The aforementioned situation in Zimbabwe calls for research and for the development and implementation of long-lasting solutions that would assist in bringing positive peace to the country as a matter of urgency. There is need to change the current state of affairs because persistent conflicts have created political polarisation, societal divisions, and in essence undermined efforts aimed at national reconciliation and sustainable development in Zimbabwe (Sachikonye, 2012:85). Positive peace is required in Zimbabwe because it promotes national healing, reconciliation, peaceful coexistence, and sustainable development (Amamio, 2002:5; Murithi, 2008:5). Ezema and Ezema (2012:1) underline the importance of positive peace in attaining lasting development and in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. In order to address challenging conflicts that continue to undermine the establishment of positive peace such as the one in modern day Zimbabwe, Murithi (2008:165) emphasises the need for internal institutional mechanisms that support the building of peace. Peace researchers such as Harris and Morrison (2003:15), Johnson and Johnson (2005:283) and Salomon (2005:5) have strongly recommended the peace education intervention as one of the best strategies for institutionalising and maintaining positive peace. Bar-Tal and Rosen (2009:559) point out the importance of introducing peace education “when society members hold ideas that fuel the conflict and contradict the principles of peace making.” Peace in this context needs to be systematically cultivated through education since it is not genetically inherited or a predisposition in an individual or given society (Johnson and Johnson, 2009:224).
In Deveci, Yilmaz, and Karadag’s (2008:63) view, peace education is an important component of teaching tolerance, sharing and honesty to people of all age groups. Amamio (2002:17) reinforces this point by emphasising that peace education raises awareness of the origins and consequences of conflicts, and in addition provides people with the necessary skills and knowledge on how to respond constructively to conflicts. Peace education is based on the premise that if citizens have requisite information about the negative impacts of conflict and violence, they will renounce ways of violence and adopt peaceful alternatives (Harris and Morrison, 2003:26). Cardozo and May (2009:201) affirms that peace education can contribute to laying the foundation for durable peace.
Peace education is relevant and has been used successfully as an instrument for reconciliation, conflict prevention and post-conflict reconstruction in such countries experiencing challenges to positive peace including Australia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines (Johnson and Johnson, 2005:275; Zasloff, Shapiro, and Coyne, 2009:1). For example, Johnson and Johnson (2005:275) note that in Australia peace education has been used as a mechanism for promoting reconciliation and peaceful coexistence between the ruling majority and the native people who were displaced through colonisation. Similarly, Tidwell (2004:469) observes that in Mindanao, Philippines, peace education has been used as a strategy for preventing outright conflict between Christians and Muslims. In addition, Jäger (2011:11) points out that a research project at Heidelberg University’s Institute for Education Studies involving persons aged between ten and seventy-seven in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Colombia, Israel/Palestine, Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka and Sudan “has demonstrated that peace education work in crisis and conflict areas actually does help to make hostile groups more peaceable in their attitudes towards one another.” Peace education programmes have been successfully utilised to heal trauma in post-conflict Burma (Tidwell, 2004:469).
It is from the above background that the researcher argues for the introduction of peace education in the pre-service teacher education programmes offered in Zimbabwean teachers colleges in order to develop institutions and structures for lasting peace in the country. Teacher education in peace education is critical in developing teacher capabilities for implementing peace education in schools (Murithi, 2008:5). Ezema and Ezema (2012:1) point out that teacher education is vital in laying the foundations for positive peace. In this study therefore, the introduction of peace education in pre-service teacher education is considered to be an appropriate strategy with great potential to transform the prevailing negative peace environment in Zimbabwe into one of a positive peace, which facilitates long-term development and eradicate all forms of violence. The topic addressed in this study is as follows: Peace Education in Zimbabwean preservice teacher education: A Critical Reflection. As Harris and Morrison (2003:26) explain, the peace education strategy relies on educating large numbers of people in the concerned society in order to establish widespread support for peaceful policies. An essential strategy for educating large numbers of people in peace education is that of training teachers who would dispense it in schools (Maiyo et al, 2012:31).
Bar-Tal (2002:33) complements the above by stating that peace education is teacher dependent meaning that “the success of peace education is more dependent on the views, motivations and abilities of teachers.” In substantiating this point, Bretherton, Weston and Zbar (2002:3) emphasise the need to thoroughly prepare school teachers if peace education is to be successfully implemented. Thus, in this study, the need to introduce peace education in pre-service teacher education is based on the expectation that it will produce the best teachers who will be able to teach peace education in both primary and secondary schools in Zimbabwe. The researcher agrees with Maiyo et al. (2012:31) that pre-service teacher education is essential in peace education initiatives because “it provides the first step in the professional development of teachers and exposes them to new perspectives, knowledge and skills.” Brantmeier (2011:351) discusses the benefits of teacher education for peace including the creation of peaceful and safe schools and the promotion of a sustainable and renewable culture of peace.
In view of the preceding, it becomes pertinent to have a comprehensive view of peace education in order to determine how it can be introduced in a conflict environment such as Zimbabwe as a strategy for building positive peace. In order to facilitate discussion on the concept of peace education and its benefits to societies lacking positive peace such as Zimbabwe, the literature review in this chapter will focus on the following themes: exploration of the meanings of peace and peace education, goals and aims of peace education, peace education content and pedagogy, the need for peace education, the role of peace ,education in schools, the importance of pre-service teacher education in peace education initiatives and the conclusion of the literature review. Accordingly, in the following section, the researcher explores the concepts of peace and peace education.

EXPLORING MEANINGS OF PEACE EDUCATION

Peace educators such as Harris and Morrison (2003:11), Reardon (1988:11) and Salomon (2002:1) emphasise the need to have a clear understanding of the concepts of peace and peace education in order to determine the significance of peace education in conflict management and transformation. In Reardon’s (1988:11) analysis, it is necessary to have a systematic discourse about definitions of peace education in order to have a broad and clearer notion of its purposes, methods, principles and assumptions. Salomon (2002:1) has the same opinion that it is not feasible to engage in both scholarly or practical work without a clear understanding of what peace education is and what its overarching goals are. Peace and peace education are closely linked; and this means that it is prudent to define what peace is in order to have a fuller understanding of peace education (Harris and Morrison, 2003:11). Danesh (2006:56) concurs that peace is an important ingredient for effective peace education while peace education contributes to the creation of higher states of peace. Therefore, this section first defines the concept of peace before analysing the concept of peace education.

CHAPTER ONE 1 INTRODUCTION AND DESIGN 
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
1.3 RATIONALE FOR THIS STUDY
1.4 THE PURPOSE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1.5 PROBLEM STATEMENT
1.6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.7 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.8 CLARIFICATION OF CONCEPTS
1.9 DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
1.10 RESEARCH DESIGN
1.11 SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS
1.12 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW ON PEACE EDUCATION 
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 EXPLORING MEANINGS OF PEACE EDUCATION
2.3 THE GOALS AND AIMS OF PEACE EDUCATION
2.4 THE CONTENT OF PEACE EDUCATION
2.5 PEACE EDUCATION PEDAGOGY
2.6 THE NEED FOR PEACE EDUCATION
2.7 PEACE EDUCATION IN PRACTICE
2.8 IMPLEMENTATION OF PEACE EDUCATION
2.9 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER THREE THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON PEACE EDUCATION 
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 INTERGROUP CONTACT THEORY
3.3 THE HUMAN NEEDS THEORY
3.4 INTEGRATIVE THEORY OF PEACE EDUCATION 1
3.5 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER FOUR RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 RATIONALE FOR RESEARCH
4.3 RESEARCH DESIGN
4.4 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER FIVE DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 
5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.2 DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS
5.3 PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS (SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS AND FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWS)
5.4 DOCUMENT ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
5.5 COMMENTS ON THE FINDINGS
5.6 CONCLUSION
CHAPTER SIX CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 
6.1 INTRODUCTION
6.2 SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS
6.3 CONCLUSIONS OF THE STUDY
6.4 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION
6.5 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
6.6 SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
6.7 FINAL REFLECTIONS
REFERENCES
GET THE COMPLETE PROJECT