ENGAGING SCHOOLS IN THE PEACE PROCESS

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ENGAGING SCHOOLS IN THE
PEACE PROCESS
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DISCUSSION FLOW

• Assumptions / Premises
• The peace process expanding our frontiers of
  meaning (the Tracks)
• Why be involved in the peace process?
  Why teach peace? in loco
  parentis
• Education for transformation (the ABC of
  violence notions of peace)
• Toward the enabling and ennobling classroom
  Educating for democratic competence
• Drawing from inherent capacities for
  peacefulness
• Positioning ourselves toward the peace process

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Assumptions 1
1. We are children of our time
2. Our thinking tendencies

• Homogenizing our cultures

• Poverty in a vacuum

• People as statistics

• Distrust and blame

• Forget faith and spirit

3. Our peace educ. efforts not new
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Assumptions 2 (On Education)
Lederach, 1995

• Frameworks all-encompassing, sufficiently
  common and sharable,

• Skills- and process-based education

• Studies of ourselves and our cultures reduced
  to the level of technique

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THE PEACE PROCESS
GPH - MILF
GPH - CNN
GRP-MNLF
GRP-MILF
GPH - NDF
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• TRACK I DIPLOMACY
• Official governmental diplomacy
• A technique of state action whereby
  communications from one government
  go directly to the decision-making apparatus
  of another".
• Conducted by official representatives of
  a state or state-like
  authority and involves interaction with other
  state or state-like authorities heads of state,
  state depart-ment or ministry of foreign affairs
  officials, and other governmental departments
  and ministries

Track I I
Diplomacy
Track 1½ Diplomacy
Track III
Diplomacy
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Track I I Diplomacy

• citizen diplomacy
• multi-track diplomacy
• supplemental diplomacy
• pre-negotiation
• consultation
• interactive conflict resolution
• back-channel diplomacy
• facilitated joint brainstorming
• coexistence work

• INFORMAL INTERMEDIARIES /
  NON-GOVERNMENTAL ACTORS
• Religious institutions
• Academics
• Former government officials
• Non-governmental organizations,
• Humanitarian organizations
• Think tanks, among others.

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TRACK 1½ DIPLOMACY

• Involves unofficial actors (former government
  officials, or religious or social organizations
  such as the Church or the Quakers) who intervene
  in unofficial interactions between official
  government representatives to promote a peaceful
  resolution of conflict.
• Direct mediation or conciliation by unofficial
  third parties
• "Consultation" and facilitation of interactive
  problem-solving by unofficial facilitators.
• Facilitation of problem solving or
  confidence-building by official third-party
  actors among private citizens in influential
  sectors.

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TRACK III DIPLOMACY

• Unofficial third parties work with people from
  all walks of life and sectors of their society to
  find ways to promote peace in settings of violent
  conflict.
• Aimed at building or rebuilding broken
  relationships across the lines of division among
  ordinary citizens in communities, in a range of
  sectors.
• The premise of track three diplomacy Peace can
  and must be built from the bottom up as well as
  from the top down.

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Why be involved in the peace
process?
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Culture as a contact point,
a field of
contest in which all ideas, behaviors, values
and power structures are
legitimized / discarded,

foregrounded / backgrounded/

pushed to the
margins,

within the culture
that
successfully
draws the
peoples allegiance

or confuses them.

- Atty. Michael Mastura
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The Enculturation of Violence
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B
A
C
The ABC Triangle of Violence
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BEHAVIOR Hatred for the enemy, direct physical
violence, killing, torture, intimidation,
insults, etc.
B
ATTITUDES Feelings/ Values
Sources Hatred, fear, mistrust, racism,
bigotry, sexism, intolerance
A
CONTEXT System Struc Structural/
institutional violence, discrimination

(e.g. in education, employ- ment, health
care, etc.), globalization of economy,

denial of rights and
liberties, segregation (e.g., apartheid)
C
The ABC Triangle of Violence
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• ACTION
• Control the behavior
• Violence reduction to promote
  negative peace

B
A
C

• ACTION
• Work to change attitude and context
• Violence reduction to promote
  positive peace

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PEACE
NEGATIVE PEACE Absence of direct/ physical
violence (both macro and micro)
POSITIVE PEACE Presence of conditions of
well-being and just relationships social,
economic, political,
ecological
STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE e.g., poverty, hunger
Direct Violence e.g., war, torture, abuse of
children and women
SOCIO-CULTURAL VIOLENCE e.g., racism, sexism,
religious intolerance
ECOLOGICAL VIOLENCE e.g., pollution,
overconsumption
VIOLENCE
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• not just about
  the imposition
  of "solutions,"

but about
the creation

of OPPORTUNITIES
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• the creation of SPACES
  (political, economic, social spaces)
  in which indigenous actors can identify, develop,
  and use all that
  are necessary
  to build a
  
  peaceful,
  prosperous
  
  and
  just
  society

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• ATTITUDES / VALUES
• Self respect
• Respect for Others
• Respect for Life / Nonviolence
• Compassion
• Ecological Concern
• Cooperation
• Openness Tolerance
• Social Responsibility
• Positive Vision

Schema of Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes/ Values

• Global Concern

• KNOWLEDGE
• Holistic Concept of Peace
• Conflict Violence -causes
• Some Peaceful Alternatives
• Disarmament
• Nonviolent Conflict Resolution
• Human Rights
• Gender Fairness
• Human Solidarity
• Democratization
• Devt Based on Justice
• Sustainable Development

• SKILLS
• Reflection
• Critical Thinking Analysis
• Decision Making
• Imagination
• Communication
• Conflict Resolution
• Group Building

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Harmony / Solidarity
Democracy
DIALOGUE
Inter-religious / Inter-cultural Communication
Toward the enabling and ennobling classroom
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Democratic competence Living peace in the
classroom

• Diversity as a learning resource
• Diversity as a place for compassion and
  appreciation
• Diversity as a point of enrichment and
  celebration

Dealing with diversity

• Dissent as an opportunity for the
  exercise of reason
• Dissent as a venue for
  the search for truth.
• Dissent as a self-corrective mirror

Dealing with dissent
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Capabilities for Peacefulness
Spiritual Roots Scientific Roots Public policies Social Institutions
Spiritual Institutions Political Institutions Economic Institutions Educational Institutions Training Institutions
Security Institutions Research Institutions Communications media Cultural Resources
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Social Institutions

• Educational Institutions The possibility of
  basing an entire university upon the multifaith
  spirit of non-violence in service to human
  needs. (Barefoot College in India, Deemed
  University combining disci-plinary studies with
  community applications (pol sci village
  decision-making, physics radio repair, biology
  well-cleaning, Shanti Sena (peace corps),

• Training Institutions Institutions that provide
  non-violence training for social change, conflict
  zone intervention, social defense, etc.,
  including Aikido (Peace Brigades, Intl.,
  Transcend , Nonviolence Intl.)

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• Research Institutions
  Institutions that carry out
  research on nonviolent struggles for democracy,
  security, and justice researches to support
  nonviolent social change promotion of worldwide
  sharing of discoveries in research, education,
  and action

• Problem-solving Institutions Institutions
  dedicated to solving problems on nonviolence
  principles (ex., Amnesty International (vs. human
  rights violations abolition of death penalty,
  Greenpeace International (defense of the
  environment abolition of nuclear weapons),
  Medicins sans Frontieres (humanitarian medical
  care for victims of violence),.

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• Communications Media Books and media that
  educate for nonviolent social change, or that
  evoke non-violent thinking on various social
  issues

• Cultural Resources Creations of art and
  intellect that uplift the human spirit and
  inspire advances toward realization of a
  nonviolent society
  synergizing creativity for peaceful social
  transformation in the audio-visual, performing,
  and literary
  arts

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ALTERNATIVES FOR PEACE

• Academic departments
• University peace corps
• Universities
• Political parties
• Public service depts
• Common security institutions
• Civil society institutions
• Spiritual councils
• Problem-solving consortia
• Training institutions
• Leadership study and revitalization centers

• Centers for creativity
  
• in the arts
• Research and policy analysis institutes
• Media of communication
• Memorials
• Zones of peace
• Economic enterprise
• Centers for non-violence

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WHERE DO WE STAND? Our Roles in the Progression
of Conflict
STATIC UNSTABLE DYNAMIC
3. Negotiation 4. Advocacy and Education for Sustainable Peace
1. Education Latent 2. Confrontation War
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Some Suggested Entry Points

• Changing Attitudes about the "Other"
• Opening Channels of Communication
• Improving Quality of Communication
• Relationship and Trust Building
• Changing Perceptions of the Conflict
• Exploring New Options for Negotiation
• Changing Conflict Dynamic Strengthening
  Voices of Moderation
• Developing Social Networks An Infrastructure
  for Peace

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PAZ con Todo y Muchisimas Gracias !