What Does it Mean to Teach Peace?
Depending on your age, people associate peace with protesting the Vietnam War, songs, movies and marches of the 1960’s, the time before 9/11, quiet getaway retreats, or their yoga class. So what does it mean to teach peace and howwould one do it? I think the why is obvious.
I have been teaching all my life – first more than a decade at the high school level and after that, college students. Most of my courses were writing, composition, and literature, but at a certain point in my career I heard about the field of Peace Studies, and I wanted to learn more. I went back to school, completed the most meaningful coursework I have ever undertaken, and began teaching peace. People frequently ask me what it means to teach peace, or even what specifically I teach.
Violent conflict is not inevitable. Just as people can be taught to kill in the armed services, they can be taught to use other methods of interaction.
Violent conflict is not inevitable. Just as people can be taught to kill in the armed services, they can be taught to use other methods of interaction.
Here’s the short version. Conflict is not bad; conflict is necessary for all people to have a voice, but conflict is not the same as violence. Violent conflict is not inevitable. Just as people can be taught to kill in the armed services, they can be taught to use other methods of interaction. Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution includes concepts, history, and strategies so that people can learn to stop being violent. My goal is for people to stop killing each other.
Course readings reveal misleading anthropological research which is currently undergoing revision. Humans likely do not come from such violent beginnings. This is a well-entrenched myth, but one that is easy to maintain by those whose plan is to perpetuate armed conflict. The course includes the CONTINUE READING: What Does it Mean to Teach Peace? - LA Progressive
