by
Maja Uzelac
Peace
"The way we define our world actually creates our world. Our words and concepts are incredibly powerful and you and I must become conscious of how we use them to create reality."1
Look at the words which mean peace in different languages and listen how they
sound:
How do we imagine peace? What is your conception?
Put down a few of your definitions to give yourself a sense of your own
power to create reality. How you define life is intimately connected
to what you already have experienced and to what you will experience in
the future. What is your definition of:
SAFE? CONFLICT? PEACE? and ENEMY? Let's spend a little time writing just one
word for each of the questionmarks. Don't analyze this too much, please.
Now I want you to know how I use some of these words to create a new way of
thinking about old "truths". (These "redefinitions" are not mine, I took
them from those more experienced and inventive peace authors.) Here are for
example - "safe" and "peace".
SAFE: Feeling of warmth and connectedness, feeling WITH, feeling in
harmony with other beings in one's environment, feeling challenging,
not requiring protection.
PEACE: Feeling in a safe space; to be in concord with yourself, with
other beings and with nature; a sense of "interbeing"
Now we can look at the common way of thinking about peace. For the most people peace is not only inner state of mind, but a cultural, judicial, political, social and socio-economic phenomenon. The result is that peace is considered to belong to the area of social sciences which indeed have made a great contribution in the analysis of community building relationships with their study of conflicts. Let us look at some of these most frequently used definitions of peace, and try to find which (if any) of these sentences suits us ("our" word for peace) the best.
Lawyers would insist that the solution to conflicts depends upon the transformation of the judicial concept of a fair war into that of the right to peace - or, in other words, the transformation of the law of force into the force of the law.2
The first idea of peace is considered as utopian and idealistic and
stressing passivity. Peace is some kind of blissful, mellow state which
we may get to "someday" - and where we are all so nice and agreeing on
everything (and we may keep killing each other because those others
aren't fitting into our fantasy of what peace is supposed to
look like).
The second idea of peace is seen within the war-peace opposition. Peace is an
interim between wars. Peace is the opportunity to heal the wounded, bury the dead
and sharpen our swords so we'll be ready for the next battle when it inevitably
comes.
UNESCO's Constitution states: "Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed". Here is the idea of peace meant as a state opposite to war, and - if the minds of men were meant as personal, internal qualities - peace is an inner state of being.
Since 1993 I have been involved with the through international nongovernmental
organisation activities and projects of teacher's trainings
in peace education and conflict resolution. More than three years of organizing
workshops and seminars on nonviolence within Croatia - in all crises or war zones
(such as Karlovac Zadar, Biograd, Dubrovnik, Pakrac, Osijek, Gospic, Zupanja) for
about 2000 teachers, pedagogues, psychologists, social workers and other
professionals and paraprofessionals (a lot of them under stress) with a small group of
peace education trainers and activists - have given me an experience which
completely changed my inner world model and my way of thinking. For me - peace
is a very dynamic, difficult, alive process in which the inner feeling that you are
just where you're supposed to be (= to be in harmony with yourself) is very much
connected with cooperative and shared creativity, dealing with one another with
respect (= to be in harmony with others) and thus with your environment undestood as
(natural, cultural, national, religious and/or global). You don't need to be
necessarily "nice" or quiet or unconfused; in fact this new experience of
peacefulness could exist right in the midst of a conflict which leads towards
greater understanding and mutual respect.
"The approach of those who work for peace, is the following:
Peace Education
What I have experienced as a peace education trainer, during the war and after the
war in Croatia, is this: peace education gave me (and my participants - teachers
and students) empowerment and hope. Giving lectures and workshops in conflict
resolution and peace education I realized that this non-educational goal was more
important than the development of "conflict literacy". I shall not focus on the
difficulties we had as volunteers in peace education: it is not hard to understand that
midst in the war, when the people were full of hatred and fear, and when the
Croatian government was fighting for international acknowledgment of independence -
it was not easy to inspire the spirit of tolerance, mutual trust and intercultural and
interconfessional connections between people.
The word peace was not liked, it was suspicious. In 1994 I visited Northern Ireland
and I saw very similar hatred and mistrust between Catholics and Protestants. I saw
big walls between the two communities in Belfast and I was shocked by the fact that
other peoples and other countries suffer from the same desease.. From the distance I
could understand much better our situation. And I saw how powerful and effective is
Quaker peace education projec, of Corrymeela center and the work with children. It has
been said that Corrymeela is an attitude of mind and a way of life.4 I got
inspiration and I learned a lot from the books of The Churches' Peace Education
Programme /"Peacemakers", "Power To Hurt", "Power To Heal" etc./.
I was encouraged. Because I realized that political conflict could be solved by other
means and not by only political solutions.
What is peace education?
It is a conscious attempt to construct the peace between people, inside people, and between people and nature. I saw in my peace education practice as well as in the mirror of Northern Ireland that being at peace with oneself (inner ecology), at peace with others (social ecology) and living in peace with the environment/nature (planetary ecology) are 3 inseparable parts of the peace concept5 building a new, more holistic paradigm.
Peace education has to be stressed as a process too, and not a quick-fix solution to
the problems of the world. It is affirming the worth of each person, developing a
sense for self-esteem and value, the skill of non-judgmental listening, and working
together in a cooperative climate without winners and losers. "It is about never
missing an opportunity to give responsibility to children", as Tom Leimdorfer, peace
education worker for the Quakers, says.
Peace education fits in to the new paradigm of education. The following model will try
describe it.
| OLD PARADIGM emphasis on content given information learning as product priorily on performance |
NEW PARADIGM emphasis on process personal responsibility learning as journey priority on self-image |
What does peace education teach?
Most of us were educated in ways which encouraged competition and conformity.
Neither of these gives us the skills to resolve conflicts constructively,
without inflicting hurt on others. So peace ebucation develops attitudes
and behaviors which foster a
creative conflict resolution at every level - from marriage and
the family, through our
social and business affairs, ethnic and religious relationships,
to government and the international scene.6
It teaches about conflict as a danger and as an opportunity
for new relationships,
about conflict as a normal everyday life fact. And it teaches about
peace as an
active process. "There is a world of difference
between pacifism and passivity."7
A conflict can be presented in a form of a triangle with A,B,C corners.
A means
attitudes, B - behavior and C - conflict issues. Whatever occurs at
any of these
corners affects both the others. Different parts of peace education
concentrate on
each corner. Some universities in the world have specialist
departments in peace and
conflict studies, which analyse the common features of conflict at
differenl levels, from
personal to the international. But three parts of peace education
should not be taught
by giving information.
You have to teach by creating the situations through which
the students can examine their attitudes
and behaviour. They learn from their own experience.
Such workshops have been
developing for many years, and UNICEF currently looks for
ways of assessing what
difference they make in pupil's actual behaviour.
If the time permits, I would like to tell you more about
one of such projects carried
out by Croatian Ministry of Education, Care Canada and UNICEF in 3 schools in
Croatia: one in Pakrac and two in Osijek. It was a pilot
training and research project
involving upper level elementary school pupils (Fifth Graders)
and aimed to provide
data and resources concerning trauma, conflict resolution,
bias and prejudices and
children rights that could be disseminated
to other areas of Croatia and even to the other parts of former
Yugoslavia. Three of us - a teacher, psychologist and pedagogue - prepared a
manual /Za Damire i Nemire, A Door To Nonviolence/ which
included all three parts
of peace education: attitudes, behaviour and
conflict issues plus aclivities for trauma
healing. The training program was designed for 20
sessions with children, and after
the initial teachers training the teachers
themselves decided who would start with the
programme. At 4 schools all teachers, headmasters and parents were informed
and
involved in the planning and implementation of the project.
The peace education
programme started in the second half of the schoolyear (ending in
June 1996) with
final testing). It might be thought by some that plans to
evaluate attitudes and
behaviour are inappropriate in a time of crisis. But if
the teachers, parents and
children are involved in the planning and developing
programme - and the instruments
are made so that the children are "listened to" - they whole process is a great
success. I had three supervisions in Pakrac school
(with 3 groups of children) and
one in Osijek, and I was surprised by children's and teacher's
feedback, enthusiasm
and changes in social atmosphere anb relationships between children.
You must take
into consideration that Pakrac was one of the heaviest war zones and in these
classrooms are children from different sides it means, Croatian and
Serbian children.
I coulonl believe my eyes and ears how sensitive ana approachable were the
children to the training. It was for me the real evaluation. The
results of the research
are not available yet.
Due to the unfortunate circumstances - I mean war in Croatia - there
have been a lot of projects of peace education supported by national
and international organisations as well as a lot of different approaches to
peace education.
The majority of peace education initiatives was carried out in front line
cities. They have been done in a form of extra-curricular activities at
primary school level.
Due to the war constant conflicts and disintegration of social values in
their environment, the children are not able to satisfy their psycho-social
needs and the cosequance is: poorer school performance, restlessness
and conflict behaviour. The sensitiveness of desplaced population to war
trauma (panic when leaving homes, loss of parents, other members of
the family or friends...) was often in danger to turn into potential or open
agression on the basis of general psychological mechanisms. The
children in Croatian schools are more agressive today than before the
war.
I would like to mention only one peace-education model called Savonskl
Brod Model (front line city in Eastern Slavonia), where the teachers made
immediate experience in peace education with school children during the
hardships of the war - confirming that creativity and art has an immense
power to protect from war reality, and at the same time the power to
promote the values of peace and dialogue.
To create a distance between themselves and the reality of war - the
teachers and pupils started to play in the cellers and shelters using
creative and cooperative games and painting activities.
Slavonski Brod is a town in which every second citizen was a refugee.
Although almost every second day in the cellers - the children
from the primary school that carries the name of children writer Ivana
Brlic Mazuranic (called Croatian Anderson) have painted about 100
paintings with the characters from her stories. Children have painted
(during bombing) the walls of the school and a twelve meter long canvas
in which all characters from the stories - usually in conflict -
engaged in peace and love.
Slavonski Brod has also become a focal point for conflict resolution and
there have been organized seminars for teachers of music, art and
literature from other front line cities in Croatia.
There is aiso a big advance done in developing different materials in conflict resolution and peace education by Croatian authors, for example: "Sukob ili suradnja" (Conflict or Cooperation) - by Josip Jankovic, "Nenasilno rjesavanje sukoba" (Nonviolent Resolving of Conflict) by Nina Pecnik and Marina Ajdukovic, "Igrom do sebe" (games activities for group and social learning) by Buncic, Ivkovic, Jankovic, Penava, "Mirotvorni razred" (Peace Education in the Classroom) by Mira Cudina-Obradovic and Dubravka Tezak, "Budimo prijatelji" (Let Us Be Friends) by Bognar, Uzelac, Bagic, "Pomozimo djeci stradaloj u ratu" (Help the children exposed to war) by Ministry of Education Croatia, "Korak po korak do oporavka" (Step by Step to Recovery) by Baralh, Matul, Sabljak and others. This and a lot of voluntary work and readiness for the peace education training will promote and potentially institutionalize the understanding and practices of conflict resolution, bias awareness and peaceliving skills through a schools trainings medium.
Work on attiludes helps people to become aware of bias and
prejudice in themselves
and their society. Almost all of us have been hurt
by someone's prejudice, whether
against our gender, our ethnic or national identity, our
physical appearance, our
profession or our social position.
Peer mediation, one type of conflict. resolution being explored
in schcols in many
countries means training children to mediate or facilitate the conflicts
between their friends at school, rather than using teacher's
authority and the school
rules. This is a very clear example of peace education,
which gives people the power
to resolve their own conflicts in cooperative way.
Many schools are becoming interested in some form of peace education.
They may
see it as a resource for dealing with specific,
problem like bullying. It is effective if
he whole school policy changes: it means - that all the staff
and parents and pupils
know what it is and work together in harmony to create a climate in the
school of "This is a place where no one need to be afraid"8
There will always be conflict in famiiy, school, neighborhood, and elsewhere. Conflict is an inevitable part of life and the only way to achieve the much-needed changes. Violence is, I think, introduced into conflicts by people who are actually afraid of conflicts. Peace education begins at home. When the home has taught a child that negative feelings like anger and fear can be handled safely, and that agreement can be reached even when people disagree strongty - that child is lucky.
What can peace education do in the schools
and in the family / culture / society?
Early Christian church was pacifist indeed,
pacifism seems to have constituted a
major distinction between early Christianity
and both the warlike Roman empire and
the equally violence-prone Old Testament Jewish
tradition. Many early Christian martyrs
died for refusing service in the Roman legions.9
But we still have wars, somebody could say, and one of the most wicked and
sickening wars was this one you had here in Croatia and Bosnia from
1991 to 1996.
What is pacifism or peace education worth then?
It is up to you to find out the
answer for yourself. One answer is to start working on peace education.
Al the end I would like to share with you one wondrful story which also
tells you
the most wonderful answer for the questions you have.
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There was a big fire in the forest and all the animals and the birds were fleeing as fast as they could. They were in panic and feared for their lives, all that is, except for one tiny creature. The hummingbird was flying to and from a nearby lake. Over and over it went down to the lake, took a drop of water in it s beak, flew back to the flaming forest and dropped the water. A hawk came by and cried out scornfully, "What are you doing, do you think you will put out the fire with your small drops of water?".
The hummingbird patiently replied: "I do not think I will, but I will
have played my part."
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1 Danaan Parry, WARRIORS OF THE HEART, Cooperstown 1991
2 Ferencz, B.B, Keyes, K. PLANETHOOD, THE KEY TO YOUR FUTURE, Preface by Robert Mueller, Love Line Books 1991
3 Patfoort Pat, AN INTRODUCTION TO NONVIOLENCE, Nyack/London/Brussels 1990
4 Mc Creary, Alf, CORRYMEELA: THE SEARCH FOR PEACE, Belfast 1975
5 Weil, Pierre: THE ART OF LIVING IN PEACE, Towards a New Peace Consciousness, UNESCO 1992
6 Lampen, John: PEACE EDUCATION; AN INTRODUCTION, "Reconciliation Quarterly", 1994
7 Ulster Quarker Peace Education Project, Annual Report 1994
8 Lampen, John: Conflict-Busters, Hope Project 1994
9 Barash, P. David, INTRODUCTION TO PEACE STUDIES, Waldsworth Inc. 1991