Teaching our Students about Peace

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Permalink Reply by Mark Cruthers on December 7, 2008 at 5:52pm

Power Point for Peace


Contribute Your Slide to World Peace

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Permalink Reply by Tom Kennedy on December 8, 2008 at 4:04pm

I applaud your efforts.

Check out the "Playing for Change: Peace Through Music" project, produced by Mark Johnson. Its a 10 year endeavor. At its heart is the idea that music is capable of uniting us all. Its a beautiful idea. I heard about it on Bill Moyers' Journal.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Tom

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Permalink Reply by ddeubel on December 8, 2008 at 4:23pm

Tom,

Yes, I've heard of the Playing for Change. Amazing and so wonderful. I can't wait for the movie to come out!

Mark,

I remember submitting to that presentation awhile ago!!!! Love it!

Please keep ideas and resources for teaching peace coming. We need these resources and ideas to effect change. The internet offers a channel to bring us together and see ourselves as more similar than dfferent. A smaller, kinder world (but it is a double edged sword, I know that full well. ).

All our schools should actively teach peace and make it part of the curriculum that we celebrate each other, our diversity and miraculousness. However at present, we just promote our own cultural superiority and difference. It has to change.

Establishing lasting peace is the work of education;
all politics can do is keep us out of war.
Maria Montessori

David
www.eflclassroom.com

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Permalink Reply by Todd Bryant on December 10, 2008 at 8:11am

There's a professor (Dr. Staub) at Dickinson College who uses the game Peacemaker to teach conflict resolution. He's been very happy with it. If anyone is interested, let me know. He's been fine with me passing around his syllabus in the past. bryanttATdickinson.edu

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Permalink Reply by ddeubel on December 31, 2008 at 12:45am

Our newest Peace Project video is from Turkey - a wonderful and personalized version of "Stand by Me"....

I hope other educators in the new year will check out Project Peace and download the materials and make a video with their students. It's easy as pie , helps kids in the message of peace and helps others learn English! Also, I have made an amazing video page of the world's best educational videos for teaching about peace, cooperation and conflict resolution. Public, take a look...


Find more videos like this on PROJECT PEACE

Happy New Year,
David
http://eflclassroom.com

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Permalink Reply by Michael L. Umphrey on January 1, 2009 at 1:17am

Good grief.

Be sure to contemplate Perfect Circle's take on "Imagine," which is sort what I always heard in Lennon's delusionary commercial hit.

Justice is the basis of peace, although that word too has been hollowed out.

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Permalink Reply by ddeubel on January 2, 2009 at 3:55pm

Michael,

Thanks, I appreciate that "cover" personally, always have. However despite what you may think, I believe the more powerful road for youth is that of song which is positive in nature. I"m not trying to ignore or gloss over realities but when deciding on the songs I'd suggest/offer on Project Peace (however a number of teachers are doing their own chosen song), I decided to reject any that were too overtly religious or also focused on protest/anger. It seems Perfect Circle is full of anger.

I don't see Lennon's "Imagine" as delusionary. A man's reach should exceed his grasp.... so said Shelley. There are important reasons why it should.

It is another conversation, as to why anger/protest is not the avenue towards peace. However, I'm a firm believer in cultivating our own garden - a la Voltaire. Peace starts today with our own actions and view of self. Not with anger/protest which in effect is passive and mere venting until self satisfied, emptied, we forget about the avenue towards peace until the pressure rises again....

"Justice is the basis of peace" -- I'm not sure. Whose justice? What is justice? I'd rather ask, "why do we keep picking up stones in the name of justice?"

David
http://eflclassroom.ning.com

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Permalink Reply by Michael L. Umphrey on January 3, 2009 at 4:59am

I wasn't suggesting either song for kids. I was just suggesting that Perfect Circle more accurately "gets" the reality that results from the vision Lennon peddled. If there is no God, then neither is there any reason. It's all meaningless. There's only power.

Peace? sez who? I'll do what I want thank you. See if you can stop me.

You're pretty much there: "Whose justice?" Indeed.

Imagine this: You've been accused of something you didn't do. The penalty is death.

Pretty quickly it will occur to you that the truth needs to be made known, and that people need to act on the basis of it. Pretty quickly you will have a burning insight into what justice is.

It's based on truth. It's based on rule of law, so that it's administered equally to all people The poor and powerless know what justice is; only the privileged forget. Have we failed often in the quest to establish justice? Sure. We call it injustice.

But if there is no truth there is no justice. Michael Novak wrote about these questions today. There is nothing to appeal to. There is only power--but not peace. Give your regards to Mr. Hitler and Mr. Stalin.

I don't advocate anger. I don't advocate protest.

I advocate truth. I advocate justice.

Peace,

Mike

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Permalink Reply by Vincent Mespoulet on January 3, 2009 at 5:22am

i agree with you, no peace with justice and respect of international laws... I think to all my peaceful friends in Palestine and Israel, smasheg by Israel Government and Hamas... Here is my playlist about peace with many french songs about Peace: one of them is "pas de justice, pas de paix", "if no justice, no peace...)

Découvrez Marie Modiano!

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Permalink Reply by ddeubel on January 3, 2009 at 5:05pm

Michael,

About Lennon. There are other opinions out there and I believe it a great song and message. Leave religion/G-d out of it. However much I admire Dostoevsky and his "without God, everything is permissable" -- I think that it is perfectly reasonable that people will do the right thing without some claim on the future or claim of higher moral guidance/authority. We feel it in our gut. There doesn't have to be a hereafter or herebefore for us to live together in peace. In teacher talk - we call it intrinsic motivation.

I really think the road to peace is multifaceted. It isn't about one person claiming to know what that road is. I'm very leery of anyone who says they "know the way". For me, peace is pluralism through education. Too few of our students meet, greet, know, converse, share with other students around the world. This cave mentality is astounding! Peace comes in this slow way of educating our youth towards tolerance and similarity - the similarity of all us humans.

Our school curriculums focus TOOOOOO much on nationalistic b.s. They focus way too much on how we are different than others (a kind of tribalism) and not on the fact that 99.9 % of that which we are is that which another is. We are all similar, we are all occupants of this space ship earth and we should work on it as such.

Peace too me also means renouncing all violence, all addition to violence and killing. Only when they come to kill me, will I raise my arm and strike. Outside my family, there should never be plunder, bombing, even "defense". It is men playing G-d and I say keep that out of it.

But I appreciate your thoughts and believe fully in the notion of truth as paramount to a whole different kind of human consciousness.

David
http://eflclassroom.ning.com

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Permalink Reply by Johnathan Chase on January 28, 2009 at 5:11am

John Lennon was an inspirational teacher and songs are an excellent resource for promoting peace and tolerance in the classroom. Stop by my profile and check out the music integration and social justice links and resources.

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Permalink Reply by ddeubel on March 8, 2009 at 12:45am

Johnathan,

I finally got around to a lazy afternoon and checking your page(s). Wow! Great stuff and appreciate the classroom ideas and songs. I'm going to highlight your page to other teachers on my site tomorrow. Bravo! Dedication like that deserves a voice.

Our Project Peace marches on. I have been astounded by the response though many U.S. teachers are reticent to participate because of copyright issues - despite my belief that this is "fair use". One of the most recent, from Korea is below. If you want to connect your classroom to the wider world and really do something creative and which gets the students thinking...try our Peace Packs and making a video.

Cheers,
David
http://projectpeace.ning.com
http://eflclassroom.com


Find more videos like this on PROJECT PEACE

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