How do we implement peace education into public K-12 Schools?

This is the underlying question behind the peace pledge activity that is part of the 10th lesson from an interdisciplinary curriculum plan designed by K-12 educators working across New York and Massachusetts. This curriculum was shared as part of the Spring 2026 Peace Week event hosted by the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. The moderator of the event was Dr. Rose Cardarelli, CEO and founder of Education for All Coalition, which provides education for children in vulnerable populations internationally.

The peace pledge promotes the cultivation of peace within ourselves, as an active process of action, and through exploring one’s identity. In addition, for high school students in particular, it can also aid in promoting the awareness of historical, local, and global contexts of peacebuilding.

Foundations: The frameworks behind this 10-week lesson plan are based on the following theoretical foundations

• Social-Emotional Learning (SEL): empathy, self-awareness, relationship-building

• Critical Pedagogy: Developed by Paulo Freire, analyzing power structures, social inequalities, and developing “critical consciousness” against the global systems of oppression

• Culturally Responsive Framework: Multiple expressions of diversity (race, gender orientation, socioeconomic class, nationality, and religious backgrounds) are recognized and incorporated into the learning environment

Benefits: low tech, fosters civil engagement, contributes towards a sustainable peace environment

Activity Overview:

Peace messages, initially designed for the elementary school level, are ways for students to express how peace can be practiced and to understand what peace means. Students will engage in a series of workshops designed to aid in their understanding of peace over the course of 9-10 weeks, before the creation of the peace pledges. See lesson plans below.

Note: This activity is intentionally designed differently depending on students’ age and grade level. Please plan accordingly.

Materials/Preparation:

• Postcards

• A Writing Utensil (pencil, pen, markers, colored pencils)

Step 1: Writing Peace Messages

Objective: After the lessons that allow students to understand how peace can show up in everyday life, the qualities of peace within ourselves, and the global and historical examples of peaceful actions and movements, students within lesson plans 6-7 will start to analyze the language and tone that underlie peaceful messages in the creation of their own.

Instructions: Students will have 20 minutes to complete their peace messages on a postcard. They will be instructed to write 5-10 sentences on how peace is felt to themselves (elementary school), towards their character and identity (middle school), or towards an example of how peace will be put in action (high school). There will be a series of prompts given to students to help guide their responses. However, this is a student-led assignment, so the student will have the autonomy to write down their own answers.

Elementary School Prompts:

How is peace felt through your five senses?

How can what we feel with our senses change how we feel emotionally?

Based on previous lessons, what would peace look like?

Middle School Prompts:

How does our identity impact actions towards peace?

How does our outlook on the effectiveness of peace change how we talk about it?

How is peace related to equity and equality?

How does peace build resilience?

How does peace build our character?

High School Prompts:

How can peace be implemented through personal actions?

How can peace be implemented in our local communities?

Why is peace as an active process so important?

How do historical and global examples and perspectives of peace inform your understanding of peace?

Step 2: Peace Pledges

Objective: Following the peace message activity, students will write 2-3 sentences outlining how they will take action towards peace.

Instructions: Students will have 15 minutes to complete their peace messages on a separate postcard. They will be instructed to write 3-5 sentences on how they will use peace to understand how they and others feel (elementary school), affect change towards themselves (middle school), or how peace actions will be done in local places of communities and support networks (High School). There will be a series of prompts given to students to help guide their responses. However, this is a student-led assignment, so the student will have the autonomy to write down their own answers.

Elementary School Prompts:

I pledge to treat myself…

I pledge to try to…

I pledge to respect..

I pledge to use my words..

I pledge to help others by..

Middle School/High School Prompts:

I pledge to treat others and myself by..

I pledge to build/contribute to peace efforts by..

I pledge to make peace effective by..

I pledge to use peace in my everyday actions by..

I pledge to use peace as an active process by..

Lesson Plans