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Move This World: Peace Education Through Movement

While attending the Peace Education Exploratorium this weekend, I had the opportunity to learn about many different pedagogies of peace at work in the world today. The role of sports and peace education specifically piqued my interest as one of the guest facilitators, Amanda Munroe, spoke about her involvement with  Move This World, formerly Dance 4 Peace. 

Here is a short video about Move This World’s work. Move This World Video! 

Move This World is a non-profit organization dedicated to using creative movement to transform conflict, violence and bullying in communities around the globe.  Move This World created an innovative curriculum focusing on fostering empathy, mediation skills, diversity appreciation, anger management and conflict transformation. With a need for peace intervention at all levels, Move This World operates with grade level specific curriculum. The curriculum theme for each age group can be viewed by clicking here! 

Founder, Sara Potler, began the program with youth in Bogota, Colombia. Promoting peace through dance, Potler began the formation of the idea that movement can be used to create peace. Today Move This World works internationally in Colombia, Germany and the Philippines and stateside in Baltimore, Newark, New York City and Washington, D.C. Move This World employs several different peace pedagogies. By working and learning students with whom we are learning with, community building is a play. By moving and working together, relationships between peers can strengthen and encourage a community of peace. The second pillar of peace pedagogy, engaging in multiple intelligence’s is played upon. Through movement via sports, dance or whatever gets students flowing you can engage in the body, music, naturalist and interpersonal multiple intelligence’s. By accessing these intelligence’s, students are able to experience alternative forms of education. These tools enable students to benefit by stretching their skills into multiple forms of intelligence’s. 

Ways to use this resource – Elementary & Middle School 

Incorporating movement in the classroom is the first step in introducing peace pedagogy into the classroom. By looking at the curriculum themes for each grade level, teachers can gear their lesson plans to whichever activities best fit their classroom.

Ways to use this resource – High School

While kindergarden through eight grade focuses on key themes to teach students, the high school curriculum focuses on facilitating students own leadership and peace building skills. The first semester hones in on understanding emotions, conflict and cultural diversity. With an entire semester of immersion into conflict resolution information, the second semester is geared towards fostering students own leadership capacity as they grow to be peace-makers in their own community. 

During high school I was involved in the PALS, Peer Assistance and Leadership, which fostered parallel goals as Move This World focuses on during primary education. This program was brought to my high school by the administration in hopes of reducing the increasing amount of violence. While other non-violent programs were simultaneously put in place, as the development of the PALS program increased the violence occurring within the school decreased.  To learn more about training opportunities through PALS, click here. 

Ways to use this resource – Become a Partner! 

If your school or organization desires to facilitate peaceful change through movement, please sign up to receive more information from Move This World by clicking here. Move This World works in Colombia, Germany and the Philippines and stateside in Baltimore, Newark, New York City and Washington, D.C. If your school or organization is outside these regions, Move This World provides many beneficial tools to use in your classroom, as well as great curriculum models to follow. 

The Playing for Change Foundation: An Innovative Approach to Peace Education

The Playing for Change Foundation fosters positive social interactions among at-risk youth through music education. Students have the opportunity to learn and play music with their peers in a safe environment, establishing community and peace building for youth suffering from poverty, infectious diseases, conflicts, genocide, etc. The foundation currently has 8 schools dedicated to fulfilling this mission in Mali, Ghana, Nepal, Rwanda, and South Africa. More information about this initiative can be found on their website: http://playingforchange.org/mission.

     This project can be expanded to elementary, middle and high school students in America. Many schools have had to cut their music programs due to a lack of funding for instruments, but I believe these programs can be just as important as the other essential subjects mandated in K-12 education. Playing an instrument can generally help improve students’ performance in math, in addition to introducing them to various genres and international music. It also offers a creative outlet for students to engage in, helping demote violent behavior and activities in and outside of the classroom. As a student, I recall required music education sessions in elementary school. By middle school, music lessons were no longer required, although concert band was an option. All participants were responsible for renting or purchasing their own instrument. Having free access to instruments, as demonstrated through the Playing for Change Foundation may create higher participation for students whose families are financially unable to provide them with an instrument. By increasing the number of music programs in schools, students, particularly at-risk youth have a safe space to engage in teamwork and personal growth. Learning an instrument and being creative does not only have to be an activity for small children; all age groups should be encouraged to participate in the fine arts and have the ability to do so.

     The concept of PFC does not have to be exclusive to schools. Camp counselors, Sunday school instructors, and other leaders can integrate music into their programs. It will be important for any instructor to have access to a variety of instruments, such as guitars, pianos, drum sets, xylophone, tambourines, etc. Guest instructors with a background in music should be invited to teach the students how to play the instruments. A small 20-30 minute session can be set aside for this activity during any given time of instruction. Students should be encouraged to create a song together in order to promote teamwork and to perform their song in front of their peers to boost self-confidence. Students who become passionate about learning, creating, and playing music will be likely to engage in music outside of the classroom, helping them refrain from violence when they are feeling bored or when facing a personal struggle.  

     The multiple intelligence pedagogy is relevant in peace building through music education. Some students are visual learners and may prefer to learn a song by reading the notes or studying written instructions. Others may learn by doing, i.e., watching someone else demonstrate how to play a song on their own instrument and then trying it themselves. Other students may be auditory learners, being able to pick up an instrument by ear or following spoken directions well. Regardless of how each student learns how to play their instrument, they all learn peace building, even if they are unaware of this, by working together as a team and being patient with each other’s different learning styles and pace of comprehension of new material. Students will not only leave their lessons with new music skills, they will have the skills to be more effective communicators by helping their classmates if they do not understand something. Having fun together while creating community may also be a gateway toward positive attitudes about collaboration, taking turns on instruments, and being patient as each participant learns through their own unique style.   

     Two stakeholders who would benefit from this resource are music teachers at my local high school and camp counselors for elementary and middle school-aged students. Music teachers can benefit from this resource by implementing these activities in their schools. They can collaborate with community centers or instructors at other schools to create after-school activities if there is not sufficient funding to hold a program in every institution. A camp counselor can utilize this resource by holding music sessions in addition to other daily activities. Camps usually foster the ideals of sportsmanship, teamwork, and leadership in the participating youth, so learning and creating music would be a great way to emphasize these concepts. Competitions between small groups of campers of the most creative song, as voted on by the entire group, can help promote sportsmanship. If students need assistance reading notes or finding the correct key on their instruments, other students can exemplify teamwork and leadership by helping them.

 

Fostering Peace Building Strategies in Youth

The National Crime Prevention Council offers a variety of lesson plans for students based on grade level. I found one that is tailored to teach children in kindergarten and first grade the basic concept of conflict and the benefits of settling them justly and quickly. The full activity can be found here: http://www.ncpc.org/topics/conflict-resolution/activities-and-lesson-plans/conflict-management-grades-k-1. Students are asked to express how they would feel when a conflict is not solved fairly and to brainstorm ways that they can do so in response to a variety of scenarios. The instructor then introduces resolution methods and examples that accommodate the age group, such as chance, taking turns, apologizing, and sharing. The children are asked to brainstorm their own examples of conflict, which they practice solving with the aforementioned methods.

I believe this lesson plan can be used to teach children peace building strategies at any elementary school level. The examples of the resolution methods can be altered according to the age group so they can better relate to the scenario. Some children may remain vulnerable to bullying and violent approaches to conflict after first grade; therefore, reinforcing these essential methods can make a significant difference in a child’s life.

How this resource can be used to teach children conflict resolution

This lesson plan teaches fundamental character and behavior, such as fairness, kindness, and sharing as conflict resolution strategies and can be conducted in a normal classroom setting. Educators may thus find this exercise especially relevant when they are focusing on the Six Pillars of Character in their regular lesson plans. No special materials are needed for this activity and at least 30 minutes should be dedicated to it.

This peace building activity pertains to the skill building and nurturing emotional intelligence pedagogies for conflict analysis and resolution, which are the ultimate goals of this exercise. Skill building is established when students utilize nonviolent approaches to conflict, such as listening, recognizing and accommodating each individual’s needs, and negotiating a resolution based on the identified needs. Strengthening these skills at a young age will help students be effective in conflict prevention and resolution as adults, allowing them to identify a problem as it escalates and applying their skills to develop methods to subdue it.

By asking students to identify how they feel during a conflict that produces an unfair outcome, they become more emotionally intelligent. Children who can express their feelings and understand why they feel upset or content during a conflict may find it easier to be aware of why others are feeling the way they are and how they can better accommodate each aspiration, including their own, during problem solving. Students with a firm emotional intelligence may also be able to better control negative feelings that provoke violence. This serves as a gateway for them to integrate their problem solving skills into the situation.

Through this activity, students will ultimately learn to approach a situation with a positive attitude and with the intention of resolving the conflict non-violently. In addition, children who are introduced to peace learning strategies may be less inclined to engage in bullying and more likely to use peaceful tactics if a conflict should arise. Two stakeholders whom may be able to effectively apply this activity into their lesson plans are kindergarten and first grade teachers at a local elementary school and my former kindergarten teacher who now serves as a guidance counselor. I will reach out to each to raise awareness about the conflict resolution tactics that their students can benefit from in this lesson.

Theories of Change in Education

Theories of Change in Education

Change Theories in Education

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By Merrilee Henk, WTWL Writer

Merrilee3Merrilee Henk is a teacher and life long learner. She has a background in psychology and emotional and behavioral disabilities. Merrilee currently teaches elementary special education and is working on her doctorate in education. She has written numerous articles on parenting, discipline, behavior modification, and other child related topics. Merrilee gives presentations for the Wisconsin Public Library Summer Reading Program for Children and recently began writing for eHow. Follow these links to view non-teaching related articles by this author: How to Attack the “After Christmas Naughty” and How to Change Your Life. . .Pick Your Vice.

Public education has been evolving with society since its conception, and reform efforts continue to drive that evolution. Reform efforts that do not address reform from a systemic perspective have overwhelmed public education institutions (Gabriele, 2000). Ravitch (2004) described the existing failure of many reform efforts as, “… forgotten innovations [that] continue to live in schools where they were introduced with great fanfare . . . schools are like archeological sites; digging would reveal layer after layer of fossilized school reforms and obsolete programs” (as cited in Jones, 2007, p. 189).

Different theories approach systemic educational change from varying philosophies, strategies, models, and methods (Gabriele, 2000), searching for the theory that will create conditions necessary for systemic change. Gabriele declared these conditions to include an “ideal-based, holistic, continuing, participatory, user-friendly, easy to adjust/improve, and emancipatory” for effective change to occur. Three theories of change utilized by school districts are institutional theory, free market theory, and round table theory.

Institutional Change Theory

John Meyer and colleagues developed the institutional change theory in the 1970’s (Huerta & Zuckerman, 2009). Institutional change theory is a framework based on the relationship between schools and their cultural environments. Society’s cultural norms shape organizational structure by encouraging schools to conform to the accepted rules and rituals of an institution. Scott (2003) described institutional theory as “[emphasizing] the influence that an organization’s cultural environment has on organizational structure and behavior, and it seeks to understand the ways in which cultural rules from the environment shape or constrain organizational action” (as cited in Huerta and Zuckerman, p. 415).

Established institutions, operating with rules and rituals that have come to represent legitimate schooling, become role models for other institutions seeking legitimacy. But not all institutions want to maintain the status quo and are constrained by societal and institutional norms. Huerta and Zuckerman (2009) cited the example of charter schools seeking to break away from the “long-standing institutionalized patterns of teaching and learning…” (p. 416). The institutionalization of the public school system has provided direction and limitations concurrently.

Free market theory

The free market theory proposes that educational change occurs as schools compete for excellence (Marion, 2002). The assumption that all schools begin with an equal opportunity to achieve excellence is attractive to proponents of school choice because it justifies the removal of their children from a failing school to one of greater success. According to the free market theory, the blame for failure lies with the school district.

Adnett and Davies (2000) and Lubienski (2006) proclaimed that federal regulations make it impossible for educational institutions to be genuine free markets, resulting in the failure of the free market theory in educational change (as cited in Eyal, 2008). Eyal deduced that a free market system, if possible to create in the public school system, would fail to produce significant change because the characteristics of the free market system would not create an environment conducive to change.

Roundtable Theory

The roundtable theory (RT) is a shared leadership theory for school change. Gabriele (2002) explained RT as distributing leadership and learning equally across participants. Involving stakeholders in the decision-making process through shared leadership can lead to higher levels of commitment. Gabriele described the ideal RT practice as being run according to a Leader’s Guide developed by consensus and periodically reviewed. The RT sessions would include a reading and review of literature on a topic during a 60 minute session, a time for participants to respond individually and uninterrupted by other members, and all participants would have an equal voice.

A change theory positively focused on strengths, rather than problems would be an ideal choice for school change. Gabriele described the RT model as based on achieving an ideal state, including all stakeholders, and being conducted within the regular school day. RT is an on-going process allowing schools to progress toward excellence. Gabriele noted that RT is a research-based model proven to lead organizations toward the “self-transformation of participants and goal attainment.
Discussion

Change will affect staff regardless of the change theory chosen or the changes proposed. Bueker (2005) stated, “One of the most difficult aspects of implementing a whole school reform is striking a balance between proper program implementation and individual teacher flexibility” (p. 411). Bueker noted that empowering teachers, treating teachers with professional respect, and providing structured and continuing support for staff, could minimize the negative effects of school change.

National trends, such as the accountability movement and federal mandates like the No Child Left Behind Act, can prescribe change. H. K. Meyer and Rowan (2006) described the affect that trends can have on education when they stated, “we might apply new institutional constructs that can account for both an evolving theory and its application to changing policy contexts, including the “tightening control of government over the core technology of schooling” linked to standards and accountability reforms” (as cited in Huerta and Zuckerman, (2009), p. 417). The choice for school reform can be beyond the control of the school district, the administration, and the teachers it will affect.

Conclusions

School change is constant. Eyal (2008) suggested, “despite the prevalent image of public institutions as highly conservative and stagnant, it might be interesting to investigate their potential as sources of innovations that are no less radical than the alternatives proposed by free-market ideologues” (p. 487). School reform creates stress on all stakeholders and requires careful consideration of theoretical framework. Vernez, et al. (2004) reported that there is little evidence to support the validity and effectiveness of many school reform initiative policies, which makes research of the different strategies essential.

An analysis of change theory models prior to setting a course is critical. The RT model described by Gabriele is research-based and proven to be an effective school change theory. The effectiveness of the RT model in practice, during the call for reform to meet the skills of the 21st Century, warrants further research on the applicability of RT in meeting the educational needs of the future. School structure will continue to evolve, and the reform theories proven effective by research will continue to be refined.

References

Bueker, C. (2005). Teachers’ reports of the effects of a whole-school literacy reform model on teacher turnover. Elementary School Journal, 105(4), 395-416. http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com

Eyal, O. (2009). Degeneracy, resilience and free markets in educational innovation. Systems Research & Behavioral Science, 26(4), 487-491. http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com, doi:10.1002/sres.940

Huerta, L. & Zuckerman, A. (2009). An institutional theory analysis of charter schools: Addressing institutional challenges to scale. PJE. Peabody Journal of Education, 84(3), 414-431. http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com, doi:10.1080/01619560902973621

Gabriele, S. F. (2002). The “roundtable” for school learning and planning groups: Planting a seed for systemic renewal. Kybernetes: Special Double Issue: Systems and Cybernetics: New…, 31(9/10), 1361-1368. Retrieved October 10, 2009, from Research Library. (Document ID: 277870851).

Marion, R. (2002). Leadership in education: Organizational theory for the practitioner. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.

Jones, B. A. (2007). “Table top theory” as a policy framework for gauging the confluence of teaching and private sector interests. Teacher Education Quarterly, 34(2), 185-204.

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Peace Journalism

While searching for a topic to write about for this post, I stumbled upon the concept and field of peace journalism. With my interest piqued, I delved more into the subject of peace journalism and came across this video of young woman named Vanessa Bassi at the TEDxLAU (Lebanese American University) conference who gave a compelling talk on the use of peace journalism in Lebanon. Over the course of the talk Bassil discusses the nature of journalism in Lebanon (and the rest of the world) and questions why peaceful events receive less attention in the media than violent events.

Because of the complexity and nature of the subject, this video would be more suited for high school and college students. This video is more of starting point that would get students and teachers asking questions about the portrayal of conflict and peace in the media and how much air time and exposure each one receives. However, the video does not need to be show in its entirety and showing a small clip can be the starting point for a more general discussion in a middle school (12-14 years old) setting. This video could be used as a starting point and a supplementary material for beginning a discussion on the media and how it can affect our perception of others and the world around us.

Ways to Use this Resource

This video and the discussion that would follow would probably be best suited to an informal discussion or debate that would occur in a classroom setting. Because this video is on youtube and therefore available outside of the classroom, it can be watched before class and class time can be spent discussing questions like:

  • What information was presented in the video?
  • Is it applicable to our lives and how so?
  • Can conflict be a good thing?
  • What exactly is peace journalism? What do you think it involves?

This sort of a discussion would be part of a transformative learning process that would help students to question the world around them and the current status quo of conflict and peace in the media. It would be a good introduction to discussing what it means to live in a culture of violence versus a culture of peace and whether the media fosters one or the other.

With this video and subsequent discussion, students and teachers would touch upon the three of the seven pillars of peace education:

  • Reframing history: Students and teachers would discuss why peaceful movements have not received as much coverage in the media and whether this has impacted whether or not people view peaceful movements as being effective. It would also help them question their own perceptions of others and what impact has the media had on their own world views.
  • Exploring approaches to peace: Students would begin to realize that working towards peace does not necessarily mean having to work in a formal, government institution and that peace education can be applicable in any sort of work environment.
  • Skill building: The discussion in the classroom would hopefully help students improve and work with their critical thinking skills by looking at the information presented in the media and how it can affect our perceptions of the world. It would also encourage the use of intrapersonal skills and prompt students to look inwards and examine how their own views about conflict and peace have been affected by the media.

Students and teachers who use this resource can benefit from the ideas it presents and the subsequent discussion because it encourages everyone to examine the role of media in our lives and its effect on our opinions. Perhaps this resource can also be used by prospective journalism students who, understanding the effect of media on our daily lives, are looking to use their skills and potential careers in a way that has a positive effect on their communities- much like Vanessa Bassil did.

Let’s Talk About It!

SchoolTalk was introduced to me when the Executive Director of SchoolTalk, Leila Peterson, came to speak to my Conflict Organizations and Actors class at George Mason University in the Fall of 2012. SchoolTalk works to provide a safe place for families to resolve concerns regarding special education identification, assessment and service delivery. After hearing about SchoolTalk’s benefit to DC public schools, I researched them online to find more information about what they do. While SchoolTalk is a valuable resource to the families, teachers and students in DC public schools, they also provide training services which would benefit educators and families impacted by children with special needs. 

SchoolTalk is designed primarily for educators and parents with special needs children, however their trainings in conflict resolution techniques is applicable in many fields. The goal of SchoolTalk is to create better forms of communication between parents and administrators regarding the delivery of special education services for students. The conflict resolution techniques SchoolTalk provides can provide informal activities tailored to students with special needs or more formal trainings to the parents/guardians of children with special needs. 

Ways to use this resource:

Educators and parents can use the material they learn online or schedule a training with SchoolTalk. To fully implement this resource, participants must be willing and open to hear about alternative ways to resolve conflicts regarding special education. Encouraging a partnership with SchoolTalk reinforces one of the pillars in peace pedagogy, exploring approaches to peace. 

Parents and students who engage in SchoolTalk training and lessons would be able to foster patience with the public education system as well as straightening conflict resolution skills. By utilizing this resource, the communication between faculty and students can become more peaceful, contributing to a more peaceful classroom environment. 

Strange Days on Planet Earth

POSTED ON BEHALF OF KATIE KASSOF

“Strange Days on Planet Earth”, a special miniseries produced by National Geographic for PBS, explains the interconnectedness of natural and made-made systems on earth in an easy to understand way.  It’s formatted a bit like a detective show starting with a problem, like an increase in baboon population in Ghana, and traces it backwards to the root cause, like over fishing in our oceans.  Many global problems are explored.  Ultimately the show provides an excellent explanation of the ripple effect, something that happens in one part of the earth can have severe effects somewhere else entirely.  Two episodes are available on Netflix Streaming and the entire series (two seasons with six total episodes) is available for purchase from PBS online.  There are educational resources available for middle school aged students on the PBS website as well.

The way I envision using this film, though, is with a high school environmental science class, documentary film class, or combination thereof.  I think that by focusing on this film with an older group of students, we can delve deeper into the educational content as well as the communication styles employed by the movie.

This film will be watched as inspiration for a one to two month production project.  Since the film explores a problem and works backward to the cause of the problem, then gives viewers a solution to the problem, this is an excellent opportunity for the students to recreate the template.  They will research a local environmental problem of their choice, becoming an expert in the problem, its cause and steps to overcome said problem, and develop relationships with people working on the solution.  Then they will develop a targeted communication plan including determining their target audience, the format of their film, and writing the script.  Finally, they will create a 3-5 minute documentary which will explain the cause and effects of their chosen problem and present at least one solution.  Expanding the project might include creating other materials to go with the film such as a website, call to action event in cooperation with a non-profit in the area, or a screening of the film for the community.

This project will engage multiple intelligences by having the students involved in every aspect of the production process as well as building skills necessary for effective communication of a problem, good research habits, and technical film skills.

Drug Use Prevention in Schools

POSTED ON BEHALF OF AUDREY VAN GILDER

Thinking back to my own elementary and middle school experiences, I’m becoming more aware of the shortcomings of my school district’s health education approach. While it was no doubt better than some programs found in public schools (health classes were either required electives or part of the curriculum for several middle school years), simply inserting a tsunami of information into a school day filled with many other educational priorities is usually ineffective. Specifically, my health education about drug use and abuse was limited, outdated, often unrealistic and – generally – not part of a peace-promoting curriculum.

The consequences of such programs become clear later in a child’s education, when exposure to drugs and alcohol is more common. Among certain communities, a resurgence of drug abuse has many concerned about the necessity of reforming health education programs to be more holistic, inclusive and – although it’s not always stated explicitly – part of broader peace-based curricula. This UNICEF manual for educators provides an excellent guide to developing such a program:

http://www.unicef.org/lifeskills/files/DrugUsePreventionTrainingManual.pdf

It is general enough that educators can adapt or excerpt it to their needs, but also very thorough and based on self-evaluation, skills development, and reflection. I envision American middle and high schools reworking their health education programs to take into greater account the realities of learners’ communities, pressures put on young people by society, as well as the own self-determination, problem-solving capability and autonomy of students.

I think there are great opportunities to encourage introspection and creativity within drug education programs. Young students aren’t clueless; even if drug abuse is not of huge concern to them or their particular community, attitudes toward drugs and alcohol definitely change over time, and early drug education programs must take into account this transformation. This video was created by students at my friend’s high school to directly confront drug abuse in the community with honesty and reflection: http://www.neuquaondrugs.org/

A program called CASASTART addresses this by assessing risk, basing its programs on the fact that young people who lack human and social support systems are more likely to continue and intensify substance abuse that may not be as much of a danger to young people with those systems in place. You can read more about CASASTART and many, many other alternatives to health education programs here: http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Controversies/20070111184521.html.

Two of the pillars of peace education that such an initiative will address are community building and transforming conflict nonviolently. First, a realistic peace-based drug education curriculum can’t exist within a vacuum, as I believe mine did. Honesty and pragmatism is required on the teacher’s part, as is a safe learning space and strong sense of community within the classroom. Second, if drug use and abuse is understood as a likely conflict that young people will face, steps can be taken to transform that potential for conflict – and to avoid all the other conflicts that can follow drug abuse – before it even happens. If students are encouraged to be self-aware and resilient, and have a more holistic, peaceful, and informed idea of how they might react to drugs in real life, the dangers of drug abuse in a community will be lessened.

Gender Conferences in Guinea, West Africa

POSTED ON BEHALF OF MARG BRENNAN

One of my most memorable experiences while I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guinea was definitely participating in Girls’ Conference, which brings together teenage girls from each region of Guinea for several days of topics, ranging from women’s rights and roles, to education, to family planning and STDs, to female genital mutilation, to study and organizational skills, to nutrition, etc. A more specific description of girls’ and boys’ conferences can be seen through the Friends of Guinea website, which is mainly run by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and family members of current volunteers:

http://www.friendsofguinea.org/projects/gender_conferences.shtml

The video link below is from when I was a volunteer in 2009 and highlights some of the activities. Although this was not the regional conference that I participated in, it’s a wonderful view of the types of conversations and learning that went on at all of these conferences, and was put together by one of the volunteers at the conference:

The sensitizations at the end, although only in the video for a short time, were some of the most important trainings, as these girls go back to their communities and lead their own sessions and trainings with community members. The topics that were covered were things that Guinean girls often don’t ever get the chance to talk about, period, let alone educate others on.

This worked best in an educational setting as gender specific (both the boys and girls were much more easy about opening up and being honest about how they felt concerning all the issues that we discussed) and for at least middle school aged girls, although I would say high school aged is better, as they really have the capacity to have an understanding and strong opinion of all that is discussed.

The knowledge, skills and attitudes that I got to watch the girls develop over the course of the conference was amazing. Many of them had very strong opinions on the subjects, but had never been given the opportunity to have their opinions heard. The girls bonded with each other and really worked together to develop the skills necessary to be able to teach what they learned to someone else.

I had a tough time really choosing two pillars of peace that were the most applicable, but reframing history and skill building are definitely very supported by this event. These girls are living in a culture that is extremely male dominated: throughout every year in high school and college, the percent of female students decreases; several of my 9th and 10th grade students dropped out of school to be married (often as someone’s third or fourth wife) while I was teaching. There are about ½ as many literate adult females as males. Most girls are circumcised when they are children by absolutely no choice of their own. These girls were incredibly inspiring to me, as they had grown up experiencing what we would call extreme injustices and sincerely wanted to be part of a positive shift in the role they played in their country.  These girls also left the conference in general with an increased sense of confidence in their own ability to lead and teach. I facilitated a girls’ club that the girls I took to the conference were a part of. When they returned from the conference, they organized a series of plays that they performed in our community building for our town. They took what they learned and transformed it into a performance that both children and adults came to watch and understand. Watching how confident they were in their ability to pass along what they had learned was incredible to see.

What’s Good in My Hood?

POSTED ON BEHALF OF MARIA SCHNEIDER

Saturday September 29th of this year, several AU students and a GW student volunteered to work with 70 DC kids on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland for the day. The day was divided into different workshops: canoeing/kayaking, forestry, marine life, and art with nature. This day-long retreat was the kick-of event for the What’s Good in My Hood? Initiative that will take place at several community centers across the city, those being: Lafayette, Keilworth-Parkside, Harrison, Macomb, Trinidad, Benning Stoddert, Bald Eagle, Ferebee-Hope Recreation Centers, Palisades Community Center and Chevy Chase Playground. Click here for more information!

I was first introduced to the What’s Good in My Hood? program at the beginning of September when I was put in contact with Sean Miller, an American University adjunct faculty who teaches a course titles DC Healthy Schools in the School of Teaching and Health. Sean along with several staff at the Department of Parks and Recreation staff in DC have started this program in the District of Columbia through various recreation centers across the city to increase environmental awareness, love of the outdoors, and to empower elementary and middle school youth to be active within their own communities.

This DC program is similar to the New York Restoration Project’s What’s Good in My Hood? program that DC native Akiima Price talks about in this short introductory video.

The What’s Good… program is one that can be implemented with students of various ages ranging from young elementary school through high school. Though the current program is aimed at kids ages 9-13, it could be altered easily to accommodate older or younger youth with slightly different projects, and/or more complex themes and discussions. The New York Restoration Project’s What’s Good in My Hood? Workbook can be found here and downloaded for free to bring the innovative program to any urban community through a Peace Education initiative, school program, or community organized one as well!

Through the program students would gain valuable knowledge about the unique aspects of their own communities, natural and not-so-natural resources, living versus non-living parts of where they live, where they get their food and water, and most importantly how to stay involved, voice concerns, and take action for change within their own neighborhoods through community advocacy and writing to local, state, and national legislators.

The What’s Good in My Hood? program most fully supports the Community Building and the Exploring Approaches to Peace pillars of Peace Education. Community Building is key, because not only are program participants getting to know one another throughout the process, but they are exploring their own community spaces, and working together to create more accountable and responsible community members. Students explore approaches to peace in the way that they take action collectively through advocacy and various student-led initiatives towards the end of the program process in step five that Akiima Price describes in the video—Don’t Shout, Speak Out.