I found this very short video on YouTube. They do sell the full video online at a cost. My inspiration for choosing this specific one was the fact that in my elementary school there were numerous bullies and certain kids were targeted.
Context
Although the video only lasts a little over four minutes it does hit some key points. I feel it would be best placed in a certain grade level. That grade level would be 1st grade-4thgrade. It’s important that young kids learn how to solve their problems effectively and efficiently. I wish I had been able to learn these type of skills in at a younger age than I did. I feel it would have been beneficial for me but for others as well. At the end of the day, I do feel that they fit better in the Montessori setting, rather than the public school system.
Implementation: I understand that there is a purpose to Montessori schools compared to public schools. My implementation would be to take the peace education section and somehow implement it in the public school place. As far as getting ready and prepared to teach this, the teacher from the Montessori school could do a workshop with the public school teacher and walk her through the steps. When it comes to time preparation, perhaps 10-15 hours of training for each teacher would be appropriate. I think a great way to do that, would be to cut out an hour a week and focus on peace education. I think it would be very beneficial. When it comes to the use of pedagogies, I think that using the allotted time and real time situations would be successful. During the allotted time, they could learn the material and substance. In real time, if there was an incident, they could be reminded of what they have learned and hopefully use it.
Goal- I think the basics of peace education are most supported.This would be very beneficial for these young kids to learn. Even though it wouldn’t go to far into detail, the students would learn numerous skills and knowledge. They would learn about self-awareness, environmental awareness, cultural awareness, and community awareness. By learning bits and pieces of each of those, hopefully they would be able to learn more about them selves and others. At the end of the day, they will hopefully be able to be more aware of their surroundings and adapt to them better. They will learn to be responsible and take responsibility for their actions as well.
Audience- I sent this to a past teacher of mine from Elementary school and a neighbor from home who specializes in youth peer mediation training.
While surfing the internet on Peace Education programs, I came across Teachers without Borders. I began to read what this program was about and I was instantly intrigued. The first thing that caught my eye on the website was the quote “helping teachers promote peace in their classrooms and communities.” Teachers without Borders is a program that focuses on getting peace education into classrooms all around the world.
The mission of Teachers without Borders is “Teachers without Borders connects teachers to information and each other to create local change on a global scale.”
Teachers without Borders is directed at educators and is a program that can be utilized within the classroom. The site has an entire page dedicated to teacher programs and can be found here: http://teacherswithoutborders.org/programs/teacher-programs
I think that this program can be implemented by teachers in schools because if they read up on and follow the techniques talked about on the website they could use it and make drastic changes. I think the first step in peace education is getting more teachers on board and exposing them to what peace education is all about. The more willing educators are to expose themselves and their students to peace education the easier it will become to spread peace not only in local communities, but communities around the world.
Not only would teachers benefit from this program, but students would too! The students can discover new knowledge and skills through Teachers without Borders, and although it may take a little more time it would be well worth it because they’re developing new techniques. Aside from Teachers without Borders being for educators and students there is also a need for volunteers which are just as important.
There are so many programs right in front of educators, so why isn’t Peace Education a more prevalent subject? For any educators or students that come across this blog, check out http://teacherswithoutborders.org/ now!
I stumbled on the One World Youth Project website while looking online for information for another assignment. However, I was very happy I did after reading more about the project.
One World Youth Project (OWYP) was founded in 2004 by then 18 year-old Jess Rimington as a link between her high school in Massachusetts, USA and a school in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The project seeks to effectively respond to global change. Due to global change there is unprecedented migration and the world is experiencing a digital revolution. However, schools around the globe are not preparing youth for the interconnected world. OWYP feels that those prepared to operate within this reality will see this interconnection as an opportunity and those not prepared will see this changing landscape as a threat.
To prevent this threat, One World Youth Project links schools around the world to build mutual respect and understanding among students and provide them with global life skills needed for success in the interconnected 21st century. This is done by the organization establishing a link between education systems. With each partner university, OWYP establishes a service-learning program-a One World Hub-on their campus for the benefit of their students as well as the surrounding secondary school system. OWYP provides a series of trainings that prepare university students as facilitators of cultural exchange between local secondary school classrooms and other OWYP classrooms abroad. After this training, the university students lead a Global Citizenship curriculum in local secondary schools, preparing the younger generation for the interconnected 21st century.
The fact that the OWYP is tailored for college students to help 6th through 12th grade secondary school students is perfect. These secondary students will feel more at ease with the college students, and the college students also get a chance to learn. For a year in a formal education setting the secondary school students learn through deep reflection on intercultural communication, as well as local and global leadership.
Ways to use this resource:
The teacher is ultimately allowing a college student to come in once a week and facilitate this communication for a year (2 semesters). The secondary school students connect with other classrooms abroad through video, voice, letters and the Internet. While students move through the facilitated program once a week in their classroom, their partner peers in the abroad classroom do the same. This connection allows for deep reflection on and constant collaborative investigation of intercultural communication.
The first semesters curriculum focuses on giving students the tools to understand their own cultures and begin the process of exchanging and communicating across cultures. From there the lessons move to issues of global connections and development by introducing the ways in which goods and systems flow around the world and to the concept of the UN and the Millennium Development Goals. Using these tools, students will identify issues in their communities and create plans to address these issues.
As the students move into the second semester with OWYP, students will continue to learn about ways to communicate with people in other cultures by analyzing different forms and systems of communication. Then they will be prepared to participate in collaborative dialogues to create change by identifying key community players and exploring ways to engage them in conversations around community issues. As students move through the program, these plans will turn into actionable service learning projects.
I think it would also be beneficial if the college students that come to facilitate also have one on one time with the students too. They could interact in dialogue or the college student could facilitate experiential learning activities so that the secondary students are also learning from the older college student too.
If a teacher wanted to set up a One World hub at a University near their school, or to find out if one is already established, they could email info@oneworldyouthproject.org.
The end goal of OWYP is to create a just world built through the actions of empowered, discerning and empathetic generations of global citizens. OWYP hopes to accomplish this by facilitating intercultural communication between students of different backgrounds. This type of peace project supports one of the seven pillars of peace education, community building. This pillar focuses on finding things that unite and bind us together as a group, while at the same time respecting and celebrating our differences. Allowing students from different backgrounds to communicate across borders will create a new understanding of what makes them both different and similar. Students that engage in the program will become well-rounded citizens that are able to operate in a diverse world.
This past week was the Persian New Year. Nowruz literally meaning “a new day,” is an ancient international festival celebrating both the arrival of spring and the beginning of the New Year for those who celebrate it. It brings with it the season of blossoming and renewal, happiness, celebration, traditions, and reminds us of our rich and vibrant culture. Afghans, Azeris, Georgians, Iraqis, Kazakhs, Kurds, Persians, Russians, Tajiks, Tatars, Uzbeks, and Ukrainians and other people of the West, Central Asia and the Caucasus celebrate Nowruz.
Today, numerous nations, peoples and tribes welcome it as an occasion for reaching out not only to family and friends, but to the less privileged in their midst – it is truly a day for all humanity. Being a part of the Afghan youth, I have a keen interest in the youth of those back home. It is the youth of a nation that will determine its future, I believe as a global community we should be invested in the lives of Afghani youths so to produce a better livelihood for the people in Afghanistan. The war in Afghanistan has had a negative effect on Afghan children, who have been exposed to extreme levels of violence and often see aggression as the primary means to resolve conflict. It should be in the best interest of the international community to improve the lives of children in Afghanistan, starting with equipping them with a proper education, especially peace education, to help them improve their livelihoods. Hence, I decided to write my blog of some of the organizations and projects I have heard about that promote peace education in Afghanistan and help those who are less fortunate.
Skateistan
Skateistan is a Kabul-based Afghan NGO, which is “non-political, independent, and inclusive of all ethnicities, religions and social backgrounds.”
Skateistan uses skateboarding, as a tool for empowerment in places skateboarding hasn’t existed before. It gives young people a voice and local people agency to shape projects according to their needs.
I first heard of Skateistan through social media. A friend had posted a video of Skateistan efforts in Afghanistan and it blew me away. It was an empowering video that showed how such a simple thing as skateboarding, which is so common to many youths around where I live, brought a smile to young girls and boys faces. It gave them an escape from the chaos that was occurring around them, and I was so happy to see these children actually be kids for just a few minutes.
Skateboarding in Afghanistan
Skateistan started in 2007 when two Australian skateboarders dropped their boards in Kabul. Soon enough, they were surrounded by the eager faces of children of all ages who wanted to learn how to skate. Stretching out the three boards they had brought with them, they developed a small skate school.
A group of young Afghans around the age of 18 to 22 became naturals at skateboarding, sharing the three boards and making it a popular sport amongst the youth. The founders’ success with their first students prompted them to think bigger. They brought more boards back to Kabul and established an indoor skateboarding venue allowing them to teach many more youth, and also be able to provide older girls with a private facility to continue skateboarding. On October 29, 2009, Skateistan completed construction of an all-inclusive skate park and educational facility on 5428 square meters of land donated by the Afghan National Olympic Committee.
Skateistan has emerged as Afghanistan’s first skateboarding school, and is dedicated to teaching both male and female students. It aims to build indoor and outdoor skateboarding facilities in which youth can come together to skateboard: “here, they forge bonds that transcend social barriers. Here, they’re enabled to affect change on issues that are important to them.”
How is this important to peace education?
This is important to peace education because it teaches students a new way of interacting with one another, teaching one another, and trusting one another. It gives them a safe haven in a land that has been tormented for years. It allows them to focus their energy on something positive and something that makes them happy.
The Afghan Education Peace Foundation
The Afghan Education Peace Foundation, (AEPF) a New York City based NGO, seeks to strengthen the security of the United States by rebuilding the economic and social infrastructure of Afghanistan. AEPF sponsors the education of Afghanistan’s best and brightest students in American high schools, community colleges and universities who will return to Afghanistan to contribute their new skills to the reconstruction. A stable and prosperous Afghanistan is key to American national security.
What Afghan Education Peace Foundation Plans to Envision in the coming years…
v Eliminating ideological extremism and acts of terrorism
v Reinforcing U.S. national security by ensuring the political, social and economic stability of Afghanistan and the region
v Equipping Afghan students with the skills they need to contribute to the reconstruction
v Creating the future business and political leaders of Afghanistan
v Promoting gender equality in education and the role of women in Afghanistan’s future
v Broadening the global view of Afghan students and dispelling myths about the West and Westerners
v Broadening American students’ perception of Afghanistan and its people
v Building, nurturing and enhancing cross cultural dialogue between the United States and Afghanistan
v Promoting Afghanistan’s economic prosperity, a higher quality of life, and greater connectedness with the global economy
Advancing Peace Education in Afghanistan
The United State Institute of Peace (USIP) Grant Program has supported Help the Afghan Children (HTAC) to administer a peace education program at seven middle schools in Samangan Province in northern Afghanistan. The program has been able to educated a total of 2,800 male and female students, trained 315 teachers, and delivered a comprehensive community approach to peace education using performance metrics and paired comparison data to promote long-term impact and project sustainability.
The results of such an effort have been tremendous. The average number of observable conflicts, such as fighting, harassment, and bullying, between students has decreased from 3,457 per month to 345 per month, a 93 percent reduction. Additionally, the average number of observed potential conflicts resolved peacefully between students increased from 100 per month to 2,960 per month. Furthermore, the number of teachers observed consistently modeling peace education behaviors increased by 95 percent. While the immediate effects of training are evident in how children behave in school, the Institute is investing in behavioral change that improves the odds that Afghan youth will apply non-violent strategies to resolve conflicts over the longer term, ultimately contributing to a more peaceful society.
Peace education has wide-ranging impacts across the local community, particularly on the parents of participating students. Seven hundred and fifty parents attended a training session to learn the tenets of peace education and how to implement these values at home, providing students a comprehensive learning environment and a community support structure.
To address long-term sustainability, HTAC also began developing a Peace Education Model that identifies key characteristics and features for the expansion of peace education across Afghanistan. HTAC’s important and diligent work has earned them the support of the Afghanistan Ministry of Education, which will become an integral partner in future endeavors.
I firmly believe that for peace to be sustainable it has to start with younger generations and on their terms. “Kids to Kids International” (KTKI) advocates just that. This very special organization believes in creating a global generation of students who are connected to one another through peace and friendship by creating their own picture books. These books are purely created from the imagination of American students, which are then sent to countries where kids live in refugee camps or don’t have access to books for fun. The non-profit organization started in 1996, by author Pat Kibbe while speaking at a school came across an article featuring a young Cambodian refugee holding his most prized position- a post card of the Empire State Building. She incorporated the story of the young child into her speech, the kids where so excited by this that they wanted to write to him. Realizing that he did not speak English one child suggested that they draw pictures. Pat Kibbe was so delighted by their interest that she was determined for the pictures to be given to the young boy. When she arrived at the refugee camp she realized how powerful the idea could be and the organization was created. KTKI is now connecting with kids from over 50 countries and that number is sure to climb.
This project can be incorporated into any grade level curriculum. Mainly the books are children’s books, stories about friendship, animals, and imaginary places. Not only do these books allow for students to be artistically creative, but teachers can also turn it into a history or social studies lesson. The historical aspect comes from researching the country and the people the books will be going to. Students can learn about geographic locations and cultures. Writing skills can be improved by having students brainstorm, write a draft, and a final idea. KTKI, really believes that by engaging the students with meaningful connections it makes learning about the country much more important and builds a lasting positive impression of people from another part of the world. The books build trusting friendships between students who will probably never meet each other through sharing. American students get a sense of helping people and learning, while the kids who get to enjoy the books will feel cared about and then also become intrigued to learn about where the books came from. This process creates a mutually shared positive curiosity. With the growing interest in the NGO additional aspects have been created and added to the outgoing packages. School supplies and disposable cameras are added so pictures can be taken of the students who are enjoying the books and then sent back to the American students to enjoy and get a real lasting image of those they have impacted. Maps and pictures of the United States are also included so the kids can emotionally connect with where the books came from. Some of these packages are sent to kids who have never had a book or even seen one. If the students who are creating the picture books truly grasp that it will forever internalize a connection for them to the world by helping them understand that they can make a difference and do so in a peaceful, positive, and an actual effective way. Even if the gesture is just drawing a picture to share!
“Kids to Kids International” helps students develop a global understanding of their role in the world. It also incorporates some very important peace pedagogies like international and multicultural education. Depending on the material covered about the country and the grade levels taught human rights and conflict resolution could also be incorporated. This project allows students to use many of their multiple intelligences from visual/spatial, bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Most importantly it gets them excited about helping, connecting, and sharing with the world around them. Lasting peace is created by having students create something that want to share with other kids!
“I wish for you to stand up for what you care about by participating in a global art project, and together we’ll turn the world…INSIDE OUT.” – JR
Connecting with people across lines of difference is a fundamental goal in conflict resolution and this process has, in some ways, become more accessible due to the presence of the internet and social media tools. Through a course I am taking focusing on Art as a means of social change, I came across a project called the Inside Out Project started by a Parisian street artists known as JR. Winner of the TED Prize in 2011 (awarded annually to an exceptional individual who receives $100,000 and, much more important, “One Wish to Change the World”), this project tackles causes like peace, diversity, sustainability, and justice through photography as well are large scale displays of these works. According to the inside out project website http://www.insideoutproject.net:
INSIDE OUT is a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. Everyone is challenged to use black and white photographic portraits to discover, reveal and share the untold stories and images of people around the world. These digitally uploaded images will be made into posters and sent back to the project’s co-creators for them to exhibit in their own communities. People can participate as an individual or in a group; posters can be placed anywhere, from a solitary image in an office window to a wall of portraits on an abandoned building or a full stadium. These exhibitions will be documented, archived and viewable virtually.
This resource presents a unique opportunity to actively engage students in a global movement aimed at highlighting identity and diversity. The project can either used a stimulated visual example in the classroom that would display the ways in which people around the world are getting involeved in social justice and human rights issues creativily, or you could chose to collaborate! For example, this nonprofit group in Belo Horizonte, Brazil (Olhar Coletivo, an organization that seeks to empower impoverished youth between the ages of 13 and 15 through the art of photography) participated in the project.
Inside out project is an ambitious experiment in civic engagement through art and would serve to facilitate dialogue about social issues like freedom and diversity as well as actively engage student in a global initiative to respond creatively and nonviolently to response to the political, social, and religious conflicts that are prolific in our contemporary landscape.
I came across the work of the TAE project while I was studying abroad in London last semester. On a trip to the British Museum one Saturday afternoon I found myself standing in front of a massive metal sculpture thinking to myself how impressive it looked. The plaque read “Tree of Life” and as I examined the sculpture once again I notice it was made out of guns and gun parts. I continued to read the description about the piece of artwork, searching for where it originated. Turns out it was created by a group of artist who were survivors of the 15 year civil war.
Founded in 1995 by Bishop Dom Dinis Sengulane through the Christian Council of Mozambique the Transforming Arms into Ploughshares project (TAE) takes decommissioned weapons and transforms them into beautiful works of metal art. Bishop Sengulane’s idea behind the project was to, “facilitate community dialogue and civic education dealing with reconciliation, memory, healing and forgiveness”. In 1997 he decided to partner with a long-standing arts organization in Maputo Mozambique called Núcleo de Arte. Wanting to “glorify peace” and “visually memorialize” it Bishop Sengulane challenged artist to transform the weapons into symbols of peace.
The idea of peacebuilding, peacekeeping, and peace education through the arts is a powerful one. Through projects like TAE people are able to remember the cost of conflict by focusing the anger and frustration into something constructive. I would suggest that this example of peace education through art could be used for children and adults a like. The type of art would vary from age to age whether it is painting/drawing or carving and sculpting. In the TAE project they use metal sculpting requiring the use of tools such as welders and hammers. That type of art would obviously be reserved for the older age range.
Ways to use Resource:
Educators especially art educators who would be the best equip to implement a project like this would need ample time. It would be an ongoing project. Time would vary depending on the type of art. The “Tree of Life” sculpture that I saw in London took 3 months to create. The materials needed would be based on the type of conflict the individual was trying to portray. So in the example of TAE they dismantle guns and use other dismantled weapons as material for their artwork.
Goal:
The goal of the TAE project is to help those affected by the 15 years of civil war in Mozambique reconcile the conflict. Through making artwork portraying peace it allows for the artist to remember but move forward from the past conflict. TAE is “adding another dimension to the reconciliation process by actually preventing conflict by making weapons unusable. Instead of tools for killing they become tools for peace keeping.” The TAE project touches on a few of the pillars of peace education, specifically community building because brings people together to participate in its program. The other pillar of peace education that the project exemplifies is enabling multiple intelligences and exploring approaches to peace. The pillar of approaches to peace is especially the case, because they take weapons that may still be functional and decommission them so they can’t be used for killing, but instead incorporated into artwork that portrays peace.
Audience:
If I were able to share this resource with people my audience would definitely be art teachers in school or art educators in community centers. I would also try and target counselors who use alternative methods to get their patients to express his or herself in a constructive, nonviolent, and peaceful way.
The “Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict” is a book that has also been created into a learning experience conference. The Anatomy of Peace allows readers and class participants to learn how to address problems and conflicts that exist at work, in the family or community. The Anatomy of Peace addresses the issue in that we may mistakenly put blame onto external circumstances instead of looking inward. Only by fostering a personal, inner peace can we find ways to resolve the exterior conflicts.
The different Principles of Non-Violence explained in The Anatomy of Peace:
-Every human being is a person – a being with hopes, needs, cares, and fears.
-When we regard others’ hopes, needs, cares and fears as inferior to, or less legitimate than, our own, we see others as less than they are – as objects rather that as people.
-To see a fellow person as an inferior object is to harbor a hard and violent heart toward that person.
-To see others as objects, then, is to do violence to them – it is to strike them with stoney hearts.
-When others detect violence in our hearts, they tend to become defensive and to see us as objects. Violence in one heart provokes violence in others.
-Most occasions of outward violence are manifestations of a prior, and often escalating, conflict between violent hearts. And attempts to curb violence, if done with a violent heart, actually provoke further violence.
-Any effort to reduce outward violence will succeed only to the extent that it addresses the prior and core problem – and the problem of violent hearts.
The Anatomy of Peace Course:
Different courses are offered so that people can be taught different ways to help apply the different principles taught in the book. The class offers dialogue to deeper broaden the different relationships. The course is either taught in a full day, 8 hour conference, or via telephone for 1 hour each week.
The Anatomy of Peace Group Coaching course will develop a heart at peace and make real, noticeable improvements in relationships.
There is actually an Anatomy of Peace 8-Week Course by Phone being offered from May 16th-July 11th. Go here to find out more information and to register:
Here is a TedX talk video from James Ferrell. Ferrell is a founding partner of The Arbinger Institute. The Arbinger Institute is the producer of The Anatomy of Peace. Ferrell talks about Resolving the Heart of Conflict, an overarching theme in the Anatomy of Peace and non-violent conflict.
There are many different organizations that promote leadership and peace education. However there are far more programs that are forgotten or under-utilized. This program falls under that category. I am promoting this program because I have seen how effective it can be and I think this program can become useful to schools around the country.
National Association of Teen Institutes or NATI, as its members know it, was established in 1965. This organization promotes supports and advocates for leadership and prevention programs. NATI is the umbrella, which all the teen institutes of the nation fall under.
All of the teen institutes work under a specific model that was developed by NATI. This model is taken from Icek Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior. There are five major elements that accompany the model.
An All-Encompassing Focus on Healthy Beliefs and Clear Standards
Opportunities for Pro-Social Bonding, Attachment and Commitment
Meaningful Opportunities to Participate Actively
Recognition and Reinforcement for Learning and Applying Life Skills
Life Skills Training for Healthy Lifestyle Choice
I was pulled into this program after 4 years of service to my teen institute held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I became a Youth Affairs Liaison and was able to travel to several different cities to work with the teen institutes to try and improve and strengthen their programs. The program takes place over 3 to 7 days, depending on the program.
A program that has been very successful is the Tennessee Teen Institute. The overall goal of the Tennessee Teen Institute is to promote the development of a healthy, safe and drug-free lifestyle by impacting the attitudes and behaviors of our youth in the areas of alcohol, tobacco, drug abuse, and violence. TTI facilitates this by having young people develop Action Plans to implement prevention projects and programs in their schools and communities. TTI focuses on youth leadership skills and empowerment as key strategies to prevent underage alcohol and drug use.
There are many workshops that take place throughout the several days of instruction. Here are two of my favorite workshops presented to the participants.
Jump the line-Participants stand on one side of the line and move to the other side when a statement is read that applies to them. The statements will get increasing more intimate towards the end of the exercise. The facilitator has to be able to read the room to see how the participants are handling the exercise because it can become an emotional experience.
The participants are given 4 sets of 4 different colored pieces of paper. Each color represents something important to them. The four categories are, family members, favorite things, friends, and hobbies. The students then go through a process and have to choose between different colors and ripping them up. At the end of the exercise the student is left with only one piece of paper because of theoretical bad decisions that were made along the way.
I’ve found these programs to be exceptionally useful to school systems. The institutes teach the students that attend how to become leaders as well as drug and alcohol prevention. The facilitators give them to the tools and capacity to reach out the students of their schools to create a safer and more productive place. These websites offer helpful tips and creative ideas to bring to the classroom.
Brothers Sean and Brendan Tuohey founded PeacePlayers International (PPI) in 2001. They believed, “children who play together can learn to live together.” As a result over 52,000 youth have been reached by PPI in its short history.
Using basketball to bring children together and teach them proven methods for improving their communities, PeacePlayers International utilizes a groundbreaking peacebuilding and leadership development curriculum. PPI currently has year-round operations in South Africa, Northern Ireland, Israel and the West Bank, and Cyprus. Check out www.PeacePlayersintl.org to learn more about PPI’s history.
PeacePlayers International programs incorporate an element of formal peace and leadership education, grounded by an innovative basketball curriculum developed with the assistance of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and the Arbinger institute. The Arbinger institute is a global center for the study of interpersonal conflict. Through fun on-court activities and guided discussion the participants are taught how to ways to think about conflict and their roles in society. The Curriculum emphasizes what PPI calls, “out of the box thinking”- a way of interacting with those around us that honors both others; humanity and our responsibility for change.
Ways to use this Resource:
Educators can use many of the same activities that PPI uses in their camps. One example of a drill that PPI uses is one that focuses on anti-social behavior. In the activity the coach instructs the team to not pass the ball to a designated team member. That member is unaware that he/she is being excluded. Once the excluded team member finally does receive the ball he/she reciprocates the exclusion by not passing the ball to another member. At the end of the activity the coaches facilitate a dialogue around the issues of anti-social behavior. They stress the importance of not reciprocating that hurt feeling onto others even if we really want to. Watch this video to see the activity in practice. The example activity takes place at 3:50 mark.
Educators can use this activity as well inside the classroom or at recess to show students that excluding others from groups, games, or other cliques has a negative impact. Physical education teachers would be best equipped to facilitate such an activity due to the availability of a ball of some sort. However, other teachers may use a smaller ball such as a tennis ball to facilitate this activity inside of a traditional classroom.
Goals:
With this resource I believe that students can learn the importance of inclusion and partnership. Team work especially is can be learned because this exercises stress the importance of inclusion. When the team member who has been excluded feels the hurt he/she often reciprocates the exclusion and hurts the team in the end. So this activity teaches students to collaborate and work together to perform in a productive way.
I think teachers who are seeing destructive cliques form within their classes can benefit from this resource. I would suggest that middle school teachers (i.e. 6th grade teachers) would benefit from this because it’s around that age that anti-social behavior and bullying takes place. I also think that sports teams that are having problems working together may also benefit.
Peace Learner 