World Humanitarian Day

Ever wonder who ventures into areas so rife with conflict that basic services and protection have completely broken down?  Where events have been so catastrophic that heroic acts are required for people to survive?  Well, those who work in the field of humanitarian aid and relief are just those people and today is World Humanitarian Day – honoring those whose work saves lives every single day.

As educators, we often talk about acts of heroism that have occurred throughout history.  Those acts of heroism are often granted to those who have engaged in some type of violent conflict.  But there are many heroes, as this video shows above, whose work to save and protect lives, reduce conflict and suffering, and who mission is not for an ideology, economic gain, or control, but rather honoring and cherishing human life.

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Peace Tech in the Middle East

 

The Tech Change Blog featured a story on a new hand held teaching device created by Stanford PhD student, Elizabeth Buckner.  The device is designed to teach students in Israel and Palestine about what life is like “on the other side.”  See her talk about it in the video above.

Sure, there is sometimes an over emphasis on how much technology can actually do in breaking down barriers between groups in conflict, or even educating about real life situations, but I think its better than nothing.  That’s the way I feel about a lot of technology…I rarely see it as the silver bullet in addressing an issue, but certain technological tools are just that…tools.  And the more we have in our box the better equipped we will be in meeting certain needs, especially when we need to adapt to different learning environments and different learning styles.

I am curious what technological tools other peace educators are using in their classrooms.  How can computers and internet services like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube and others be used to aid in the peacemaking process or in teaching about peace?

Interview with Nonviolent Activist, Dolores Huerta

Check out this interview with Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez.  Here are some great quotes…

So one of the things we do in our organization is anytime we do a plan or have an event, we do an evaluation. What went well, what can be improved, you know? And to see how to make things better.

And the thing is, the people you are working with, they will give you the answers. So, you don’t have to have all of the answers when you start. As long as you have an idea of what you want to happen and start working on that idea, then the answers will come.

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The Bi-Polar Ape

This is a great film put together by the Department of Expansion.  In it scholars talk about human’s evolutionary connection with both the chimp and the bonobo, two primates that have come to embody the violent and peaceful tendencies of humans.  The film could incorporate the study of peace into science classes that are teaching about evolution.

I would also recommend pairing this film with readings such as Sigmund Freud’s, Why War, and Margaret Mead’s, War Is Only an Invention – Not a Biological Necessity.

Pain and Poetry – Facing Our Fears

A police car races past our school. Its siren pierces the reverie my students have settled into during our writing class. A number of students push back from their computers and lift their hands in mock surrender. Their actions appear to be involuntary. One student remarks, “Hey everybody, our ride’s here.”

The students crack up. I crack up along with them. No more serious writing this morning. The police car has run off with my students’ concentration and left me wondering about the negative experiences that underlie the laughter and poses of surrender.

I teach at a high school completion/GED program, the Portland Youth Builders (PYB), in one of Portland, Ore.’s poorest neighborhoods. Many of my students have spent time in jail, two wear house arrest bracelets around their ankles, and few have had positive experiences with the police.

Read full article from Rethinking Schools

New resource from Educators for Social Responsibility

Book by Book, by Carol Spiegel, is a valuable resource for librarians, teachers, guidance counselors, and parents to find books to complement the standard language arts curriculum for teaching important peacemaking and social and emotional learning concepts. Written by a veteran peace educator, Book by Book leads adults to children’s literature that will help students explore themes related to conflict and its resolution, social justice, and appreciation for diversity.

Learn more…

Nonviolent Civic Action Time Line

Goal: Increase exposure to the history of nonviolent action

Objective:  Participants will be able to

  • List nonviolent movements, campaigns and struggles throughout history
  • Identify tactics and methods that nonviolent movements have used
  • Research various moments, times, and themes in history
  • Design a time line of nonviolent movements
  • Collectively learn and research together the history of nonviolent struggles

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Rev. James Lawson and the Nashville Sit-Ins

This past week, Rev. James Lawson – the prolific civil rights leaders and nonviolent action trainer – gave the opening keynote address at the Fletcher Summer Institute for the Advanced Study of Nonviolent Conflict.  In this address he talks about his experience working with youth in Nashville and training them in the techniques and strategies of nonviolent action; in this case, lunch-counter sit-ins, boycotts, picketing, marching, and making public statements.

Rev. James Lawson – FSI 2010 Keynote Address from ICNC on Vimeo.

Remembering Elise Boulding

Elise Boulding, 89, a sociologist who was instrumental in establishing peace studies and conflict resolution as an academic discipline, died June 24 of complications from Alzheimer’s disease at a nursing home in Needham, Mass.

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Elise Boulding will continue to be an inspiration to all the peace educators, researchers, and builders in the world.  Her commitment and advancement of the field has put the study of peace on the map in monumental ways and the ripples of those efforts continue to expand.

If you are not familiar with Boulding’s work, be sure to check out one of her more famous books, Cultures of Peace: The Hidden Side of History.

Children Full of Life

“In the award-winning documentary Children Full of Life, a fourth-grade class in a primary school in Kanazawa, northwest of Tokyo, learn lessons about compassion from their homeroom teacher, Toshiro Kanamori. He instructs each to write their true inner feelings in a letter, and read it aloud in front of the class. By sharing their lives, the children begin to realize the importance of caring for their classmates.”

Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5