Background

Peace education has never been more important than it is today. Despite its long history, peace education has never found a place in the curriculums that it deserves. There is a great richness of activity taking place in peace education, but it has often existed on the margins of mainstream practice. Now, in the face of war in Europe, educators are demanding resources, knowledge and strategies to develop students’ understandings of this conflict, and human conflict more generally.

How can we give peace education a higher profile?

Peace is a key aspect of the Sustainable Development Goals and should be given as much priority as sustainability. We need to raise its profile to reveal its relevance for social justice. We need to do this by establishing its crucial role in the health of society, from critical thinking, media literacy, to environmental responsibility and democratic agency. Peace is part of the pedagogy of learning and now that there is an urgency to explore this area with a rich evidence base – we as educators need to consider how we promote it to all corners of curricula.

Background reading

To provide further context, you may want to check out:

• The recent Quakers in Britain report “Peace at the heart“
• The Education for Peace and Non-Violence section of “Target 4.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence in Schools in England“, a recent report prepared for the Our Shared World coalition.

Who are the event organisers?

This symposium on peace education is part of the activities of the Peace Education Special Interest Group at IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society. This relatively new group aims to bring peace educators across educational spheres together. You can read more about the group on the UCL Peace Education blog.

The co-Chairs of this particular event are Hans Svennevig (IOE, Subject Lead: Citizenship PGCE / Teaching Citizenship journal) and Alexis Stones (IOE, Subject Lead: Religious Education PGCE).

Event aims

Please join us as we launch the public activities of this group with a symposium that aims to make the case for peace education in personal, educational and societal terms, and explore ways this might be achieved.

Time will be dedicated to establish ways forward to galvanise expertise and interest, among individuals and networks, to act as a collective and embed peace education in practical and policy terms across all educational fields.

Event format

This is a hybrid event. The initial keynotes of this event will be possible to stream live online. You will also be able to post questions and comments. However, during the networking and planning section, the in-person and online attendees will be split into separate groups for interactive discussions. You will need to select whether you will attend virtually / online, or in person, during checkout.

Who is this event for?

This event is aimed at peace education practitioners, education professionals, teachers, academics and policy makers. Keynote speakers will present ideas in relation to the fields of sustainability education, citizenship education, Religious Education, history education, young people and activism.

You will be able to connect to organisations and individuals about how to support your own education for peace, whether in school, university, further education, museums, or public education.

Event timings

17:00 -17.45: Keynote speakers

• Welcome by co-Chairs Hans Svennevig and Alexis Stones (IOE)
• Introduction session from Maria Hantzopolous and Monisha Bajaj: authors of Educating for Peace and Human Rights: An Introduction
• Giles Duley (Legacy of War Foundation)
• Ellis Brooks (Peace Education coordinator, Quakers)
• Doug Bourn (IOE)

18:00 – 19:00: Sharing and planning for next stage working groups