Peace Pillar Award Initiative

Good Practices

in Support of Educating

for Peace

and Non-violence

“

”

ASPnetGood Practicesin Supportof Peace in:

The UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network

(ASPnet) is one of UNESCO’s strongest

assets for promoting quality education

and putting into practice the concept

of ‘learning to live together’.

Koïchiro Matsuura,Director-General, UNESCO, Paris

Argentina

Australia

Austria

Brazil

Central AfricanRepublic

Cuba

Czech Republic

DemocraticRepublic of Congo

Egypt

Georgia

Greece

Kuwait

Lao PDR

Norway

Pakistan

Philippines

Poland

Spain

Switzerland

Uruguay

Venezuela

PREFACE ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2

INTRODUCTION ___________________________________________________________________________________________4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS_______________________________________________________________4

LESSONS LEARNED_______________________________________________________________________________6

PRIMARY __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10

Fostering Positive AttitudesBrazil _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10

Teachers as Peace BuildersSpain ______________________________________________________________________________________12

Partnership for Conflict ResolutionVenezuela ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________14

Peace throughEnvironmental Protection CentralAfrican Republic __________________________________________________________________________________16

Connecting Classroomsto the World - Cuba ____________________________________________________________________18

Build Bridges, Not WallsNorway _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________20

School as Catalyst for Social ChangeUruguay __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________22

PRIMARY/ SECONDARY _____________________________________________________24

Peace Across the InternetAustralia________________________________________________________________________________________________________________24

No to School Violence - Egypt ________________________26

Youth Empowerment for ResponsibleCitizenship - Pakistan_________________________________________________________28

SECONDARY ___________________________________________________________________________________________________30

From Human Rights to Peaceand Tolerance - Argentina ______________________________________30

Peace Symbols without BordersAustria ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________32

Unite to Make a DifferenceCongo DR ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________33

Discovering the Roots of PeaceCzech Republic ______________________________________________________________________________________34

Learning to Live TogetherGeorgia _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________35

Cultivating the Spirit of PeaceGreece ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________36

Charting the Paths to PeaceKuwait________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________37

Interethnic Understanding throughEcological Harmony - Lao PDR _____________________38

Schools as Peace ZonesThe Philippines ______________________________________________________________________________________39

Local Policies for a SustainableFuture - Poland ____________________________________________________________________________________40

Nobel Peace Prize PersonalitiesOn-line - Switzerland___________________________________________________________41

TABLE OF CONTENTS

«Peace is in our hands» was the slogan for the International Year of the Culture of

Peace 2000. It was also the title of the glass sculpture designed by Finnish art students

and which served as the UNESCO Peace Pillar Award for outstanding activities conducted

by institutions participating in the UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network (ASPnet)

on the occasion of the Year and the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and

Non-Violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010).

“Peace is in our hands.”

Yet, what are we doing with it, if anything? As we know if peace is to prevail at the global

level, it has to be firmly rooted in the minds, hearts and behaviour of everyone at the

local level. And that is what ASPnet is all about – seeking effective ways and means to

impart peace, non-violence and mutual respect in the classroom, in the school, in the

family, and in the community. By presenting these 21 ASPnet “Good Practices in Support

of Peace” it is hoped that many schools throughout the world can learn about them and

be inspired to take similar initiatives.

UNESCO Associated Schools: Anchors of Peace

Peace building and peace keeping call for daily action and daily commitment. Examples

of concrete deeds are needed as well as interactions amongst all school members from

teachers to students, from administrators to parents. As well described throughout this

booklet, peace at school reflects a climate of trust and confidence, mutual respect and

solidarity, sharing and caring. For peace to permeate the school, it has to be anchored

as an integral part of the learning process, forging strong links of understanding and

empathy between teachers and students.

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UNESCO Associated SchoolsPeace Pillar Award Initiative Preface

UNESCO Associated Schools: Vessels for experimentation

A number of projects in this booklet shed new light on how ASPnet schools serve as vessels

of experimentation for translating peace into practice and ideals into action within the

school and the community. Activities are often planned by both teachers and students

and across the curriculum, thereby laying a solid foundation for experimentation and

validation whilst providing a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to learning.

UNESCO Associated Schools: Harbours of innovations

Peace is never fully secured. It remains fragile and vulnerable, constantly threatened.

As this booklet reveals, schools can play a formidable role for seeking new and effective

ways to promote peace and non-violence through creativity, critical thinking, community

involvement and innovative approaches. By conducting a wide range of innovative

activities including mobilization of students to protect the environment, communication

through Internet, addressing problems in the community, twinning with schools in other

countries, etc. schools strive to innovate and renovate their approach to peace.

UNESCO Associated Schools: “Navigators for Peace”

As UNESCO and its Member States celebrated the 50th Anniversary of ASPnet in 2003, an

important International Congress for Quality Education “Navigators for Peace” (a Maori

expression) was held in New Zealand in order to chart the future course of the Network.

As we know the world is changing rapidly, bringing with it much turbulence, continuing

violence, conflicts, social exclusion, prejudice, etc. Urgent action is needed to reverse

definitively a ‘culture of war and violence’ into a ‘culture of peace’. We need skilled and

strong navigators, such as ASPnet schools, to explore new routes and ways to enable

present and future generations to live together in peace and dignity.

Let us not forget that “Peace is in our hands” and if peace is to prevail it is up to each

and every one of us. To help us in our daily actions, at school, in the family and in the

community, let us keep in mind and put into practice the six basic principles of the Culture

of Peace Manifesto 2000 elaborated by Nobel Peace Prize Winners:

✱ respect all life ✱ reject violence ✱ share with others

✱ listen to understand ✱ preserve the planet ✱ rediscover solidarity

John Daniel

Assistant Director-Generalfor Education

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Project Network(PPAI)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Introduction

UNESCO would like to express its deep gratitude and pay

tribute to all the principals, teachers and students of the 70

Associated Schools in 34 countries who devoted much of

their time, ideas, energy and resources to carry out and

report on their activities for the PPAI. A sampling of 21 good

practices was selected among the some 100 projects origi-

nally sent to UNESCO by the schools for this publication.

However, as the results obtained by each and every school

in this initiative were considered to be innovative and valua-

ble, UNESCO was pleased to present the Peace Pillar Award

to each of the 70 schools.

UNESCO thanks the ASPnet National Co-ordinators as well as

the National Commissions for UNESCO of the following 34

countries for facilitating the participation of their schools

in the PPAI and congratulates the schools for receiving the

Award: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Brazil,

Central African Republic, Colombia, Congo (Democratic

Republic of), Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, France,

Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Italy, Kuwait, Lao PDR,

Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania,

Rwanda, Senegal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay,

Uzbekistan and Venezuela.

UNESCO thanks the author, Mr Benedict Faccini, for his excellent

rendition of the PPAI school reports into a coherent, inter-

esting and useful material for teachers and other educators

working to educate children and young people in peace and

non-violence.

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“ ”Peace in our handsPeace Pillar Award

It is said that peace is not just the absence of war, but also the sum-total of individualdaily acts of tolerance, respect and solidarity. With this publication, which brings togethersome selected examples of activities conducted under the Peace Pillar Award Initiative(PPAI) of the UNESCO Associated Schools Network (ASPnet), we are invited to discoverthe diversity of local actions children and adolescents have taken towards a cultureof peace in their schools and communities throughout the world. The result is a richcollection of 21 pilot schemes designed to serve as an inspiring tool for teachers andpupils alike at all levels of education. By publicizing their PPAI projects, the ASPnetpupils, it seems, are handing us a direct challenge to follow their lead. As they saythemselves: ‘Peace is in our hands!’

The dawn of a new millennium was an apt start for the UNESCO ASPnet to launch its PPAIscheme with its member schools. The UNESCO-sponsored Manifesto 2000, draftedby Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, had stated that ‘the year 2000 must be a new beginning,an opportunity to transform – all together – the culture of war and violence intoa culture of peace and non-violence’. The turn of the century had also seenthe proclamation of the International Year of the Culture of Peace and 2001 had markedthe beginning of the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence forthe Children of the World (2001-2010).

The UNESCO Associated Schools were an obvious platform for the implementationof the PPAI. The ASPnet has a long history of reinforcing fundamental human valuesacross the world and a far-reaching scheme such as the PPAI had its natural homein the web of Associated Schools. From the pre-school level to teacher training colleges,ASPnet institutions have always been committed to promoting ideals of peace and theyhave been a constant and fertile ground for educational experiment. Set up in 1953,the UNESCO Associated Schools Network has grown, over the years, to now include some7,500 educational institutions in 172 countries. Banking on this potential, ASPnet invitedits partner schools and institutions to conduct ‘innovative and effective projects’for a Peace Pillar Award Initiative.

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Several considerations laid at the core of the PPAI. In the ASPnet Strategy and Planof Action (1999 -2003), particular emphasis was placed on promoting the four pillarsof Education for the 21st Century (as set out by the UNESCO-sponsored DelorsInternational Commission). These four pillars were considered to be learningto know, to do, to be and, most importantly, to live together. These aspects of learningwere taken up as a backbone concept for the PPAI.

The Dakar Framework of Action also served as a further boost to the idea of linkingthe ASPnet’s educational capital with a concerted effort for peace in schools. The PPAInarrowed down its project guidelines to one of four/five main ‘pillars’ closely relatedto a culture of peace. These were: i) non-violent resolution of conflict; ii) human rightsand democracy; iii) intercultural learning, iv) solidarity; and/or eventually v) a fifthpillar of choice corresponding to local needs. Those projects which were deemed excellentwere awarded an ASPnet Peace Pillar Award and their initiatives are described below.The award itself is in the form of a beautifully crafted glass sculpture symbolizingthe coming together of two hands or figures in an emblematic act of friendship, sharingcommon values, transparent and equal.

The structure of the four types of learning, as advocated by the Delors InternationalCommission on Education for the 21st Century lent a clear framework which was alsomirrored in the four/five pillars of the actual PPAI.

‘Learning to know’ was seen to encompass the idea of the non-violent resolutionof conflict, understanding the origins of violence and analyzing its causes. ‘Learningto know’ also embraced a knowledge of normative instruments of peace suchas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was considered to be the ‘forceof reason’ rather than the ‘reason of force’.

‘Learning to be’ reflected the need for dissecting the prejudices in one’s own culture,learning to change, to grow. ‘Learning to live together’ meant intercultural learning,solidarity and sharing. ‘Learning to do’ was to foster initiative and boldness to act.So with its four/five pillars of peace and its four facets of learning, the ASPnet urgedits pupils to build on their creativity and to use their communication skills to the full.

The guidelines given to the Associated Schools by UNESCO for the PPAI were openand had room for originality and imagination. Projects were allowed to vary in kind.They could be anything from a school-wide campaign or an open-day show to a neweducational approach in the classroom or even the creation of a website. Similarly,schools were able to choose whether to concentrate on the curriculum or developextra-curricular activities, community-based schemes or international linkages.As resources are limited in many schools, emphasis was placed on a high degreeof human involvement rather than on the accumulation of materials or end products.

Nurturing peace through education was considered to be about encouraging criticalthinking, problem solving capacities, fairness and open-mindedness. These are the vitaltools that form the bed of a culture of peace and its intellectual sustainability. The PPAIguidelines further stipulated that projects should, if possible, involve the entire schooland, preferably, both the parents and the community at large.

Schools, moreover, were encouraged to draw upon the active participation of pupilsand students from the very outset, in planning and implementation. Projects wereto be action-oriented and clearly designed to achieve, in other words to make a differenceand have a concrete impact. Assessment and self-evaluation were seen as vitaland to be integrated into the projects. Coverage by the media was deemed important too.

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It is now sadly a cliché to say that violence is part of our daily lives, but the sheermagnitude of conflict in the world means there is a true urgency for schools to be involvedin efforts such as the PPAI. Children and adolescents luckily have a refreshingly boldoutlook on world events. Their viewpoint is, often, one of both renewal and defiance,twin forces that are necessary in today’s environment.

The geographical range of the PPAI and the pupils’ responses prove just how muchof the world is now exposed to violence in all its forms, whether it be through the mediaor actually in the flesh itself. Young people are some of the most affected by this.Recent figures show that some 9 million children world-wide were either killed, injured,orphaned or separated from their parents by conflicts over the last decade alone(UNICEF). Violence pervades everything and everywhere in its different forms.Ignorance or inertia should no longer be possible in such a global context.

The increasing instability and complexity of the world bestow education, and particularlythe school, with a new dimension. The school can become an anchor for peace, a vesselfor experimentation, a harbour of innovation. It is where pupils can acquire the knowledgethey need for a better future of solidarity and equality, where harmonious socialrelations can be grounded, where values of tolerance and justice can be cultivated.

In the words of the Guidelines for a Plan of Action for the UNESCO Interregional Project forCulture of Peace and Non-Violence in Educational Institutions (Sintra, Portugal, 22 May1996): ‘the principles and practices of peace and non-violence should be integrated intoevery aspect of curriculum, pedagogy and activities, including the very organizationaland decision-making structure of the educational institution…. The school should notbe an island, but a centre for civic life in the community.’

Obviously when violence occurs around or in schools, the quality of education suffers,yet it is precisely education that is needed to prevent violence. Education is the surestway to nurture a culture of peace where the non-violent resolution of conflicts is privilegedover aggression. As the UNESCO Constitution puts it: ‘since wars begin in the minds ofmen, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.’ Thisbuilding process of peace should be central to the school’s mission and that realisationunderscored the ASPnet PPAI.

UNESCO Associated schools have long been considered ‘centres of excellence,’ power-houses for the promotion of UNESCO’s ideals and vision. ASP teachers, too, have playeda pioneering role in developing innovative and effective educational approaches. It waswith much anticipation then that the UNESCO ASP co-ordinating team launched its PPAIworld-wide, in the hope that striking responses and interesting projects would be sentback through the ASP system. By its June 2001 deadline, UNESCO had received over 100projects from 34 different countries in all parts of the world. Of the 100 projects sent in,70 were selected to receive the Peace Pillar Awards and 21 of them were put forward asgood practices to be presented in this publication.

The good practices were singled out because of their innovation and inventiveness.Their creativity in tackling issues such as discrimination, oppression and exclusionis noteworthy. By favouring dignity and equality, preferring dialogue to conflict,respecting the balance of nature, these 21 initiatives reveal a keen awareness of globalthemes - one that should be read by educators and community leaders. UNESCO hopesthat it will manage, with this publication, to mobilize further the educationalcommunity and shed new light on how pupils are providing us with clues on howto conduct ourselves as humane and responsible citizens now and in the future.

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So what did the ASP students and teachers discover, what innovative educationalapproaches did they come up with? How did they move from the lofty ideals of commitmentto peace and justice towards a real open-mindedness and empathy, to an actualproject with tangible results?

The way in which the PPAI is interpreted by each contributing school shows the multiplicityof possibilities in finding the road to peace. It is not the sophistication of the meanswhich counts, but the desire for change and the will. Often, in our day and age, it mayseem almost fanciful or simply naïve to speak of the non-violent resolution of conflictsor of tolerance and non-discrimination. Yet, thanks to the example of these 21 PPAIinitiatives presented here, we can see that young people can be agents of revival,that violence does not have to be an accepted fact, that schools can be strong vectorsof social transformation. Reading the entries for the PPAI competition, it is clear thatthese school projects were, sometimes, daring acts within their local context. They oftenrevealed strong positions and staunch support, questioning attitudes towards otherpopulation groups, promoting peace as an option to routine violence and prejudice.

It would be naïve to suggest that the PPAI has changed the world, but equally it wouldbe cynical to say that, in its own way, the PPAI did not make a small difference in manyplaces with its local actions. These can be multiplied and learnt from. They can touchthe minds of many more children and adolescents who are willing to take upthe challenge to become torchbearers of a new world vision without violence.School pupils, even the youngest amongst them, are a formidable force for change.These respective PPAI schemes reveal that building peace does, indeed, start with eachand every one of us and that even if the problems the world faces are global,their solutions often lie on our own doorsteps.

How does one get a young person to feel personally committed to peace? This simple

question from the PPAI project in the Central African Republic seems to sum up one of the

key challenges facing society and schools at this present moment. Tempted by violence in

situations of poverty and conflict, numbed by too many images of death and destruction

on TV, inert through fear, today’s children and adolescents can see that peace is not an easy

choice. Yet, as witnessed with the PPAI, young people are willing and able to chart new paths

and routes to justice and a culture of peace.

From a simple toddler hug with a friend (Brazil) to sophisticated web-sites and CD-ROMs

(Australia and Switzerland), the ASPnet PPAI good practices reveal certain salient messages

and present us with methods to approach peace. These methods are not merely the products

of a youthful imagination, they are also practical processes that can be replicated in schools.

We discover, for example, how pupils in Poland questioned local inhabitants and planned

new ways to better life in their city with their mayor and local town council. We learn how

students in the Czech Republic campaigned for minority rights and how pupils in Lao PDR

upheld the egalitarian principles of their school by creating a harmonious, organic garden.

Beyond innovation, though, these PPAI pilot schemes give us information on the actual

process of peace education in the classroom. They provide teachers and facilitators with

clues as how to promote a culture of peace in and outside schools and how to link it to young

people’s everyday concerns.

The PPAI results also raise interesting issues about how today’s young people view their

world and the ways peace can preserve it. Clear trends can be discerned. A global youth

culture, for instance, nourished by a world-wide music industry and media, can be seen to

be firmly taking shape. It is helping connect young people across the planet. It gives new

generations a widespread force that transcends barriers of nationality and former enmity

(as in the case of the Georgian summer camp). The PPAI project in Norway shows this type

Lessons learned

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The author is responsible for the choice and presentation of the facts containedin this publication and for the opinions therein, which are not necessarily thoseof UNESCO and do not commit the Organization.

The designation employed and the presentation of the material throughout thispublication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever onthe part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or areaor of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

of development spectacularly. What started as a school-based project in the Norwegian

town of Drammen became a vast peace march involving 10,000 people from both the

community and abroad. ASPnet schools in Greece, Uruguay and Kuwait also experienced

this coming together of school and community with young people acting as motors for

action.

The Lao PDR and Brazil initiatives, for example, show that new efforts for peace are

increasingly tied in with environmental awareness. The well-being of the planet, it seems,

is being taken up by youth as a gauge of our commitment to each other, the backdrop

against which the preciousness of life is enshrined and respected. This is seen numerous

times in the PPAI, in countries at opposite ends of the earth. As students are becoming more

aware of their role in environmental change, so they are feeling that ‘saving the planet’

means protecting it from all the harmful effects caused by people, both in terms of pollution

and violence. This requires collective endeavours as well as individual commitment. The

Democratic Republic of Congo case presents us with such individual, direct action where

students went out and distributed food they had grown, themselves, to refugees in need.

This was a concrete step with practical, immediate results. In Lao PDR, the good relations

between pupils of different ethnic origin was deliberately both a way of life in the

establishment and an example of harmony for the outside world. When pupils realise that

their own lives have to reflect the ideals of peace they are promoting, they are able to modify

their behaviour. In Egypt, pupils managed to step back and look at themselves, reducing

levels of violence in their school and spreading a message of tolerance beyond the walls of

the establishment. Students, it seems, are keen to assume the roles of leadership which give

a renewed sense of relevance to their education, and a greater visibility to the purpose of

the school (Spain, Central African Republic, Greece and Venezuela).

More than anything, though, the PPAI projects prove that there are many facets of peace

education. It is about curricular revision and rewriting, as in the Philippines or integrating

new and groundbreaking methodologies as in Spain. It is about the vocabulary we use and

promote, as in Pakistan. It is about using arts, crafts, dance and music to bring people

together beyond strict labels of race and identity - this is seen in many PPAI projects, in

Austria, Argentina and Cuba. The full range of potential within peace education becomes

very apparent with the PPAI. In fact, peace education and culture of peace merge and blend,

in the sense that both must be processes. Whether it be the school or home that initiates the

process, peace is a life-long journey that demands the continual assessment of attitudes,

the daily combating of stereotypes and intolerance. It is difficult in these circumstances to

pin down peace initiatives to fixed rules and classroom guidelines.

What is clear from the PPAI is that young people’s concerns must be central to any peace

education project. Similarly, pupil involvement needs to be guaranteed from the very onset

through to the actual running of any school-based scheme (in conjunction or not with

teachers). Such steps are vital for ensuring sustainability and instilling personal

responsibility. For it is, indeed, about responsibility, about how a culture of peace must take

root in each and every one of us and be nurtured continually. Schools are strong enough

vectors and crucibles to support this in their students and within society at large. What is

needed, the PPAI shows, is imagination and inventiveness.

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Brazil

Primary

Fostering Positive AttitudesEducati - Educação Infantil - Alameda Princesa Isabel nr. 137Nova Petropolis - São Bernardo do Campo - São Paulo - 09771 -110

This school in Brazil believes innurturing positive attitudes from avery early age. Indeed, with all itspupils under the age of five, thiswas the youngest set of children totake part in the ASPnet PPAI award.The fact that the participants wereso young was both an immensechallenge and an opportunity. Thechildren were more open to changeand experiment than older pupils, butthe school’s PPAI project also had tointegrate their mental and emotionalworld to the full.

Starting with the principle that forpeace to spread it must first be rootedin positive behaviour at home, in theclassroom and in everyday basichuman relations, the Educati schoolencouraged very simple actions thatcould gradually grow in significance.Goals of behaviour were set inconsultation with the children, suchas learning to put away toys, usingthe lavatories cleanly, washing handsbefore lunch, etc. After this basiceducational groundwork, an initialactivity termed ‘All of us aresearching for a Culture of Peace’ wasdeveloped. In it children were askedquestions about their daily problems,what they heard on the TV or fromtheir parents about the world, howthey could improve their country, how

they could improve their homes?They were shown pictures by famousartists, such as Picasso’s Guernica,and encouraged to depict their ownvisions of peace in paintings orsculptures. This drew the childreninto the project and aroused enoughcuriosity in them to allow forsubsequent peace activities.

The peace activities were varied. One,entitled ‘Sowing Peace’, saw childrenplanting sunflower seeds in the schoolgarden and watching them grow intohuge plants. The idea was todemonstrate how one small positiveaction can multiply and have manyeffects. Then, with the notion of‘Peace depends on all of us,’ childrenwere urged to talk about the problemsfacing the planet and how they couldhelp preserve it. A selective garbagecollection campaign was carried outin the neighbourhood with thechildren. They were shown how toencourage their families to recycletheir rubbish by dividing it up intometal, plastic, organic and non-organic matter. Peace signs wereillustrated. Songs, poems and gamesthat emphasized co-operation andrespect were played out. One activityinvolved children hugging each other.This became known as ‘hug therapy’and taught the values of forgiveness,

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Brazil

generosity and tolerance. It wasquickly employed when conflicts ormisunderstandings arose in theschool. At all times, teachers weretrying to communicate concepts ofsolidarity, respect and responsibility.By the end of the project, they feltthat these had, in fact, beenassimilated and internalized by thechildren despite their young age. Thepupils behaved with a greaterharmony in their relations with eachother and with their parents.

Suggestedclassroomactivities: ▲ Ask your pupils to look up,

write out and learn thewords for ‘peace’ and‘hello’ in ten differentlanguages of their choice.Conduct research and tellthem about some of thecustoms/ valuesof the cultures concerned.

▲ Ask your pupils whatspecific everyday actionsthey would encouragein their lives to make themmore tolerant and generous?What individual andcollective attitudes,do they feel, contributeto a culture of peace?Allow your pupils to actout particular humanvirtues such as tolerance,generosity, forgiveness,respect and solidarity.Why did they choose oneparticular virtue overanother?

▲ Discuss how pupils couldchange their behaviourin the classroom to enhancepeace and good relationsbetween themselves?How can we best respectthe cultural differences,habits, customs and valuesof the people with whomwe live side by side?

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Spa

Primary

This educational establishment inSpain seized the opportunity ofthe UNESCO PPAI and theInternational Year of the Culture ofPeace to strengthen its ongoingteacher training plans. The invitationto join the PPAI was a chance tointegrate new and groundbreakingmethodologies and make sure thatthe work of the C.P Immaculada

Concepción continued tobe known at nationaland international level.Twenty-five teachersteamed up for theelaboration of the newtraining plans with thelocal authorities ofAlhama de Almeria. Twoworking groups werecreated: ‘Living Together:a Teaching Proposal’ and‘Education for Peace andHuman Rights.’

The first working group, ‘LivingTogether: a Teaching Proposal,’ hadthe duty of debating new teachingtrends and drafting or adaptinginnovative classroom materials.Accordingly, the working group setabout translating (into Spanish) theUNESCO ‘Teachers Handbook,Suggested Peace Games andActivities for Elementary Schools’.

Other teaching tools on the subject ofHuman Rights were created andtested in real classroom situations.Teachers and pupils alike evaluatedtheir impact. The UNESCO ASPnetPeace Pack was adapted to theSpanish context, and given greaterlocal relevance. This meant selectingand highlighting particular humanrights that seemed the most pertinentto the lives and emotions oflocal Spanish pupils. Teachers,consequently, chose to emphasizetolerance and respect as their mainsubject matters. Debates anddiscussions then centred on thepedagogical aspects of a culture ofpeace, particularly interculturaleducation. Other materials werecovered and considered as potentialteaching matter such as contributionsfrom Save The Children Bolivia. Thesetting up of working groups ofteachers instilled stronger relationsbetween colleagues. It created abetter professional dynamic, cohesionand a keener awareness of pupils’learning needs. An Internetnewsletter called ‘Living Together’was posted online.

The second working group,‘Education for Peace and HumanRights,’ aimed to find new paths topromote a culture of peace in schools

Teachers as Peace BuildersC.P Immaculada ConcepciónPlaza de la Immaculada s/n - O4400 Alhama de Almeria

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Spain

ain

and society. How, in other words, toensure that society in all itsdimensions, particularly educationally,become impregnated with valuesof peace, solidarity, democracy,tolerance and respect for theenvironment and human rights?How, again, to make sure thatteacher training integrates peaceeducation into its very fabric fromthe beginning? Using the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights as abasic sphere of reference, meetingswere held on values of education andrelated teaching techniques. Audio-visual and curricular material wereconsidered in the process. Simulationgames were held with pupils.Teachers even joined in ademonstration in favour of peace inthe town to show their concern aboutviolence in the Basque region. A web-site regrouping the main themes andideas of the working group wasposted online. A CD-ROM wassimilarly produced. Pupils, under theguidance of the working group, wereasked to read and sign the Manifesto2000. These signatures were sent toUNESCO to help in the celebrationof the International Year of theCulture of Peace. This last workinggroup was rewarded with a specialprize for its contribution to peacefrom the local Andalusianauthorities.

In all this effort, the teachers kept inmind that they were not justpreparing pupils for education inschool, but were forming charactersable to tackle the complexity of themodern world. Teacher training wasa mixture of academic and socialaction: education and vocationmingling to instil a respect for basichuman freedoms and dignity. This

Spanish school, as an ASPnetestablishment, has shown how it seesitself as a satellite of the UnitedNations system, doing its bit to assistit in its mission to keep and createpeace. Building peace, as they stateat the C.P Immaculada Concepción,is everyone’s job.

Suggestedclassroomactivities: ▲ Ask your pupils to divide

into groups and to simulate/act out situations ofconflict – arguments,family tensions, racialdiscrimination, etc. Howdoes each group solve theirconflict peacefully?What attitudes do theyadopt? What vocabularyto they use? Discuss anddevelop this simulationgame by allowingall groups to makesuggestions to each other.

▲ Split your pupils up intoseveral groups, some beingasked to take on the roleof teachers while othersthe role of pupils. Thenask each group to comeup with suggestions forhow to carry out peaceeducation, comparingthe ‘teacher’ group withthe ‘pupil’ group. Alloweach group to sell themerits of their methodsthrough discussionand debate.

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Venezu

Primary

This school of eight hundred pupilsand forty-three teachers in Cabudare,Venezuela, is in a disadvantaged areawhere crime, unemployment,malnutrition, drug abuse and poorliteracy are permanent concerns. Theschool itself is in strong need ofrenovation, its roof leaks and learningmaterials are always needed. Itseemed natural, therefore, that theelaboration of a PPAI project shouldrespond to some of these urgentissues. Equally obvious was the factthat the community would have to beinvolved if the project was to have anyfar-reaching or sustainable result.

Although the school personnel wereaware of some of the problems theywere facing in their daily task,surveys were carried out in theneighbourhood and within the pupils’families to get a more detailed pictureof the social situation. The studentinterviewers asked a series ofpinpointed questions, but, above all,they sought to find out howcommunity members themselvesimagined their area. How, forinstance, did they think theirneighbourhood could be developedpositively? How could the school berun in such a way as to benefitparents, pupils and teacherstogether? An interdisciplinary team,

made up of four teachers, a secretaryand community representatives tookthe results of the surveys andanalyzed them in terms of priorities.Both pedagogical and materialquestions were considered criteria inthis participatory process.

The outcome of all these deliberationsled to a structural change inthe school’s management. Thecommunity was drawn into the actualmission of the school by being askedto create teacher/parent groups.Regular joint meetings were held.The effect was immediate. Teachingpersonnel participated in the politicalcultural and religious activities of thecommunity and, in so doing, gavethemselves a more forceful social role.The community, on the other hand,expressed a stronger sense ofbelonging and ownership towards theschool. Activities were planned andcarried out to build on this new-foundpartnership. These ranged fromteacher-training workshops, a schoolfestival, cleaning-up days in theneighbourhood, street parties, areading and writing competition,drama performances, guided visits tozoos and museums and film outings.The school roof was even repairedwith help from the community andteachers. The school, confident of its

Partnershipfor Conflict ResolutionUnidad educativa estatal ‘José Félix Ribas’Cabudare - Estado Lara

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Venezuela

uelasuccess, entered a competition,supported by the multinationalcorporation, Procter and Gamble, onthe theme of packaging. The schoolwas lucky to win a computer, printerand photocopier.

This PPAI project was, in reality,the meeting of two strong needs. Onthe one side, the teachers feltoverwhelmed by administration, lackof space and time and, on the otherside, the pupils required extrastimulation in their school and moreattention from parents in theiracademic work. The pupils saw littleneed for their schooling, as jobs arelimited in their area, and feltdisconnected from their education.The result of the PPAI scheme wasthat the school had a more clearlydefined mission in touch withthe desires of the surroundingcommunity. The pupils became morepositive, showing greater respect fortheir school and its role. It was noted,too, that drop-out numbers even fell.The curricula was adapted to reflectall this change. Links between schooland community had been forged togreat effect.

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Suggestedclassroomactivities: ▲ Ask your pupils to draft

a survey or questionnaireon their community/schoolrelationship, to be carriedout within their familiesand neighbours.What specific questionsshould they ask?Who should they target?

▲ Organize a meeting betweenteachers, neighboursand parents in whichcommunity membersexpress their desires fortheir children’s school.Allow pupils to attendso they can voice theiropinions and monitordiscussions. Get yourpupils to suggest possiblejoint activities that couldbe followed up. Ask pupilsto write up the contentof the meeting.

Central Afr

Republ

Primary

Peace throughEnvironmental ProtectionEcole Sica II Mixte BBP 2612 Bangui

The involvement of young people inenvironmental protection was seen asan urgent necessity that neededencouraging by the Ecole Sica IIMixte B in Bangui, in the CentralAfrican Republic. Faced with asingular lack of local communityinterest in ecological matters,teachers, concerned parents andpupils decided to take matters intotheir own hands. Their aim was toturn each pupil of their school into an‘artisan’ of Nature, someone who hada basic knowledge of environmentalproblems and who could bring aboutchange at home and in society. Withfinancial help from several parentsand armed with a grant from theGerman National Commission forUNESCO, the pupils set aboutembellishing their school, restoringclassrooms, cleaning up the schoolyard, planting the surrounding areawith trees, clearing brushwood thatposed a fire risk. This transformationof the school into a more ecologicalzone kept some 68 per cent of the1400 pupils of the school busy alongwith 90 per cent of the teachers. Theschool fast became a hub ofenvironmentally-friendly activitiesand a place to visit and admire. Once the embellishment project cameto an end, the challenge was to keepup the momentum of change for the

sake of the pupils and for thepurposes of sustainable developmentin the area. This was achieved bymaking the protection of nature anintegral part of the curriculum, adaily classroom concern that would,if nurtured, become an instinct orsecond nature in the pupilsthemselves. Teams of ‘Friends ofNature’ were created in the school.National and local radio made surethat the pupils felt proud of theirachievements by publicizing theirproject. It was later observed that theyoung people from the Bangui school,once they were familiar with treeplanting techniques and otherecological issues, went home tospread the knowledge to their ownfamilies. Encouraged on the way bythe school parent association, theUNESCO National Commission andthe Ministry of Education, thestudents now plan to set up furthergroups of ‘Friends of Nature.’ Thestudents know they are guardians ofa vital knowledge for a better, cleaner,healthier, more sustainableenvironment. They are, as the schoolhoped, personally committed toenvironmental preservation and, byextension, peace and justice.

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CentralAfrican Republic

frican

blic

Suggestedclassroomactivities: ▲ Ask your pupils to draw

up a list of the problemsthey encounter in theirschool, such as brokenequipment, damagedinfrastructure, surroundingenvironment, etc. Discusswhy these problems existand ask pupils to suggestpossible solutions and setpriorities for renovation.If the problems can berepaired by pupils, createteams, supervised byteachers, to carry outthe renovation work.

▲ Ask your students tosuggest ways in which theirschool could be made moreecological and attractive?Again, allow your studentsto carry out these changes.

▲ In a discussion, ask yourstudents how the protectionof the environmentcan enhance peace?What effect does conflicthave on the environment?How would your studentsdefine a crimeagainst Nature?

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Cub

Primary

ConnectingClassrooms to the WorldEscuela Primaria Josué País García - Avenida de los Mártires no 11Entre Emiliano Agüero y Tomás Betancourt, Rpto. La Vigía - Camagüey

This pilot scheme from Cuba proposesa simple way of connecting the worldof learning with the world thatsurrounds us. The Cuban school callsthis method the ‘Storm of Ideas.’ Forthe purposes of the PPAI, the EscuelaPrimaria Josué País García choseintercultural learning throughgeography as an example of itsmethodology. It was implemented inthe whole school, right through to lastgrade.

With the school’s youngest pupils(aged five to six), a group of a hundredchildren were divided up into groupsof twenty. The children selected thecountries they wished to study. Thesewere Mexico, Honduras, Brazil,Panama and Cuba. For each country,and in separate sessions, the classtraced geometric shapes according tothe flags of the different countries ofstudy. Children learnt not onlygeometry but also the pattern of theflag and the meaning of them. Thesesame shapes and colours were thenused to cut out and make costumesfrom each country (such as Mexicansombrero hats). Songs, dances,poems, legends and tales from eachcountry were recited with the childrenand put to music. The animals andflora of each country were studied andmodelled out of clay or putty. An album

was put together in which the youngchildren placed their drawings andpictures. Parents were invited to joinin these activities which variedaccording to each country. Panamabrought in the study of sugar cane andCaribbean fruits. Mountain rangeswere the topic of the Honduraslearning period as well as indigenouscultures. Amazonian trees werediscussed in the Brazil session and asamba dance was choreographed for aUNESCO-sponsored meeting. Whenit came to Cuba, the children learntthe national anthem, walked abouttheir town of Camagüey and visitedthe local museum. The discovery oflearning in this project goes hand inhand with the awakening of a cultureof peace in the minds of youngchildren.

Again, at first grade level, sixty pupilswere chosen to work on differentcountries. They selected Costa Rica,Colombia and their own country,Cuba. Language and writing lessonsconcentrated on the use of wordsassociated with World Heritage.Mathematics used the cultivation ofcoffee in Colombia, tobacco, bananasand cocoa as a basis for work - forexample dividing up and addingcoffee beans to demonstrateequations and problems. The children

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Cuba

ubacut up and folded paper to copy theflowers and animals of Costa Ricaand Colombia. History lessonsexplored pre-Hispanic times andnative cultures. Second grade pupils,seventy pupils divided into twogroups of thirty-five, decided onGuatemala and Haiti for theirstudies. They read stories from thesecountries aloud and depicted imagesfrom them. They got to know Mayanculture from Guatemala and itslegends, architecture and symbols.Haitian painting was used as avehicle for discussion on its economy,African origins and Creole language.Children composed their own storiesaround Argentina and Colombia,researched photos in books and triedto find ways of contacting childrenfrom the countries they werestudying. Others opted for Peru astheir subject and constructed andpainted a map of the countrycomplete with Inca sites. Someclasses carried out bibliographicalresearches into Venezuela, collectingits stamps, investigating its currencyand works of literature and art.Venezuelans visited the school andtalked about their country with thepupils.

Each new grade, as can be seen, grewin its ability to learn about other

cultures, thereby taking on variousaspects of curricular and peaceeducation. Teachers, too, were able touse their skills to the maximum,giving vent to their creativity. ThisCuban school’s ‘Storm of Ideas’merged well with the aims of thePPAI and proves that generaleducation and a culture of peace gohand in hand.

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Suggestedclassroomactivities: ▲ Ask your pupils to explain

which countries they mostwant to visit around theworld. Draw up a selectionof countries to study and,as a class, design mapsand paintings for thecountries chosen.

▲ Gather stamps, books,images and photographsfrom your selection ofcountries, using wheneverpossible Internet. Whatdo these tell your classabout each country?Research the musicof several countries, theirculture, history, buildingsand customs?

▲ Ask your pupils how theywould contact youngpeople from neighbouringcountries. With the helpof your ASPnet NationalCo-ordinator establisha twinning arrangementwith an ASPnet schoolin a neighbouring country.

Norw

Primary

Build Bridges, Not WallsFjell SchoolLauritz Hervigsvei 20 - 3035 Drammen

Fjell school in Norway looked to co-operation overseas for its PPAI Awardproject. It teamed up with differentschools around Europe, in Bosnia andHerzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia andAustria, and participated in twodistinct peace camps. The first washeld in Drammen, Norway, in May2000. The second brought pupilstogether in Piran, Slovenia, inOctober 2000.

In May 2000, in the town ofDrammen, under the banner of ‘BuildBridges, Not Walls,’ students fromEurope gathered at a peace camp todiscuss and debate their awarenessof human rights, how to resolveconflicts and create positive relationsin a multicultural society. They usedone of the leitmotivs of the formerDirector General of UNESCO - theneed for a ‘transition from the logic offorce and fear to the force of reasonand love’ – as a starting point fordebate. Activities then centred ondrawing pictures, designing stamps,postcards, puzzles and adverts. Aplaywas staged on the theme of conflictresolution and persistent politicalissues. Some students preparedsongs, wrote music or shot videos. Anexhibition called ‘Build Bridges, NotWalls’ was put together to sum up thecamp. Each visiting delegation, some

in their respective national dress,(from Bosnia and Herzegovina,Croatia, Slovenia and Austria) hadprepared flags and peace posters.During the camp, students divided upinto workshops to tackle subjectssuch as human rights and nationalheritage. Others worked on music,drama, arts and crafts andinternational folklore. An exhibit washeld for the inhabitants of Drammenpresenting all the peace cards andartwork. On the final day, all theschools of Drammen took part in apeace march, waving UN flags. Anestimated 10,000 people took part !

In October, the same pupils from fivecountries met again in Piran,Slovenia. They were joined by a fewnon-European students (Mali, SriLanka, etc.) studying in Slovenia.Each national delegation presentedtheir country and culture. Theydiscussed ways of furtheringUNESCO’s work for peace. The townof Piran was used as a backdropto organize a treasure hunt and todebate the importance of culturalheritage. Under the banner, ‘Localroots and global wings,’ youngstersdesigned a new ASPnet symbol. Adrama initiative, whereby studentsinvented short plays in English, wascarried out. They later planted a tree

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Norway

wayin the grounds of the host Slovenianschool. A closing event held inPortoroz great auditorium wasattended by the Slovenian President,Head of State, himself whocommended the pupils on their workfor peace.

Materials were produced from boththe May and October camps: a CDROM of UNESCO-inspired hymns, ayear 2000 peace calendar, a songbookand a video filmed in Piran. Thesematerials and the camps were fundedthrough a European Union grant(Socrates-Comenius programme),donations from members of the townof Drammen and by students andparents baking and selling cakes andco-ordinating a local lottery. Thepeace camps/workshops were coveredby the local Norwegian press andtelevision and further camps wereplanned.

Suggestedclassroomactivities: ▲ Ask your class to write

the words for a peace songor a hymn for the world.What particular wordswould they emphasize?What themes would theyprivilege?

▲ What do your pupils feel issymbolized by the UNESCOlogo? How would theydesign a new logo forUNESCO? Ask your studentsto research other peacelogos from the UnitedNations and otherinternational organizations.

▲ Ask your pupils to discussany trips they have madeabroad - what struck themas being similar? What wasdifferent? If they havenever been abroad, askthem to visualize what itmight be like.

▲ What specific themes in theworld today bring youngpeople together? Whatcauses do young peoplerally around? Discuss.

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Urugu

Primary

School as Catalystfor Social ChangeEscuela No. 244, Grecia s/n casi VeraciertoEl Dorado - Las Piedras - Canelones

Taking Manifesto 2000 as its staringpoint, this school in Uruguay decidedto bring community life andeducating for a culture of peace closertogether in a school festival. This wasdone with several key objectives inmind: 1) to raise awareness withinthe community as to the potential ofthe school in social change; 2) toreinforce the family as an essentialvector in the learning of social valuesand human rights; 3) to combineforces to improve the environment; 4)to give children a stronger sense oftheir cultural identity and their rolein the wider world.

The idea of using the Manifesto 2000for the PPAI project was to have abasic instrument that would manageto mobilize teachers, pupils andfamilies together in a school-basedevent. The event was run by fiveteachers with the involvement ofpupils’ families from the beginning.Guidelines were drawn up for thoseteachers who had never organizedlarge school gatherings and a cleartime-frame was established inconsultation with the community.

An open day, workshops and anexhibition were planned as a generalschool festival and rehearsals tookplace. A ‘walk for peace’ was held inthe neighbourhood. It helped

galvanize further support and stirinterest. Exhibition boards wereprepared. Mothers helped theirchildren paint them. Posters weredesigned, flags sewn together. Pupilsasked their families for help inwriting messages of peace. Parentsdiscussed the key points of theManifesto 2000 in workshops. Theywere given several questions such as:are we violent when we haveproblems? How do we react toviolence? Do we know how to listen toother peoples’ opinions? How are wecontributing to the peacefuldevelopment of our society? Theywere asked whether they wouldcommit themselves to signing theManifesto 2000? Parents debated itsvarious points with teachers andneighbours, raised questions, soughtanswers. Pupils put together sculpture‘peace doves’using various techniquessuch as silhouette on paper, pencildrawing, collage and plastic putty.Pupils recited peace poems. When allthis was done, the festival wasdeemed to be prepared and the schoolwas opened to anyone who wanted tojoin in the festival (no entrance feewas required). For the day of thefestivities, with its dances, food andexhibition, the school reckoned it hadindeed merged with the surroundingcommunity, together as one.

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Uruguay

uayPupils were enthusiastic about theirPPAI project. Children and teachersfelt rewarded by the strongcommunity response. They knewtheir efforts had been worthwhile.Family members and communityleaders appreciated their involvementand the fact that their opinions werevalued. Teachers sensed their visionhad been accepted by the community.They perceived a much deepercommitment from the parentstowards the education of theirchildren, as well as a keenerunderstanding within the family asto the role of education and pupils’activities at school. It was moredifficult to measure the effect thechildren had on changing their ownfamilies’ attitudes and behaviour, butit was generally believed that thechildren took home a big part of theirPPAI festival and felt proud of it. Aschool newspaper, various gamesand activities, all involving thecommunity hoped to maintain thepace of change.

Six Principles of Manifesto 2000

✱ Respect the life and dignity of each human being withoutdiscrimination or prejudice;

✱ Practise active non-violence, rejecting violence in all itsforms: physical, sexual, psychological, economical and social,in particular towards the most deprived and vulnerable suchas children and adolescents;

✱ Share my time and material resources in a spirit ofgenerosity to put an end to exclusion, injustice and politicaland economic oppression;

✱ Defend freedom of expression and cultural diversity,giving preference always to dialogue and listening withoutengaging in fanaticism, defamation and the rejection ofothers;

✱ Promote consumer behaviour that is responsible anddevelopment practices that respect all forms of life andpreserve the balance of nature on the planet;

✱ Contribute to the development of my community, withthe full participation of women and respect for democraticprinciples, in order to create together new forms of solidarity.

Suggestedclassroomactivities: ▲ Read out the Manifesto

2000 in your classroom.Use it as a basis fordiscussion and ask yourpupils if they are willingto sign it. Would they takethe Manifesto 2000 homeand ask their families andneighbours to sign it too?

▲ Ask your class to designand write their own schoolnewspaper. What articlesshould they include?Who should they interviewand why? What is thenewspaper’s basicobjective? Could it servethe purposes of peaceand mutual understanding?

▲ Design a calendar for thefollowing school year,using school paintingsand themes from theculture of peace.

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Austra

Primary/Secondary

Peace Across the InternetPulteney Grammar Preparatory School - 190 South Tce.Adelaide South Australia 5000

Pulteney Grammar School believesthat news reports on the televisionand radio, as well as those in thenewspapers, generally tend to focuson the sensational and violent. Fewof the many ‘good news’ stories thatconstitute our world make it into thepress or even appear in our dailyconversations. The result is that webecome trapped in webs of negativityand fear, believing, or beingconstantly told by the media, that ourworld is unsafe and doomed. Tocombat this sense of hopelessness,Pulteney Grammar School pupils setthemselves the challenging task ofquestioning the way we areconditioned to think and redirectingour attention onto ‘good news.’Such a reappraisal, Pulteney Schoolbelieved, could enable people to settheir minds to imagining a betterworld, helping them understand thatpeace is not only possible but thatviolence does not have to be anintegral part of the human experience.

An Information Technology group,Pullkids, already existed withinPulteney Grammar School. It was notinitially designed with the PPAIAward in mind, but when theUNESCO ASPnet-sponsored initiativewas suggested, it was realised thatthis small core group of computer

literate students could have a strongrole to play. An ‘Imagine Peace’projectwas, therefore, founded to promote aculture of peace in the school througha wider use of the Internet. Newpupils were recruited to learncomputing skills. Time was first spenton the technical side of things:learning the software required toestablish a web page, masteringemailing and the use of digitalcameras and scanners, etc. Thesecond stage adapted the use of theseskills to the spreading of good newson Internet and demonstrated thepositive effect of new communicationtechnology. An attractive school webpage dedicated to peace and goodnews was placed online. The projectsoon began to bear fruit when foreignpeace organisations linked onto thenewly-created school web page andencouraging emails started arrivingfrom all around the world. Thenumber of visitors to the site grewrapidly. Parents and communitymembers became involved. Theproject snowballed. Youngsterstaught adults the ways of Internet,adults shared new knowledge witheach other. It became clear, as theschool had hoped, that the Internetcould be a key tool in the spreading ofpeace if used effectively and safely.The Pulteney Grammar School

Australia

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raliaexperience proves that a fewcomputer-skilled students, howeveryoung, can make a real difference.New technology can be harnessedand given positive purposes. AsPullkids like to say, ‘good news issustaining!’

Suggested ideasfor classroomactivities: ▲ Ask your pupils to describe

a good news story fromtheir community, familyor school? What good newsfrom around the world,in history and the presentday, can the pupils thinkof? Ask them to find andcut out good news storiesfrom newspapers andmagazines. Assemblethem together and discuss.

▲ If your school has access tothe Internet and computers,draw up plans for how youmight make use of themto promote peace?How would your pupilsdesign a web page on theInternet for the promotionof peace? If your schoolhas no computer, designa poster that could serveto spread peace throughoutthe world.

▲ How would your studentscreate an effective chainof ‘peace-makers’ acrossthe world through theInternet, newspapersor mail? Which partnerswould they use? Wherein the world would theydirect their efforts?

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Egy

Primary/Secondary

No to School ViolenceDamietta Experimental Language School

After record levels of violenceamongst pupils, this schoolin Damietta, Egypt, decidedto act and create a pro-peacemovement within theestablishment. The projectinvolved 1043 students of theschool and many of itsteachers. Members of thecommunity, especially parents,later joined in as themovement gathered speed.

This initiative was set in motion by aschool-wide teacher discussion wheredifferent educators could raise theirconcerns about violence in andoutside their classrooms, but also thepeaceful solutions they imagined.This discussion examined the rootcauses of violence: instability in thepupils’ home and local familydynamics as well as the atmospherein the school. Those teachers whowere interested and felt able tocontribute enough time and energywent on to form a core group for thePPAI project. Together, they drewup a few practical steps they wantedto see implemented urgently. Apamphlet was written by the teachersand distributed amongst students(this was printed in both Arabic andEnglish for extra learning value). Extensive research as to the causes

of disputes within the schooland home was carried out, thisthen extended to wider classroomexchanges on war and peace duringschool time. The movement took hold.Teachers talked to pupils, in and outof class, and motivated them toparticipate in the blossoming project.Organized meetings, animateddebates and panel discussions tookplace. A local psychologist joined in,addressing pupils and fieldingquestions on the subjects ofaggression, anti-social behaviour,delinquency. Pupils were encouragedto go to their families and discusstheir thoughts with their parents.

The pupils later went to neighbouringschools to involve them in the projecttoo, mobilizing others, creating a localmomentum. Gradually, the initiativegrew, pupils were able to swap storieswith students from nearby schoolsand teachers tackled concepts ofpeace and the non-violent resolutionof conflicts in their everydayclassroom activities. From there,paintings and posters were preparedby the pupils. Those who did notwant to do anything artistic wereencouraged to write papers or carryout research into the causes of conflictand how peace can be achieved.Levels of violence and aggression, the

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Egypt

yptschool noted, began to dropsignificantly. Not wanting themovement to remain a passing fad,the Damietta school took care tointegrate much of the content into thecurriculum. Issues related to peaceand the non-violent resolution ofconflicts became routine in the school.The idea touched other educationalestablishments nearby and found itsway into the national newspapers:Al-Ahram and Al-Wafd wrote aboutit, as did the magazine Hawaa. Itwas even mentioned on the TVprogramme Hadees Al Madina.

Suggested ideasfor classroomactivities: ▲ Ask your students what

acts of physical or verbalviolence they have witnessedin your school? What canbe done about them?Why did they occur?Why do people resort toviolence and aggressionand, by extension, warfare?How can non-violencebe promoted?

▲ Using role playing, divideyour class into groupsand act out situationsin which violence mightarise in your schooland imagine waysto defuse them peacefully.

▲ How could your pupilsstart up a peace movementinside their school?Gather together ideasand ask your studentsto draw up a plan of actionto be presentedto the school.

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Pakist

Primary/Secondary

Youth Empowermentfor Responsible CitizenshipGrammar School Rawalpindi438-B Tulsa Road - Lalazar, Rawalpindi

The students of this Grammar Schoolin Rawalpindi were the instigators ofa major peace event that broughttogether 800 students from 50 schoolsall over Pakistan. The aim was todisseminate and introduce humanrights/values education into schoolsacross the country, thereby promotinga culture of peace amongst teachersand pupils alike. Within a six-weekdeadline, the Rawalpindi school, led byabout 100 teachers and the studentcouncil, planned an entire project fromits inception to its public prizedistribution ceremony. Invitationletters were sent out to schools acrossthe country, in Islamabad, inPeshawar, in Lahore, etc. Judges forthe activities (famous artists,journalists, senior teachers) wereselected. Plaques were made for theprize giving, sponsors were sought outto provide refreshments to the crowd.The Pakistan National Council of theArts was asked to present a puppetshow on the theme of human-rights (inthe end the subject of theinterdependence between rural andurban peoples was chosen).

A local park of Rawalpindi, the AyubPark, was chosen as the venue, inconjunction with the city council. Ithas trees for shade and a central open-air theatre. The unifying theme of all

the activities was: ‘Let’s BecomeHumane and Responsible Citizens ofPakistan and the World.’ A vastbanner of the Culture of PeaceManifesto 2000 was hoisted in themain activities area. Students weredivided up into two age groups: 9-12and 13-16 years. The former groupwas asked questions such as ‘How canwe help in making our country abetter home?’ The 13 –16 age grouphad questions such as ‘How can we, asindividuals, benefit from a culture ofpeace?

Avolunteer group from the RawalpindiGrammar School ensured the smoothrunning of activities, guidingparticipants, keeping a watch onyounger pupils. Events were dividedinto 1) art, individual and grouppainting, 2) Urdu language essay andpoetry writing, 3) English essay andpoetry writing, 4) Urdu declamationand English declamation.

Participants had to choose one ofthese subjects and were given twohours to prepare and complete theirtask. Creativity and originality weredeemed to be the measures of successrather than grammatical correctness.A prize-giving event was presented,followed by some Awards for HumanRights Awareness. Tunes and

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Pakistan

stanpresentations on the theme ‘I savedthe world today’ were sung. This wasa particularly important moment forall the students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds to mix. Abooklet of Children’s Rights inUrdu was published, as wasanother of short plays on socialissues. Posters, lesson modules forpeace and information on mutualunderstanding were available.Follow-up activities such as a‘Responsible Citizenship’ workshopwere held for teachers.

The effect of this important peaceevent on the surrounding communitywas noticeable with volunteergroups forming, students collectingmaterials for disadvantaged groupsand others becoming involved ingarbage collecting. Student GoodwillAmbassadors were created to spreadthe message. The RawalpindiGrammar School reckoned that itshuman rights festival was a first inPakistan and could provide agroundbreaking example of how tomobilize large numbers of people onurgent issues in the country.Students felt valued by the chance topropose their own solutions to theworld’s problems. They were in touchwith their creativity. In short, theywere empowered.

Suggestedclassroomactivities: ▲ Ask your class to write their

own peace poem. Whatparticular words do theyfeel encompass a cultureof peace? How does musicbring people togetheracross language barriers?

▲ Which are your pupils’favourite books, stories,poems, songs or films?Ask them to bring theminto the class and describewhat values they describe.

▲ How would your pupilsplan a mobilizing eventwithin their school? Whatspecific activities wouldthey organize? If enoughpupils agree on an event,try to gather support for itin the school.

▲ How would the students ofyour class define ‘responsiblecitizenship’ or the role ofthe citizen in general?

UNESCO Director General Koïchiro Matsuura (centre)

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Argent

Secondary

From Human Rightsto Peace and ToleranceColegio Secundario Nacional No. 5080‘Dr Manuel A de Castro’ - Salta

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversaryof the Universal Declaration of HumanRights in 1998, this school teamed upwith other schools in the North-Eastregion of Argentina to form a networkto put on exhibitions, plays, films andpuppet shows that promoted peaceand non-violence. The aim, beyondthe entertainment and information ofteachers and students, was toconsolidate respect for human rightsand peace in the region.

This network of schools in the North-East region was not just for schoolswithin the ASPnet, but for anyeducational institution willing andable to contribute. This meant thatprofessional training institutes,secondary schools and a whole rangeof diverse educational establishmentstook part. Various tasks were set forstudents, under the guidance of theirteachers. The scope and variety ofaims were very broad: 1) the study andanalysis of the Universal Declarationof Human Rights; 2) research intothe violation of human rightsin Latin America; 3) exercises inself-perception and awareness – tounderstand oneself and others; 4)analysis of the inseparability oftolerance, human rights and peace;5) the weekly gathering and sortingof newspaper articles on human

rights; 6) the making of puppets andthe creation of a puppet show onwomen’s rights with a script writtenby language students; 7) the writingof a hymn to non-violence and peaceby music students. When all of theabove work was completed, a festivalwas put on by the participatingschools and colleges of the network. Aplay and a series of puppet showswere staged. Some students showedvideos they had shot and othersperformed a dance. The hymn thatthe schools had been working on wasfinally sung to members of the public.Various local personalities andcouncillors attended.

A Day of Solidarity was alsocelebrated within this network and ameeting entitled, ‘Human Rights,Democracy and Education for LivingTogether’ was organized. A secondfestival was held in which studentswere asked to present a LatinAmerican country of their choice,performing traditional dances,presenting arts and crafts from theregion. Finally, a workshop was heldamongst all the participating schoolsof the North East network bringingpeople together under the banner of‘Paving the Way for Peace.’ Groupsdebated on the International Year ofthe Culture of Peace and the Seville

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Argentina

tinaDeclaration. Each school went awaywith distinct tasks, for examplewriting stories on non-violence,holding competitions for posterdesigns. This initiative concludedwith the presentation of amultifaceted performance, bringingall the students together, under thetitle, ‘For Peace in the Americas’. Itwas made up of shadow puppetry,music, dance, plays in honour ofnature and presentations on thetheme of ancient Mayan and nativecultures.

The most important aspect of thisPPAI scheme, which was theculmination of three years work, isperhaps the fact that the educationalestablishments of the network wereable to gradually reinforce andpromote their image with theirstudents. The latter came to see thattheir schools were, in fact, dynamicforces in the community, microcosmsof society promoting peaceful formsof behaviour, positive institutionsgiving meaning and value tolearning. This realization enabled thepupils to feel proud of theireducational establishments and,most vitally, reaffirmed their belief inthe relevance of their education.

Suggested ideasfor classroomactivities: ▲ Can your students list the

various internationallyrecognized Human Rights?(Check these againstthe Universal Declarationof Human Rights) Ask yourstudents to discuss eachright in turn. What humanrights do the class judgeto be the most vital? What,according to the pupils,are the worst casesof human rights violationsaround the world?What steps can be takento enforce respectof human rightsthroughout the world?

▲ Ask your students to writea short play or essay onthe theme of human rights.

▲ Examine your school’scapacity to set up a localnetwork of schools keento promote the UniversalDeclaration of HumanRights.

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CAustria

Secondary

Peace Symbolswithout BordersBundesgymnasium und Bundesrealgymnasium in LeobenMoserhofstrasse 7A - 8700 Leoben

Suggested ideasfor classroomactivities: ▲ What symbols of peace can

your pupils identify withintheir environment? Whatsymbols of war andconflict can they pick outfrom their surroundings?Ask your students todesign a board game thatuses both global symbolsof peace and emblems ofconflict?

▲ Ask your students to studypaintings and images fromthe history of art. What dothey tell us about violenceand conflict or, on thecontrary, peace. Has artglorified war? Does artpromote peace? Discuss.

In partnership with schools in SouthAfrica, Ireland and Romania, studentsfrom this establishment in Austriadecided to find unifying global symbols ofpeace for a memory game and then createan international art contest.

In the first ‘global symbols’ project, abroad selection of students at the schoolwere asked to identify peace symbolsthey felt were valid the world over.Members of the community, localpoliticians, artists and religious groupswere asked to join in and contribute theirthoughts. A thousand emails were sentto collect information the world over. Tohelp progress, a teacher and well-knownartist, Albert Ecker, discussed the processwith pupils and sought to provoke newideas and feelings in class. He showedpupils paintings, pointed out passages ofliterature and encouraged them toresearch the Internet. The studentsresponded to the challenge by searchingthrough their studies of literature, artand the world-wide web.

The symbols that came out of all thediscussions and research were collectedand split according to category andrelevance. Further consultation andclassroom activities were needed to thenturn the symbols into a peace game. Theproject made the students realise howsuccessful a group activity could be andthat collective action is possible andeffective in bringing about change. What

started off as an extracurricular projectsparked debate on how to integratesuch initiatives into the mainstreamcurricular programme, and new schemeshave since been gradually integrated.The concept of inventing a memory gamewith symbols covered two aims: to becreative and inventive; and to discoversymbols that could connect people indifferent countries despite barriers oflanguage and culture. The game wasseen as a direct support to UNESCO’smission ‘to create peace in the minds ofmen.’ The notion of linking peace andmemory in a game also favoured makingpeace second nature. This Austrianschool is now convinced that its PPAImemory game could be reproducedthroughout the world. In fact, theteachers say, it could be the basis for acomplete set of different games.

Again under the guidance of the Austrianartist Albert Ecker, the students createdan international art contest and postedthe winning pictures on the Internet forall to share. The art contest, called‘Global Alliance’, was carried out inconjunction with a South African schoolin Soweto. The results were published inthe Austrian UNESCO magazine and ona CD ROM, and also covered by regionalnewspapers. The Austrian school has along history of partnership with its sisterschool in South Africa. The art contestbuilt on this mutual respect and on thefact that the pupils wanted to show theirappreciation of each other’s cultures.The message was: art is open to all. Anexhibition bringing the two schoolstogether was held at a Johannesburggallery. It was a perfect mix of Austrianand South African themes and ideas,a symbol of understanding betweendifferent people. This type of artpartnership could be carried out with anyschool in any country.

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Austria

CongoDR

This school in the Democratic Republicof Congo did not need to look too far togive its PPAI project an immediate andtrue interpretation. Under the guidanceof a professional agriculturist and withstrong encouragement from teachers, thepupils of this educational establishmentin Ikete-Ebale planted a one-hectare fieldwith corn, another with beans and yetanother with tomatoes and a variety ofvegetables. The goal was to cultivateenough produce to be able to help withthe feeding of a nearby refugee camp.

The corn field required 70 pupils tocultivate it, the bean garden 20 studentsand 50 in the tomato patch. Studentswere responsible for their plots of land,in charge of watering, weeding andkeeping a chart of progress and problems.Issues related to the gardening werebrought up in the classroom anddiscussed with the relevant teachers.Three months after sowing, thevegetables and corn were harvested bythe school’s pupils. Under the authorityof a local aid worker and a nurse, the foodwas distributed to refugees and oldpeople in the area. Part of the harvestwas kept back by the pupils and sold topurchase school books for refugeechildren. Costs were also covered inthis way. Harvested vegetables wereregularly distributed to the refugeepopulation on each Saturday for twomonths as part of the project follow-up,until the plants stopped producing.

Not only was this initiative a chance formany pupils to perfect their marketgardening skills, the school also reckonedit nurtured feelings of generosity,forgiveness and sharing in both the

students and the refugee populations. Ithad the immediate effect of bringingvarious members of the communitytogether, from professional aid workers,agricultural specialists to priests. Peoplewere unified in a common desire to helpthose more deprived than them, past riftsbetween population groups wereovercome, animosity and resentmentwere put to one side. Pupils benefitedfrom vital agricultural training and wereable to experiment directly with farmingtechniques under the guidance ofspecialists.

Furthermore, discussions on a culture ofpeace within the school did not remainmere theory, but rather pupils were ableto see for themselves how direct actioncan be taken and multiplied to assistthose at risk – and this despite theimmense difficulties and problems of thelocal environment. The school has notelevision or radio, indeed both are rarein the area, so a local personality fromthe neighbourhood undertook a door-to-door campaign to inform the inhabitantsof the project’s results and actions.

Unite to Make a Difference Institut Technique Commerciale et AdministrativeIkete-Ebale, Territoire LukolelaProvince de l’Equateur, Ngonbe s/Fleuve - BP B505

Suggested ideasfor classroomactivities: ▲ Ask your students what

immediate, practical stepsthey could take to alleviatethe deprivation of excludedpeople around them.How can they put theirideas into action?

▲ Get your students to discussthe North/South divide,the disparity in worldriches and resourcesand the solutions to theseglobal as well as localproblems.

▲ Allow your students toexpress their feelings aboutmajor historical conflicts,the role of their country intimes of war. What do theyknow of refugee problemsand exile? Get your pupilsto discuss their views onneighbouring countries?Are these views truthful,stereotypical or discrimi-natory? Compare differentpupils’ views in a debate.

▲ How would your pupilsgo about nurturing feelingsof forgiveness. How cantwo countries come togetherafter a bitter conflict?What does reconciliationreally mean? How can thespirit of war be eradicated?Split your classroom intotwo - in a mock post-conflictsituation - and ask the twosides to draft a peace dealthat satisfies both parties.

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Congo DR

An ASPnet school in DR Congo

Czech

Republic

Secondary

Located in Pribram, this school in theCzech Republic, is unique in that it alsohouses a Regional Human Rights Centre.The centre is a full-functioning part ofthe school and under its tutelage, andwhere three connected peace projectswere undertaken for the UNESCOASPnet Peace Pillar Award Initiative.

For the first project, ‘Tolerance andRespect/ Global Learning Project,’ 150pupils took part. Most were students ofSocial Studies and English Language.The most important aspect of the projectconcentrated on social work in thecommunity. This took the shape offree English and Italian classes fordisabled people in Pribram, studentsaccompanying mentally handicappedadults and helping them in their homes,school pupils tutoring Roma childrenfrom a local institution, campaigning forautomatic doors for disabled peopleacross Pribram and the whole classsponsoring an Indian girl’s education.Later, a further initiative involving thecollection and dispatching of Czechlanguage books to Czech communitiesabroad was organized. A group of CzechSerbian children even came to the schoolfor a two-week recreational camp. Impactwas judged through a questionnaire thattackled the subject of racial prejudice.After a year of the project, it wasobserved the students showed greatertolerance in their opinions towardsdifferent ethnic identities, disadvantagedgroups and nations. The project hasfound its way into the curriculum bybeing a basis of discussion in English andSocial Studies classes.

The second project, ‘Bridges to HumanRights’, involved a core of 38 studentsand 50 others who were irregularsubscribers. The basic aim was to raisethe school’s awareness of the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights and createa fertile climate for its application withinthe school community. Two educationalestablishments – an American college inthe Czech republic and a bilingual

English-Russian school in Estonia –joined the project. A student from eachschool was grouped with two others, insets of three. These trios sought out andcompared their appreciation of humanrights and focused on areas where theyare not respected or fully realized in theircommunities. The focus of researchshifted to the Roma communities andthe sub-standard education they areoften offered because of prejudice. Thestudents stood up for journalists’ rightsin December/January 2001 (linking upwith the Carter Centre in the US) andkept up the pressure in protesting aboutanti-Roma discrimination.

Tackling the subject of intolerance, thethird project, the ‘Humanitarian Prizeand Thank-You Certificates’, againfocused on social injustices. Highlightinginequalities in Czech society, the projectencouraged young people and educatorsto reflect on their role in promoting orremoving prejudices. Solidarity, charityand empathy are hard to foster, yet thisproject attempted to do so. Individuals orgroups who had successfully done so wererewarded with a prize. The PribramRegional Human Rights EducationCentre is pleased to note that with thisaward the number of schools in the areacarrying out community work hasincreased by up to forty.

Discoveringthe Roots of PeaceGymnazium PribramKomenskeho 402 - 261 02 Pribram VII

Suggested ideasfor classroomactivities: ▲ What vulnerable population

groups can your studentsidentify in the world andwhat particular humanrights of theirs are threatened?How can they be supportedin their struggles? Choosethe culture of a threatenedminority group: the Roma ofEurope, the Native Americans,etc. and ask your studentsto write a brief history andanalysis of their plight.

▲ How would your studentsdraw up a multiculturalcurriculum?

▲ How would your class describefreedom of the press? Howwould they describe therole of the journalist?Ask your students to cutout press articles they havefound interesting andexemplary of good journalism.

Czech Republic

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Georgia

Employing the theme of interculturaldialogue and exchange, St Nino’ssecondary school in Tbilisi, Georgia,organized a summer peace camp entitled:‘Learning to Live Together.’ The school,with support from a local non-governmental organization and theYouth Centre for Tourism, invitedstudents from both Armenia andAzerbaijan to join in their activities,thereby giving the summer camp a realpolitical and cultural relevance on thepeace front.

Over the course of July 2001, in the smallvillage of Racha, in the Highlandsof Georgia, starting with a simplequestionnaire to the participants (60students), the peace camp grew into a fulland functioning hub of discussion withGeorgian pupils pairing up with otherstudents from the Caucasus to discussregional and global issues in so-called ‘experimental and theoretical

workshops’. The workshops were chairedby a range of experts who guided thesubject matter which covered anythingfrom the restoration of monumentsto environmental and multiculturaleducation. Apart from the emphasis onthe intellectual content of the workshops,the camp saw itself as founded on fivedistinct pillars which were continuallybrought to the fore. These pillars were:love, friendship, citizenship, equality anddemocracy. Together, students designedan emblem for the peace camp whichmirrored their aspirations for their workat home.

St Nino’s school hoped its students wouldbe encouraged by the summer event toadapt their ways of working and learning,to see the importance of learning to livetogether. The school noted later thatstudents had, in fact, become moreresponsible in their outlooks, moretolerant, with a wider appreciation

of world issues than before.Critical thinking, creativity andteamwork were all fostered. Thesummer camp had enabled rolesto shift and for perceptions tochange. The Caucasus, long aregion of conflict and disharmony,was seen to be able to worktogether through its youngstudents. Youngsters, indeed,were active in connecting withtheir neighbouring peers. Theywere not just passive recipientsof knowledge, but activeconstructors of their ownlearning and common future.Teachers were no longersupervisors, but guides in thebuilding up of knowledge. Thepeace camp was encouraged bythe Council of Europe andmanaged to bring together a widevariety of community membersfrom The Society for the Defenceof Monuments, the Centre forTourist Development to the localGreen party and even aninsurance company. The camp

proved to St Nino’s school that WorldHeritage and Peace can be facets ofthe same struggle and that theinterdependence of humans and naturehas to be respected.

Learning to Live TogetherSt Nino’s Tbilisi, 47th Secondary School9, Chitadze Street - Tbilisi 380008

Georgia

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Suggested ideasfor classroomactivities: ▲ What monument in your

country or abroad bestsums up the idealsof UNESCO and a cultureof peace? Describe thismonument in detailand illustrate it.

▲ What countries orpopulation groups wouldyour students bringtogether in a peace camp?What discussions wouldyou have them lead.

Greece

Secondary

To mark the beginning of the newmillennium, this Athenian schoolencouraged its pupils to cultivate theirspirit of solidarity and tolerance bydisseminating messages of peace to theoutside world. The desire to communicatewith the wider community led to thepupils organizing an exhibition formembers of the public, creating a webpage and shooting videos. The exhibitionand open day were structured around themany facets of peace and non-violence,with an emphasis on the historicalcontribution of Greece to peace in theworld. The subjects for the exhibition,therefore, ranged from the AncientOlympic Games, the International Yearof the Culture of Peace to a whole host ofculturally and socially related topics onlife in Greece: culture in West Attica, localhealth/environmental education, Europe,immigration and co-operation withschools abroad.

After a variety of student debates on howto present and explain the content of theexhibition, subjects were narrowed downand condensed in written and visual formfor public display. The topic of the AncientOlympic Games, for instance, gave riseto an intense analysis of the old Olympicideals of noble rivalry and peacefulco-existence amongst nations. Not onlycould topics be debated, but studentsgot vital experience in synthesisinginformation and using typography andgraphics in a didactic manner. Othersubjects, such as ecology and economicdevelopment, required the interventionof the school principal as co-ordinator indiscussions. The Parents’Committee wasinvited to participate on severaloccasions. The Bank of Cyprus joinedthe process as a sponsor and livepresentations were rehearsed to coincidewith the exhibition. The open dayexhibition lasted two days and attracteda large number of people from theoutside. The local TV channel broadcastmuch of the event and specific posters,videos, a CD-ROM, wall hangings andphotos were produced for the public toview. Dances, songs, music and theatrical

scenes were performed. At the end of theexhibition, two educational materialswere produced: an illustrated manual on‘Healthy Eating Habits’ from around theMediterranean and a school newsletterentitled, ‘Visions and concerns: at thethreshold of 2000.’

By composing messages of peace andtaking care to publicize them in the widercommunity, the students became verymuch aware of their own specific roles aspromoters of change. It meant that theyalso had to reassess their own behaviourcontinually, seeing if their daily actionsreflected the messages they were soactively disseminating. There was afeeling that the peace project andexhibition also improved the school, itsreputation and atmosphere, so much so,in fact, that even the locals said that thecommunity had benefited.

Cultivating the Spirit of Peace14 Gymnasium of PeristeriKyprou and Posidonos St - 12132 Peristeri - Athens

Greece

Suggested ideasfor classroomactivities: ▲ Can your students list the

Ancient Olympic Ideals? Dothey think the present-dayinternational Olympic Gamesencourage competitivenessor dialogue and mutualunderstanding?Explain accordingly?

▲ Ask your students to writetheir own messagesof peace. How would theirdescribe ‘the spiritof Peace’?

▲ How many peace sloganscan your pupils think up?Are they catchy?Compare results aroundthe classroom and discuss.

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Kuwait

Charting the Paths to PeaceJumana Bint Abi Taleb Secondary School for GirlsAbdulla Al Salem Suburb, Block 4Sayed Ali Sayed Sulaiman St. - Kuwait City

Kuwait

Under the slogan of ‘Kuwait andDemocracy,’ the Jumana Bint Abi TalebSchool organized several days of debatesand discussion on the themes of Women’sRights, Democracy and Citizenship, theRole of Islam in Human Rights. Membersof parliament, lawyers, the KuwaitiCommittee for Human Rights, universityprofessors and the national Women’sCultural and Social Society took part.

As a result, over the course of four days,the school became a vibrant culturallearning centre where pupils couldcommunicate directly with decision-makers and national officials. The eventnecessitated much rehearsal andorganization. Preparatory discussiongroups were set up to allow pupils andschool supervisors to narrow down thethemes of a culture of peace. Rehearsalswere a chance to experiment with ideasand find the subjects deemed most vital.All joined in – the students studyingcomputing designed and sent outinvitations to members of the public.

The objectives of the four-day discussionswere many: 1) to get a new generation ofyoungsters to communicate freely andunhindered with officials and decision-makers; 2) to help young people becomeconfident personalities able to face andcommunicate with a large audience; 3) toallow school pupils to enhance theircountry’s standing as a cultured countryopen to the world and the UN system; 4)to consider peace and dialogue as themeans of solving all conflicts; 5) to informa new generation of their rights and

duties and the workings of democracy.

The first day started with an openingceremony, a seminar bringing togetherstudents and a specialist panel on issuesof democracy and citizenship. This wasfollowed by a meeting and discussionwith members of the public. The secondday was a debate on Women’s Rights.The third day tackled the role of Islam inpromoting human rights world-wide. Thefourth day was more artistic in naturewith panel and students discussingpoetry and drama. Members ofUNESCO’s National Commissionanalyzed the event after its closure.Parents offered their points of viewthrough letters. Pupils also wrote downtheir opinions.

The event was judged a definite success.The conclusion the school drew was thatmany young people in Kuwait wereaware of the need for change and of theirrole in that transformation. They areeager to discover paths to peace. Thefour-day event strengthened ties betweenschool and community. It was covered byKuwaiti national television and found itsway into the curriculum by forcingcontinuing discussions on the subjects ofpeace and human rights. Interestingly,many students covered the event in theirend of year final exams. They are nowplanning a web-site to sustain itsconclusions and connect with the outsideworld.

Suggested ideasfor classroomactivities: ▲ If your students had the

opportunity, what wouldthey discuss with the leadersand decision-makersof their country?Ask them to draw upan interview for a worldleader of their choice.

▲ Ask your pupils what theywould say if they wereable to address a largeaudience of people fromaround the world?What message would theydeliver? Write a draft.

▲ What ‘officials’ wouldyour students inviteto a peace debate?What subjects would theydiscuss at such a meeting?

▲ How would your pupilsdescribe democracyand how can it be upheldin difficult circumstancesof conflict and poverty?What role can religion playin promoting peace?

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LaoPDR

Secondary

In this school, housing orphaned childrenfrom diverse ethnic groups, friendshipand mutual respect are fundamentalnecessities of behaviour. The non-violentresolution of conflicts is a vital cohesivefactor that is constantly nurtured by bothteachers and pupils in all circumstances.It was natural, therefore, that LuangPrabang Orphanage School should wantto take part in the PPAI project.

The orphanage school, whilst keeping inmind the five proposed pillars of thePPAI, decided to link its peace project tothe protection of the environment. Thegoal of preserving and respecting nature,it was felt, would also benefit many of theattitudes of a culture of peace such assolidarity, responsibility, respect andintercultural learning. Using nature as amirror and inspiration, the Lao pupils setthemselves the aim of transforming theirschool into a model of ecological andhuman harmony. Beyond rhetoric, thisrequired several highly practical steps.Each pupil was given a separate plot ofland in the surrounding school garden.Teachers and professionals encouragedtheir students to plant this plot withvegetables of their choice and taughtthem gardening tips and techniques. Nopesticides or fertilisers were used. Totalrespect for nature and its ways was seenas vital to the project’s success. Once the

vegetables had grown and beenharvested, the pupils joined forces witheach other to sell their produce on thelocal markets. They were allowed to dowhatever they wanted with the moneythey gained from sales, but were urgedto turn some of it back into the garden,keeping the cycle of life going.

Aconstant and close connection to natureand environmental awareness took rootamongst the pupils. It relied on a greatdeal of teamwork, listening to others,sharing and learning new skills ofadaptability. The use of organic farmingrevealed an ability to depend on ancienttraditions, not on noxious chemicals orsupplements that destroy the earth’sfragile balance. Respect for theenvironment as well as local customs forfellow pupils grew, hand in hand.

Children could also participate in otheractivities such as weaving andhandicrafts. By learning about their ownspecific ethnic customs and the traditionsof the different classmates around them,they could see how they could livetogether as equals. The school is nowopen to visitors and it hopes to establishitself as a model of harmonious behaviourfor all to see.

Interethnic Understandingthrough Ecological HarmonyLuang Prabang - Orphanage School - Luang Prabang

Suggested ideasfor classroomactivities: ▲ Use a piece of land or pots

and observe how plantsgrow. What are thebenefits of organic farmingfor the environment?Discuss modern-dayenvironmental issues suchas over-population,global warmingand deforestation.

▲ Ask your pupils to defineracism and discriminationbased on ethnicity?What examples of it dothey see around them?What do they define as actsof respect and tolerance?What attitudes towardscertain different nationalitiesor ethnic groups do yourstudents think they hold?Are they negativeor positive and why?

▲ Ask your students to studythe writings of those whohave famously foughtintolerance and racismsuch as Mahatma Gandhi,Martin Luther Kingand Nelson Mandela.What lessons do they teachthem? Discuss.

Lao PDR

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Philippines

The Philippine contribution to theUNESCO PPAI Award drew on a longhistory of peace building initiativesstretching back many years and on asolid co-operation between the ASPnetwork and a local ground-breakingorganization called Children and PeacePhilippines (ChPP). The latter carries outactivities with a view to changing andrethinking the school curriculum,directing it towards peace and tolerance.School curricula, Children and Peacebelieve, should not just be about readingabout peace, but should also actuallyconcentrate on practising its values inmeaningful situations on a daily basis.With ChPP, therefore, young peoplelearn basic skills in confidencebuilding, communication and conflictmanagement. The essential and enduringidea behind ChPP is to transform theschool into a ‘zone of peace.’ In this way,children become more involved in peaceeducation and take greater initiatives inconflict resolution in later life. Thisequally concerns high-school studentsand their administrators.

Along with three Mindanao schoolsaffiliated with the UNESCO PhilippinesASPnet Children and Peace set up athree-day workshop on peace educationat a school in the region of MisamisOccidental in May 2001. The eventbrought together fifty-five teachers andseventy student leaders. Together, theyundertook curricular revisions, madelesson plans and drafted a regional actionplan to lead a culture of peace campaignacross the Mindanao area. Activitieswere guided by student facilitators whosteered work towards interactive events

such as scenario-building, poster-drawingand role playing. One of the schoolsattending the workshop decided to set upits own Peace Education Centre and allthe young participants went away withthe strong desire to integrate peaceconcepts and values into their schoolworkand turn their region of Mindanao into aliving example of tolerance and dialoguebetween faiths and people. The workshopwas a chance to come together to shareexperiences and enhance leadershipskills and techniques. It also sought toshow the ways in which peace educationand advocacy in schools can beintensified and how the benefits of non-violence can become a real and practicalpart of daily life for students. At the endof the workshop, an Action Plan for Peaceand Non-violence was established withUNESCO’s Culture of Peace Programme.

Earlier in the year, in March 2001, theUNESCO-ASP schools of the Philippineshad joined the Philippine NormalUniversity to conduct the first Asia-Pacific Youth Volunteer Encounter on the‘Role of Youth Volunteers in thePromotion of the Culture of Peace andSustainable Development’. This peacecamp was attended by eighty youngpeople and brought in youths from asfar away as Brazil, Israel, Germany,Cambodia and Myanmar. The objectivewas to give a new meaning tovolunteerism in promoting peace andhuman rights. A network, Youth forInternational Year of Volunteers, wasalso formed. It chose as its manifesto the

commitment to live life in the pursuit ofpeace, human rights and sustainabledevelopment. Other work, such as aSummer Peace Journey, a GlobalCampaign for Peace Education and thepledge to establish a Peace EducationCentre continues.

Schools as Peace ZonesChildren and Peace Philippines (ChPP)

Philippines

Suggested ideasfor classroomactivities: ▲ What subjects in your

school curriculum enhancepeace? Discuss with yourstudents what aspects ofthe school curriculum theywould changeto direct it more towardspeace?

▲ How can studentsconcretely turn their schoolinto a ‘Zone of Peace’?What specific role do theysee for a ‘peace volunteer’?

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Poland

Focusing on the aim of ‘TheMetamorphosis of our Towns/Cities intoSustainable Cities,’some of the youngstersof this school in Poland set aboutinvestigating their hometown of Bialystok.They looked into the problems affectingtheir city and gathered informationthrough questionnaires completedby community members on itsenvironmental, health and educationalsituation. Through interviews anddiscussions with the mayor, the localauthorities and the town council, theycame to appreciate the difficulty andvariety of issues facing the city. Theyfurthered their knowledge of their city byreading local literature and by carrying outdoor-to-door questionnaires with thepopulation. With their informationassembled and organized, they dissectedthe problems the inhabitants of Bialystokencountered in everyday life and debatedpossible solutions. Their teachersencouraged them to develop potentialscenarios for the sustainability of Bialystokand to present them to their respectiveclasses. Students were urged to see whatrole they could imagine themselves playingin the creation of a local town policy for asustainable future and tomake plans to implementthat vision.

This extensive studentwork in Bialystok wasdesigned to be presentedat an internationalconference in Eindhoven,the Netherlands, in April2000. In conjunction withtheir Dutch partner school(Sint Joris College inEindhoven), it was decided,therefore, that the Polishschool should divide uptheir findings and workinto two distinct thrusts: oneenvironmental and the other theatrical toallow for enacting ideas.

The environmental side concentrated ontown planning, quality of life, public

spaces, transport, social inequality, air,water and noise pollution. The theatricalside used Ovid’s classic play –Metamorphosis – as a basis for discussionand interpretation. All work wasconducted in English to improve languageskills and set in real-life situations toenhance communication.

When it came to the final conference inEindhoven, the Polish students presentedtheir work on the city of Bialystokin English and performed their Ovid playto a wide public. The meeting in theNetherlands, enabled the Polish pupils tocompare their city to other towns abroad,particularly Eindhoven, but also cities inTurkey, Belarus, Germany and Sudan (asstudents from these countries attendedthe conference and also presented theirviews). Pupils were transformed intotown planners for the period of theconference.

Back in Poland, the student’s suggestionsand solutions were presented to the localtown council (who had also granted themfinancial assistance for their PPAIproject). Students mounted anenvironmental project, ‘Planting Trees,’

to embellish the streets and improvetheir city. Posters and a play wereproduced, along with a smaller exhibitionin the school, entitled, ‘Our City.’ Thewhole scheme was covered extensively by

the local Polish press as well as by Dutchradio and TV. Members of the Bialystokpublic, who had been involved in theinitial questionnaires, visited the schooland saw the suggestions the pupils weremaking for their city – school and cityhad merged, with the school acting as acatalyst for change and innovation.

Secondary

Local Policies for aSustainable FutureI Liceum Ogolnoksztalcaceim. A Mickiewicza - ul. Brukowa 2 - 15-950 Bialystok

Suggested ideasfor classroomactivities: ▲ What future vision does

your class have for theirtown, village or city?Invite your studentsto imagine the place theywill inhabit in 2040and write up a scenariofor the way they would likeit to develop? Ask themto draw graphic plans(maps, roads, etc.) of howthey envisage their area.

▲ What recommendationswould your pupils havefor your local planningauthorities? Draw up adetailed and well-presentedlist to be given to the localcouncil or authorityfor discussion.

Poland

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Switzerland

This school of 1500 pupils, with supportfrom the UNESCO National Commissionfor Switzerland, produced an interactiveCD-ROM and designed an Internet siteon Education for Peace and HumanRights. Using the Nobel Peace Prizeawards and various internationalmanifestos and declarations as theirbasic elements, the school put togetheran accessible but rich informationdatabase. Subjects and issues wereclearly ordered to make it useful for bothteachers and pupils (for researchpurposes as well as general debate).

The CD-ROM and Internet site(www.nobel-paix.ch) were put toimmediate use by teachers in theAndré Chavanne school itself andcommunicated to other educationalestablishments in the local region (aswell as to all UNESCO AssociatedSchools in Switzerland). It soon becameclear, however, that the material couldbe aimed at a wider audience thanoriginally planned, first in French-speaking parts of Switzerland and then,internationally, throughout French-speaking countries of the world, in Africa,Europe and North America. Thanks tothe global range of Internet, the number

of visits onto the web-site far exceededthe expectations of the school. Many non-governmental organizations from abroadtapped into its resources on a regularbasis.

Work on this project began in 1996 as aninteractive initiative bringing togetherboth pupils and teachers around thethemes of human rights and democracy,linking them to numerous school subjectsin the area of social sciences and beyond.The project saw itself as a specificcontribution to the ideals of UNESCOand to world efforts for peace. It can,therefore, be picked up on by teachers atany point in the curriculum - its peacecontent is relevant to all areas of schoolstudy. Two teachers headed the initiative,designing and conceiving the first steps,consulting with colleagues throughoutthe process. The web-site lists anddescribes 88 renowned personalities whohave been instrumental in fighting forpeace and democracy in the world. It alsogives information and links to 16international organizations, representing30 countries. It is now hoped that theCD-ROM is going to be translated intoother languages so it can be used bymany more pupils world-wide.

Nobel Peace PrizePersonalities On-lineCollège et École Supérieure de Commerce André Chavanne14, Avenue Trembley - Case Postale 118 - 1211 Geneva

Suggested ideasfor classroomactivities: ▲ If it were up to your class,

who would they choose asa Nobel Peace Prize winnerfor this year. Make a listof possible candidatesand cast a vote in yourclassroom. Discuss forand against.

▲ Which human being, inthe past and in presenttimes, in your pupils’opinion, has done the mostfor peace in the world?Ask the class to drawportraits of the personsof their choice, throughresearch.

▲ Ask your class to formulatea message to today’sleaders, expressing whatthey feel they shouldbe doing for world peace.

Switzerland

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CONTACTS

Peace Pillar Award Initiative Good Practices in Support of Educating

for Peace and Non-violence

Author: Benedict FacciniEditor: Elizabeth Khawajkie,

ASPnet International Co-ordinatorDivision for the Promotion

of Quality Education, UNESCOAssistant: Monia Adjiwanou

7 place de Fontenoy75352 Paris 07SP - France

Tel.: +33 1 45 68 10 89Fax: +33 1 45 68 56 39

e-mail: el-info@unesco.orgwww.unesco.org/education/asp

Photos: offered by ASPnet schoolsDesign and layout: Welcome Byzance

Impression: GyssApril 2004