CONTEMPORARY May 17

ISSUES AND
TRENDS IN
EDUCATION
2019
(EDU 401)

Safia Khan
Assignment I (Spring 2019)
Bc180400246
Q. 1: What is peace education? How peace education can be added at Higher
Education level?

Answer:

Peace education

The process of acquiring values, knowledge and developing the attitudes, skills, and behaviors to
live in harmony with others, with oneself and with the surrounding/natural environment.

Peace education emphasizes our personal responsibility to show respect for all kinds of life,
(plants, animals, humans etc.). Peace educators help learners/students develop a positive/healthy
self-image, promote social growth, build trust with others, and address the suffering in the world
while learning kindness, compassion and empathy.

The practice of peace education in our classrooms is an opportunity to promote the total welfare
of our students, equitable treatment of youth, advocate for their justice and promote individual
and social responsibility for teacher/educators and students/ learners. We should know and live
by international standards of Human rights, gender and racial equality.

Peace education at Higher Education level

Peace education has become a major concern for researchers and educators all over the world.
Peace education has been introduced into many educational institutions either as separate
programs or integrated within the various subject materials.

Hoping to trigger some positive changes, post-war countries started adopting such programs.
Research shows that the sooner children get introduced to the knowledge of peace and practice
the skills related to it, the greater the chance they will become positive change agents in the
future.

While peace programs are being introduced into schools all over the world, it seems that attempts
to do so in higher education are still minimal. Consequently, I believe that school teachers have
become more qualified to educate their students for peace than university professors although
one cannot deny that many universities are now offering courses or even degrees in peace studies
such as conflict resolution and transformation. However, where offered, such programs are by
exclusively the departments of political science in a few universities. As such, I argue that, as in
many schools, peace related student learning outcomes should be introduced into almost every
general education course, if not all, offered by every department at higher education institutions.
As a result, learners who do not have the chance to get introduced to such programs throughout
their school years will have the chance to do so at the university level.

Peace education at university level is highly significant. It allows students to commit themselves
to building a sustainable and peaceful community. It is clear that their experiential and received
knowledge they have acquired through peace education will sow the seeds of a culture of peace
for future generations.

Creating an effective peace education program involves five steps.

 Firstly, compulsory public education systems that must be established in which students
from the previously conflicting groups must be enrolled and have the opportunity to
build positive relationships with society/each other.
 Secondly, cooperative and collective experiences must be held that highlight the mutual
goals, and must be distribution of benefits among all the participants from achieving the
goals, and a combined and joint identity.
 Thirdly, students must be taught the constructive controversy procedure so that they
come to know how to make complex and difficult decisions and engage in political
discourse.
 Fourthly, students must be taught that how to engage in peer mediation and integrative
negotiations and to resolve their conflicts of interests constructively.
 Finally, civic and social values must be inculcated to the students that focus students on
the long term common good of the whole society.

Summary:
As given the significant impact of peace education on an individual’s life chances, it is essential
that peace education is given the space within formal and non-formal education to bring about
positive changes among individuals and in society more clearly and broadly, to reduce violence
and conflict, promoting tolerance and respect for all, regardless of economic status, gender,
ethnic or religious background.

Q. 2: Describe at least five benefits of open and accessible education in

Pakistan.

Answer:

Accessible Education: is the process of designing courses and developing a teaching style
to meet the needs of people from a variety of backgrounds, abilities and learning styles.

Open access (OA): refers to free, unrestricted online access to education and research
outputs such as articles, journal and books. It refers to resources that are freely available for
viewing and/or using.

Advantages of Open Educational Resource:

Advantages of open and accessible education in Pakistan in my opinion are as under:

1. Expanded access to learning:

The education that can be accessed everywhere, anytime, so the students that works and earn for
their family, can access to education when they are free, even after the school timing, at night
every time. This is just possible by use of technology, ICT (Information and Communication
Technology), like Virtual University of Pakistan, there must be open and accessible school
education in Pakistan by Technology so all the school aged children can get school education, no
matter how far school is, I mean distance from home to school should not act as a barrier in
process of education.

2. Ability to modify course materials:

Education must be specific at Secondary level, so students can choose the course of their interest
and can be narrowed down to topics that are relevant to course. When Students study the course
of their interest/Passion, the result will be out of the box/awesome. I saw many students that
leave their studies just because that are forced to study the courses selected y parents and
schools, I suggest that there must be variety of courses and students must have the ability to
modify their course materials according to their interest.
 3. Enhancement of course material:
Course material must include texts, images, audios and videos that can be used to support
different learning styles of different students, as some students learns through videos, some
through audios, some through texts and so on. When there is variety in course material, the
maximum number of students will learn through open and accessible education.

4. Rapid dissemination of information:

As textbooks can be updated quicker online than publishing a textbook, so new information and
research must be added continuously in the textbooks present in the online, to retain the interest
of students in the studies and maximizes their learning and making them up to date with the
world.

5. Cost saving for students:

As in open and accessible education, all readings and books are available online, which saves
students and parents money that was spend previously on books, copies, pencils erasers, bags
and all other accessories. Students now just need computer or mobile phone and internet
connection.

Summary:
I believe that when we will use ICT in education, the literacy level of my beloved country
Pakistan will be highest and my country will be in the list of developed countries of the world.

We must put provide open and accessible education to our young generations by minimizing the
barriers like costs, distance, money, time, infrastructure and many others, if we want our country
should be recognized as developed country.

Q. 3: What knowledge, skills and attitudes do students need to promote

peace?

Answer:
Peace is the concept of freedom and harmonious well-being from hostile aggression. In social
sense, peace is a lack of conflict (war) and freedom from fear of violence between heterogeneous
groups or individuals.
Peace education requires an approach that encourages, critical thinking, reflection and active
learning that increase participation and cooperation. It is an education that empowers learners to
resolve differences peacefully without war/violence, learning to live in harmony and peace with
neighbors.

It provides an opportunity for new generations to learn and develop attitudes, skills and
behaviors that promote and sustain peaceful relationships,

Ian Harris and John Synott have described peace education as a series of "teaching
encounters" that draw people their desire for peace, nonviolent alternatives for managing
conflict, and skills for critical analysis of structural arrangements that produce injustice and
inequality.

There are following forms of knowledge, skills and attitudes for peace
education:
1. Conflict resolution training:
It is training individuals to resolve interpersonal disputes through methods of negotiation and
(peer) mediation. They learn to manage anger, fight fair and improve communication through
skills like listening, identifying needs, turn-taking, and separating facts from emotions, are the
main elements of conflict resolution training. Students are also encouraged to take responsibility
for their actions and to brainstorm together on compromises.

Generally, this approach aim to alter beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors from negative to positive
attitudes toward conflict as a basis for preventing violence

2. Democracy education:
Peace education focused on democracy education that are political processes associated with
conflict, and say that with an increase in democratic participation the likelihood of societies
resolving conflict through violence and war decreases. This program attempt to foster a conflict-
positive orientation in the community by training students to view conflict as a platform for
creativity and growth

This approach train students in the skills of critical thinking, debate and promote the values like
freedom of speech, individuality, tolerance of diversity, compromise and conscientious
objection. Students perform the role of citizen that chooses, makes decisions, takes positions,
argues positions and respects the opinions of others.

3. Human rights education:

Peace education programs are centered on increasing the awareness of human rights that focus
at the level of policies that humanity ought to adopt to move closer to a peaceful global
community. The aim is commitment among students towards a vision of structural peace in
which all individual of the human race can enjoy their personal freedom and be legally protected
from oppression, violence, and indignity.

This approach train and help students to recognize violations of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, and promote solidarity, tolerance, self-affirmation and autonomy at the individual
and collective level.