FPE101 Fundamentals of Peace Education

Peace Journal Entry #1 February 28, 2021

Starting my entries with my peaceful experiences of the week and for this week,
it was the arrival of my Aunt from Saudi Arabia. Her arrival gathered our extended
family and I was able to talk and meet with my cousins again after a long time of not
seeing each other. Gatherings like this are now hard because of the pandemic.

Speaking of the pandemic, it’s affected a lot of things, especially our learning.
We now have adjusted to the new normal which is online learning. Through this
method we had our course orientation with Sir John. We shared our peaceful
experiences and expectations from this course. Some key points I took from the meet:
No exams and already I felt peaceful. Since exams are not peaceful and can make me
anxious. But the reason why Peace Education doesn’t have exams or quizzes is
because it is not a matter of memorizing terms and concepts but application of what
you’ve learned. I agree since what use is learning peace if you will not apply your
learnings. I’ve also learned that peace education is different to values education in that
it tackles societal issues and not just the individual. Keeping this in mind, I think that
Peace Education is an intriguing subject. It’s my first seeing a course or class solely
dedicated to peace. If I had not been in MSU-IIT, I would not have been able to
experience this class so I’m thankful that I got lucky to experience this.

The 1st activity that we had was self-introduction. I introduced myself along with
my classmates through commenting on a Facebook post. It’s nice seeing new faces
because that means I have new friends to make. I’ve noticed that I have similar
hobbies with some them. It’s fun reading their comments as a way of getting to know
them. It’s sad though that we have to introduce ourselves like this. I’m really hoping
for face-to-face classes this year and for that we have to keep on battling this
pandemic. Just like what sir said, the crisis is not yet over so we must do everything
that we can and help each other out so we can go back to normal.
 FPE101 Fundamentals of Peace Education

Peace Journal Entry #2 March 7, 2021

My peaceful experience this week was bonding with my cousins after months
of not seeing each other. We had fun every day of the week and spent time with each
other as much as possible. Padala boxes from my OFW parents also arrived, so we
got new shoes and chocolate treats from Saudi. Overall, it was a peaceful week.

Our topic for the week was the concept of conflict. I went into the discussion
knowing that conflict is a bad thing but the discussion has proved me wrong and also
it opened new ideas and insights about conflict. In the meet, we started with sharing
our ideas about the guide questions and this can be an example of conflict since we
all have different ideas and these ideas clash. Also, the activity we had about the
picture having multiple meanings, where our perspectives differ with each other. I’ve
learned that conflict is unavoidable and based from my experience, I experience
conflict almost every day. Most of it coming from my sister though. We fight over
everything, even the smallest of things like a pen. But of course, I love my sister so I
adjust be the bigger person. What matters in a conflict, is not whether we have it or
not but rather how we deal with it. I always try to deal with the conflict between my
sister before it blows out into a bigger problem. I’ve learned that conflict does not
destroy relationships but it helps them rather. That’s why the bond I have with my sister
is special. Although we fight most of the time, we still show that we care about each
other.

The activity I made for this week was the 4 pics 1 paragraph where you put 4
pictures of the three concepts and explain it one paragraph. The activity has shown
me that we each have our own definitions of peace, conflict, and violence. To be
honest, I went and did a little advance reading to somewhat form a solid idea about
the concepts. That’s why it’s not really a wholehearted definition but with the help of
the few ideas. The activity reminds me of the game 4 pics 1 word and just like the
game, it was fun.
 FPE101 Fundamentals of Peace Education

Peace Journal Entry #3 March 14, 2021

This week’s peaceful experience was noticing the changes in my body after
working out. I’ve aiming for self-improvement and promised myself this year to change
and exercise to stay healthy. I noticed that I got slimmer even just a little bit and it’s
enough to keep me going. These changes are symbol of my hard work and what I had
to do to get here.

Last week’s discussion was about the concept of conflict, this week’s discussion
is about conflict management. Before the meet, we had an activity where we assess
what conflict management style we have. After answering the Conflict Management
Style Assessment tool and scoring my answers, I’ve concluded that the conflict
management style I use the most is Avoiding and my least used style is Competing. It
was kind of surprising at first since I’m the only one or part of the few with this style.
Most of my classmates had Collaborating and Accommodating as their styles. But I
understand why it is my most used strategy since I do try to avoid getting into
arguments. I guess this is the style I developed to combat my sister since when we
argue, she speaks too much so I keep quiet until she stops. Frankly, it works wonders
so I just use it on her all the time. But truth be told, the styles I want to work on the
most are the Collaborating and Accommodating which after Avoiding, are my most
used styles. So now I’m trying to talk it out with my sister when we argue and making
it so that the both of us can benefit.

From the activity and the meet, I learned that there is no best style of conflict
management or one where it’s better than the other. Each style has its pros and cons
and can be useful depending on what situation to use. Like in my classroom or group
discussion, when I encounter conflicts, I try to collaborate with my classmates so that
we can reach a solution where it meets both our goals. Or when I’m with friends and
we have a conflict, I accommodate to them since I value the relationship we have. It
really just depends on the situation what strategy to use to resolve conflicts.
 FPE101 Fundamentals of Peace Education

Peace Journal Entry #4 March 21, 2021

Peaceful experience for this week was completing my school activities due for
this week. For PE, I was complete and submit a dance video for my 1st performance
task. For Filipino, I was able to pass my six different types of letters for the performance
task as well. Lastly for FPE101, me and my groupmates were able to pass our case
study which we all helped making over the course of the week.

This week’s focus is on the concept of violence. Before going into the
discussion, my general idea about violence is that it is negative. When I hear the word,
first thing that comes to mind is a fist-fight. It is the best visual representation of
violence where two people trade blows. Its notable trait is that it is physical which is
the first distinction to be made along with it being psychological. It’s also how I
experienced violence first-hand. Getting spanked for the purpose of discipline. The
moment my father’s hand hit my arm, that’s when I realized that violence harms. But
from the meet, I learned that violence is more than human-inflicted harm, physical and
psychological thing. There is structural violence wherein a social structure prevents
people from meeting their basic needs, which in turn harms them or worse-case
scenario, leads them to death. Things like racial discrimination can be considered as
structural violence. My first experience with experiencing racism was when I got made
fun of online because of my appearance. It was through a video chatting website.
Foreign people would squint their eyes or say things like “ching chong” and proceed
to laugh. I was young back then so I laughed with them not knowing why.

I also experienced and witnessed discrimination due to my religion. I’m

especially disappointed since I saw it happen here in Iligan. I was riding the jeep that
time when the driver denied two Muslim women of riding due to no space when clearly
it had room for more. I wanted to speak up but when I saw the majority having no
plans, I decided to keep quiet. Although it happened for a moment, it stays with me for
a life time. I hope that we can eliminate the violence where those two Muslim women
can be able to ride any jeep.
 FPE101 Fundamentals of Peace Education

Peace Journal Entry #5 March 28, 2021

My peaceful experience this week was going to Cagayan de Oro. After being
stuck in the house and in Iligan for so long, going to place like CDO was good since I
was able to unwind myself and rest for a bit from school works. We went there to get
our passports renewed and with the free time, we strolled in the mall for a bit.

Topic for this week was about the concept of peace. For the past weeks, I’ve
been wondering why we discussed conflict and violence first before peace. Turns out,
it’s to show to us first the seriousness of conflict and violence before we tackle about
peace. Like what sir said, we can’t enjoy light without first experiencing darkness and
just like peace, we can’t enjoy it without going through conflict or violence first. Peace
is a goal in which we have to go through some hardship in order to achieve it. Just like
in movies I watched where there is war, peace is seen as the end goal. But peace is
more than the absence of war, it’s also the presence of justice. It can also be a state
of mind. These are all definitions of peace given by prominent figures in history. I can
say that peace is control of chaos. Chaos in this world. When we achieve order then
we achieve peace. It also when you reach calmness and serenity within your soul and
mind that you achieved peace. This all boils down to Johan Galtung’s definition of
peace.

His definition states that peace has two sides: negative and positive. Negative
peace is the absence of direct violence like war and positive peace is the presence of
conditions of well-being and just relationships. Although negative peace is achievable,
positive peace seems so far-fetched. The violence in which it is trying to get rid of are
near impossible to eliminate. Things like poverty, racism, and pollution. Peace is truly
achieved when both sides of peace are present. Although I did mention it is almost
impossible, almost means there is still a chance. That slight chance we have to get rid
of structural violence and we must hold onto that slight chance even if it is 0.01%. I
truly believe that one day, world peace, both negative and positive, will be achieved
even though I might not be alive to witness that day.
 FPE101 Fundamentals of Peace Education

Peace Journal Entry #6 April 4, 2021

This week’s peaceful experience was finishing the preliminary exam for Physics
for Engineers course. After grueling hours of studying and solving, I finally felt relief
like some weight of my chest has been lifted. I was finally able to rest for a while before
midterms and finals approach. Praying that I do pass.

Since we didn’t have a meet discussion for the week, I took advantage of the
time and watched Gandhi 1982 and make a reflection paper on it. I’ll admit that before
I watched the movie, I expected it to be boring since it was 3 hours long and that there
were no action scenes. After watching it, I genuinely got dragged in to the movie. Who
knew that it would be interesting? I truly enjoyed its worth and the story, it was well-
written to make me, a guy who isn’t fond on watching this kind of movies, hooked.
Although I’ve mentioned them already in my reflection paper, I did learn a lot from the
movie. One thing that kept onto me while watching the movie was that how similar
India’s fight for independence is to our own. The very first scene that caught my eye
was the tearing of their impasse which signified their first act of rebellion as well as the
first step to freedom. Much similar to our Cry of Balintawak where our masses tore
their cedulas which marked the beginning of Philippine Revolution.

Also found it interesting how similar Gandhi and Rizal’s ideals are. Both pushed
for the idea of nonviolence for the fight of freedom and independence. Fight violence
with peace or dealing no blows. This is the main takeaway in the movie. Nonviolence,
which Mahatma Gandhi centered his ideals and principles on. He serves as a prime
example that you can achieve peace without the use of violence. His non-violent
approach was able to avoid war which could have cost much more casualties than
what they already had in the movie. Although his approach takes more time, at least
it doesn’t take more lives. Perseverance and being stubborn was Gandhi’s greatest
tools that what could only stop him from fighting was his death. Although he is no more
of this world, his efforts lead to India being independent and as such he truly deserves
the title “Father of a Nation.”
 FPE101 Fundamentals of Peace Education

Peace Journal Entry #7 April 11, 2021

After a stressful week due to activities, managing my bank account and

passport, my peaceful experience for this week was winding off with my family and
relaxing on a floating boat in Bacolod. I was able to exercise and do some cardio by
swimming and chill with the floaters and life vests. It was a rewarding experience
considering the work I’ve been doing.

We finished Module 1 last week and for this week, we were going to start on
Module 2 which covers the scope of Peace Education. We weren’t able to have our
meet discussion for this week so I was kind of lost on what to do. To be honest, I don’t
usually check the MOLE so I greatly depend on our meet discussions. Nevertheless,
we had an activity so I was back on track. We were tasked to do a group report on the
scope of Peace Education and our topic is on Gender Fair Education. Going into our
topic, it really doesn’t take much to see how there are many inequalities in gender
roles of our society. Even a child can tell what men and women can and can’t do. This
is because of years of stereotypes and knowledge being ingrained into the minds of
our young. Women get the short end of the stick when we talk about gender wars.
Men have dominated history for centuries, that’s why history literally is his-tory and not
her-story. But what does this have to do with peace education?

Because women’s empowerment and equality are an absolute necessity to

achieve sustainable peace. If we only pay attention to half of the world’s population
demographic, how are we ever going to achieve global peace. Women are necessary
force and should be included in leadership, conflict resolution, and the promotion of
lasting peace at all levels. Women are effective peacebuilders but their efforts are
always overshadowed or sidelined. They are considered the backbone and pioneers
of peace organizations but how is it that they are almost invisible. When we look at
history of wars of conflicts in the past, most of the time, women are the ones who step
up and find ways to achieve peace.

The potential of women has always been limited but now there is hope for them
to shine. My sister for example, I have seen her not get opportunities and straight out
denied sometimes just because of her gender. Sad to say, but the gender role mindset
is very strong in our family and I can also boldly claim that it is very present in my tribe,
Maranaos. My sister gets weird looks and is shamed by our relatives for wanting to
pursue a male dominated course such as engineering. They will constantly push her
to be a nurse or doctor. How will we progress if we don’t eliminate this mindset? That’s
why we should start within ourselves, then in our homes, and classroom until it gets to
a point where it is global knowledge. Progress may be slow but at least there’s
movement.
 FPE101 Fundamentals of Peace Education

Peace Journal Entry #8 April 18, 2021

This will be my last entry here and I feel kind of sad since Fundamentals of
Peace Education will also be ending here. I want to thank Sir John Gieveson Iglupas
for teaching us this course. I have to say that it was a nice experience since I don’t
really get a class dedicated to Peace Education. It’s a first for me and I’m glad that I
was able to learn from it.

My peaceful experience this week would be welcoming the month of Ramadan.

As a Muslim, this is the month where we fast from dawn to sunset for 30 days. Not
only is it the month of fasting but it’s also the month of change. Where we go through
a spiritual journey of change to cleanse our souls and emerge anew. We abstain not
only from eating but also from sinful things like sex, smoking, drinking and many more.

This week’s topic was about how to respond to violence. In the meet discussion
we talked about the three response to violence which is running away or doing nothing,
violence on violence, and non-violence on violence. Being neutral or doing nothing still
promotes violence since you are or maybe depriving someone of their basic human
rights. Like example is watching someone drown instead of helping them which in turn
deprive them of life. Violence on violence is pretty explanatory. But this is never the
right choice even if you try to justify the means. Violence is violence and responding
with it will only breed more violence. Just like the constant fighting with my siblings. If
I choose to hit back, then my sibling will try to return the favor by hitting me back as
well but If I chose to be patient with their actions then maybe they’ll understand that
what they did is bad. This is an example of non-violence on violence which is the main
topic that we discussed.

To avoid consequences brought by violence on violence like breeding more

violence than we should always respond with violence with non-violence. My idea of
non-violence has been heavily influenced by Mahatma Gandhi. Each of his principles
are still relevant today and each of what we share is of great knowledge. I truly believe
that nonviolence is the weapon of the strong. Strong people are those who can control
and assess a situation to reach an agreement without the use of violence.
 Just like Gandhi’s work, his efforts have shown great strength that he was able
to drive the British Empire away using peaceful protests. Also, if you are truly strong
then you would not need a weapon like a gun or a sword. Words will be enough. Just
like the saying the pen is mightier than the sword, words will take us far more than
what weapons can do. Nonviolence is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength.
Like what Gandhi said, the possession of arms implies an element of fear, if not
cowardice.