Education for Peace: International Day of Peace

Credits: UNESCO

http://wa2.www.unesco.org/

"On this International Day of Peace, let us pledge to teach our children the value of tolerance and mutual respect.  Let us invest in the schools and teachers that will build a fair and inclusive world that embraces diversity.  Let us fight for peace and defend it with all our might."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon 

International Day of Peace is celebrated on 21 September every year. This year, 2013 is devoted to peace education.

The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by resolution 36/67 of the United Nations General Assembly to coincide with its opening session, which was held annually on the third Tuesday of September. 

The first Peace Day was observed in September 1982. Since wars begin in the minds of women and men, it in the minds of women and men that the defences of peace must be constructed. 

"Education is the foundation of any lasting peace. It is the driving force behind freedom and tolerance. It stems the tide of ignorance and mutual misunderstanding, the means by which disagreements all too often degenerate into violence. Education fosters the culture of dialogue that is necessary to resolve conflicts."

Irina Bokova, message

Credits: UN

http://www.un.org/

UNESCO campaigns for quality education for all going further than the basics of reading and writing. 

Education must encompass the teaching of human rights, living together and respect for others. 

Peace education is one of its key components. Every child in the world should know their rights, and learn their own history and that of other peoples, so as to be able to understand the equal dignity of cultures and draw lessons from the crimes and violence of the past.

The key to tolerant citizenship in a globalized world requires a widespread effort to train teachers and design suitable school curricula. 

These principles inspire UNESCO’s work, in particular through the International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures (2013-2022), adopted by UNESCO’s General Conference and the United Nations General Assembly.

Credits: Peter H. Reynolds

https://www.facebook.com/peter.h.reynolds

Education:

Of course celebrating International Day of Peace is only a start to motivate students to practice a peace behaviour in the school and along adult life. So, we can develop this theme every moment of the curriculum we teach.

There's a new young generation of peace minds, believe me!

Ideas for activities with your students:

1. Designate a webpage on the website of the school to build a digital pledge on peace education;

2. A wall in the classroom or a space in the school - school library for  example - where students from different curricula can display their depictions of peace through works of art, photos, storytellings;

3. Organize exhibits of photos or drawings or texts/poems/news about peace in school or other public spaces near the school;

4. Set up information stands on Internet, social media (radio, television) or social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Google +) to raise school awareness on the issue;

5. Ask students to search on their tablets, smartphones about human rights in your country;

6. Ask students to choose a little theater piece to perform in the school library and invite parents, teachers, the maire, and students from another school;

7. Present a film on this theme in the classroom or in the school library, and invite teachers, parents, and other students to a round table discussion;

8. Make a film (if the school have a YouTube account) joining authentic documents (photos) and texts written by students, personal testimonies of violence and publish it;

9. Ask students to prepare information brochures, flyers, pins, to distribute in your school and community.

Credits: Vision of Humanity

Impressive this video about Global Peace in 2013!

We must not forget Peace One Day movement. Throughout the years, millions of people have been active on Peace Day in every country of the world, and hundreds of organisations have carried out life-saving activities in areas of conflict. Peace One Day’s Campaigns and activities in Education, Music, Film, Sport, Dance, Art and Online have proved that the day works.

http://peaceoneday.org/

If you are preparing some activities, fill out the short form here and Peace One Day will share your inspiring ideas and plans for the day with its worldwide community of supporters, and multiply the impact of your important work.

In a world in complete change, young people have a relevant voice to demonstrate their critical thinking and creative ideas about a new intercultural dialogue, interconnectedness, capacity building, in order to innovate the society and build a different world  through important values as Peace and Culture.

"We must give to future generations a culture of dialogue and build, through education, a world that is not only more connected, but also more compassionate."

Irina Bokova, message

G-Souto

20.09.2013
Copyright © 2013G-Souto'sBlog, gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com®

Education for Peace Resources:

Education for Peace | UN
http://www.un.org/en/events/peaceday/2013/resources.shtml

Resources for Culture of Peace and Non-Violence | UNESCO
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/bureau-of-strategic-planning/themes/culture-of-peace-and-non-violence/selected-references/education-and-peace/

Education Resources | Peace One Day
http://peaceoneday.org/resources/


Education for Peace: International Day of Peace by G-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.