Peace Studies brings to life a part of History that is rarely discussed. It brings forward an untold part of History that we must know if Peace is to be a way of life. The Cultures of Peace have been a Big part of the story around the world. The History of Peace Studies and the Action of Peace Studies begins Now .
RAIN Network has developed a new Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution Community Education Program and curricula which is available both online and as printed study guides and workbooks, in Spanish and English. Go to http://www.rain.org to review our work.
The Peace Studies, Social Justice and Conflict Resolution youth and community adult education classes offer a strong focus on peace education resources of value to regional Government Agency staff as well as to the community. The Peace Education Program strengthens peace education activities by providing new learning resources which teach ways to build and sustain peace, and establish a solid foundation of social justice
The curriculum accomplishes this by providing learning resources to reduce violence, enhance personal integrity and foster mutual respect. The intention of the Peace Studies program is to create a model of shared Peace Learning activities between rural communities in multiple Nations which we believe will then be expanded to create a Network of Peace and Conflict Education which draws on the skills, and experiences of rural community residents in many regions.
We believe that rural communities have a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience which can add in a valuable way to Peace Studies work relevant to residents in rural and urban areas around the world.
The Peace Studies curriculum teaches Conflict Resolution and Prejudice Reduction. The curriculum includes Internet Video instructional units which involve participates in documenting issues which create an important focus on local success stories in peace making as well as creating visibility for issues of peace and social justice which need to be dealt with.
The curriculum makes materials available for teachers, military personnel and regional Government staff focused on the causes of violence within the community and the processes of peacemaking, and the conditions which make peace and social justice possible.
Participants not only learn important peace making and conflict resolution skills, they also go away from the study will new skills in Internet video development that will permit them to continue the work long after the grant is finished. The curriculum teaches problem-solving skills which can change the climate of their schools and neighborhood. The video and web materials provide the materials for people to use to then go out and teach their friends and family.
RAIN Network has delivered a Peace Education and Conflict Resolution curriculum to over 35,000 4th-12th grade students since 1995 through funding provided by the USDA, the U.S. Department of Education, and private Foundations. RAIN Network’s Peace Works Project has received poems and stories of peace learning from young students in 20 different countries since 2004. RAIN Network’s Peace and Social Justice Studies program features special units prepared with the assistance of Dr. Robert Muller, Dr. Harvey Wheeler and Dr. Chris Landon.
The Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies program introduces participants to the study of conflict transformation. The curriculum is designed to provide the practical tools needed to work on issues related to Peace and Social Justice as well as Conflict Resolution. Specifically, the curriculum introduces tools for the analysis of conflict, offers training in the methods of conflict resolution, imparts ethical, moral, and philosophical insights into the process of creating peaceful social change and provides opportunities for experiential learning through internships working with RAIN Network’s Youth Technology Corps creating video documentaries and serving as Mentors in their local communities.
The curriculum provides resources for the study of Conflict within the community along with the theory and practice of Conflict Resolution, and Nonviolent Social Change. Each unit of the curriculum is accompanied by a video unit presenting discussions and practical examples of the area being studied.
The curriculum has the ability to expand each participant's awareness and understanding of how the practice of nonviolence can dramatically improve the quality of their life. As each person incorporates the practice of nonviolence into their day-to-day approach to life, they impact their friends, family and their entire community. The guiding principle behind the curriculum is that Peace encompasses respect of self and others, co-operation, trust, non-violence and a sense of caring responsibility towards the earth and society.
An important value to the program is that through the video learning units there is a potential for positive impact on the wider community, outside of the classroom and home, to include State and Federal legislators, regional Government Staff and regional Peace Keeping agencies. The curriculum gives special attention to peace education for adults providing lessons in little-understood elements of human cooperation, such as trust, altruism, and sacrifice, as well as the study of how violent collective action is rationalized and routinized as nation-states conduct police actions within their own borders and war with other nations.
Peace Studies has been part of RAIN Network’s online learning curriculum since 1994.
We have been building Peace Studies resources and hosting a yearly Peace Poems Project which has students from around the world sharing poems about Peace.
If you have a Poem or Story to share or want to read what others have sent in from around the world go to: http://www.rain.org/campinternet/peaceworks/ to take part in our PeaceWorks Project.
You may ask what does a Community Internet Network have to do with Peace Studies?
Its simple. The “Framework” which goes to make up a Community’s idea, (or Ideal), of what everyone should expect as far as online and school learning tools and resources must include studies in the History of Peaceful Cultures and the Literature of Peace. Community Education Programs, Public Schools and Afterschool Programs must include Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution Studies, for young students, High School students and adults.
As we have sought to find ways to make use of new technology in order to help re-weave the fabric of the traditional, sustainable, American Community, we have seen many, many times how important it is that we help create an expectation of “sustainability” and an expectation of “peace” when we discuss the future of our “community”. Expectation, not “I wish we could” is the key here.
RAIN Community Network designed both peace studies and conflict resolution study units into our Smithsonian Award winning Camp Internet online program and our online HomeSchool program.
Let me share with you part of the introduction to the Peace Studies online class hosted by RAIN:
Throughout history People have always had to deal with problems of war and violence.
Today we deal with these kind of problems not only between Countries around the world but also in our neighborhoods and schools.
The Camp Internet Peace Studies Class will give you the Background, Vocabulary and Historical Insight to understand that peace is possible, that it has often been the normal condition of things.
During our study we will work to build skills which we can apply, in our classrooms or homeschools. We will learn about Tools which will help make each of us better able to facilitate or make possible Peaceful Communication and Interaction, (between different peoples and between people and the earth they walk on).
Your study of Peace this year is divided into 2 main units.
First is "The History of Peace Studies". This unit involves history, art and literature, economics and agriculture.
The second part of your Peace Studies is called "Conflict Resolution".
This unit involves the study of why and how to engage in Consensus decision making as well as how and when to engage in conflict resolution or mediation. Useful skills at school, in the community and at home.
Some of the vocabulary in our Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution classes will be complex words like "consensus". We’ll learn how important words like consensus can be in building peace. During our studies we will all learn new words, new communication skills.
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To explore our Peace Studies online class go to http://www.rain.org/peace-studies.
To explore our class in Transcendentalism go to:
http://www.rain.org/homeschool/history/transcendentalism.ht
Thursday, March 6, 2008
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