From Peace Education to Education for Spiritual Peacebuilding
Nina Meyerhof, EdD
Peace Education
Education comes from the word “educare”….meaning to bring forth. Education in former
years was used as a vehicle to occupy children during the industrial era. Education was
not till recently seen as the vehicle for individual success nor as the means of building the
culture of the future but rather as a baby sitting experience. Only in the great mystery
schools of historical past do we know that schools existed to educate for living life as an
ethical spiritual tradition. Today as we move into the technology era it becomes apparent
that educational institutions are seen as a mechanism for teaching and learning through
the downloading of information. This technological era can now also be seen as an
invitation to educators to finally be free from only passing on information and create a
new focus on the stimulation of the personal evolving development of the human being.
The human being as a participant in culture can be recognized as needing informational
strategies, having a basic foundation of given information, being stimulated to seek out
further information and develop personal potential and finally now also be recognized as
a positive contributing social member needing full exposure to tools for living a life of
meaning within a given society.
Schools, throughout times, became the main social institution for children and youth.
Today so many parents are forced to be out of the home for most of the day. Teachers are
the social service providers and become partially responsible for the development of the
value systems of those that they teach. Teachers work in clusters to form small societies
or daily communities in which children and youth interact with each other, learn about
their personal selves, develop interests and start to plan for their individual futures.
Finally, as a result, there is now a realization and demand for new models and new
curriculum to be developed that reflects the personal growth of the individual within the
group of developing life skills together. Many models are being created in response to
know and put into effect that we are addressing the moral development of the child and
youth in schools today. We recognize that it is not enough to say you received a good
education because you are informed.
Peace, as one of these constructs, and is not only an educational term but also a reflection
of the realization of where we are in the world today. As we consider our sisters and
brothers all around the world, we recognize we are not in right relationship to one
another. Our world is out of balance. The inequities are glaring. How dare we not be
consumed by what occurs for all individuals on this planet. When we speak of peace as
an educator we speak of an inner relationship to outer circumstances and hold in our
hearts the desire for absence of war. But peace is more than that. Peace means social
justice, personal right to fulfill one’s own potential, to live freely and to recognize one’s
relationship to all of life.
Peace education is part and parcel of a growing movement that has been called for by the
Nobel Laureates as a statement as humanity crossed over into the twenty-first century. It
was a time and an opportunity to assess the world situation and consider the future of all
children worldwide. Theirs was a sense that if the demand was new and was global that
this would begin to impact a world response. Peace education became a platform for the
potential of hope for a better world.
In the year 2000 it was declared the Decade of Peace and Nonviolence for Children of the
World. This was an official request from the United Nations and UNESCO and supported
by the many peace organizations. It offered educators the means for building a Culture of
Peace. Within this document the values expressed are:
Respect all life: Respect the life and dignity of each human being without discrimination
or prejudice;
Reject violence: Practice active nonviolence, rejecting violence in all its forms: physical,
sexual, psychological, economical and social, in particular towards the most deprived
and vulnerable such as children and adolescents;
Share with others: Share my time and material resources in a spirit of generosity to put
an end to exclusion, injustice and political and economic oppression;
Listen to understand: Defend freedom of expression and cultural diversity, giving
preference always to dialogue and listening without engaging in fanaticism, defamation
and the rejection of others;
Preserve the planet: Promote consumer behavior that is responsible and development
practices that respect all forms of life and preserve the balance of nature on the planet;
Rediscover solidarity: Contribute to the development of my community, with the full
participation of women and respect for democratic principles, in order to create together
new forms of solidarity.
Peace Education for a Culture of Peace
Education for peace is a fairly new phenomenon. Peace studies encompass the learning of
nonviolent communication, tolerance, acceptance of diversity and love as the basic law of
life. It is possible for education for peace to begin to initiate curriculum that reflects on
the deeper meanings of life and fosters the search to explore the student’s individual
entitled birth potential. It demands recognizing that information is acquired and only
exists as relevant if the individual is able to integrate this into knowledge. Learning
becomes predicated on self knowing. Presently character education, moral education,
and self esteem development are considered aspects of aiding in the individual reaching
this personal inner potential and becoming a valued citizen for peaceful coexistence.
It is my premise that within each of us is coded a very personal life intent and that when
this intent is activated then all externals become pliable for meeting the truer intrinsic
loftier needs of the individual. When a person can say I am this and I am that and I know,
then this individual can begin to express an ethical meaningful life. A deep sense of self
is the road to peace. The inner life intent is what drives us to our goals. It is in confusion
that we think we are that as personality. If we are able to reach into the inner recesses of
the self then this can become integrated with external life experiences for the totality of
the life experience. A person in right relationship to the inner self is able to step forward
and experience more objectively the world around the self and not react to the
stimulations of the moment.
Life ethics----to love one another as the self, to share and to care, to recognize the
interconnectedness, to live honorably, to be responsible and responsive all become a
natural pursuit of a meaningful self fulfilling life. A child who is open to this is a child
who is ready to find the inner resources that commands a way of being that stands out
within the masses. This is a child who has learned of the self in relationship to the greater
Self and is willing to walk a path of peace. Peace education and studies on all levels
furthers the possibilities for more peaceful societies.
Peace can be taught as a conceptual construct. Peace can be emphasized as a management
tool. Peace once examined not only as a word but rather a state of Being that offers the
individual a sense of being allows each to recognize one’s own unique particular destiny.
For this to occur one must establish a rapport with that focuses on the inner life. Peace
education is not the history of peace making but the capacity to create peace in one’s
environment while standing for truth and justice and self preservation.
To do this in a mainstream classroom it is necessary to develop a classroom with
guidelines that stresses that living ethics offers a meaningful life. If one is to draw a
lifeline one would realize at the end of a life the importance of existence is having felt
that one has served for a greater good beyond one’s own needs. Children can project
themselves into this future and think backward to begin to understand the importance of
living a life of virtue and in service to the others. Nothing is more fulfilling than to know
one’s life has purpose.
There are several techniques emerging that further the understanding of living in right
relationship to self and the world. A classroom is the microcosm of the macrocosm and
what we achieve there is what we may achieve in the world. As community communing
together there is a process which asks for Sociocratic Decision making allowing for
lateral empowerment and decisions made by consent. Lateral decision making versus
hierarchical imposition furthers a collective agreement and individual growth. Consent
means to be able to consent within the limits of agreement. Agreement is not consensus
bur recognizing the constituents. This permits each individual to be able to contribute to
each decision and be empowered to know their own mind as well as feel the importance
of being a contributory member of society.
For the interpersonal exchanges and recognition of another, Marshall Rosenberg’s model
called Nonviolent Communication stresses that each person’s request is a personal need
rather to be a judgment of the other. In the class one is encourage to self express learning
that the feelings and thoughts arise from within and are only stimulated by the others.
Most important is an evolving conceptual framework that deals with conflict. Until now
the method has been to use conflict resolution which implies resolving and releasing by
compromise. Conflict Transformation on the other hand recognizes that any conflict can
be transformed to its Highest potential and bring dignity and great spiritual answers for
all concerned. Peace then becomes a continuously evolving and developing quality of
relationship.
To enter the world with right intention and walk the Middle Path an individual must have
touched deep into the personal core of Being. Teachers are models who exhibit the
seeking for becoming more enlightened. Right speech and harmlessness by a teacher
offer possibilities for open dialogue about self. A student is offered this learning and
teaching model and often already knows that inner self. This process must not need be
through meditation though considered a fast process for seeking inner self knowledge but
also can be achieved through the written word, drawings, and examples of great heroes
who have chosen to be self-reflective and walk a path of personal conviction. Teachers
are the inspiration and model the values they espouse. Inspiring young people who most
often feel disenfranchised from society and lost in the sea of troubles when presented
with an educational platform that encourages self realization and an attitude of listening
to an inner voice most often can become the peacemakers of the future giving voice to an
inner calling.
Peace education is more than learning conflict resolution. To resolve conflicts often is to
create new subdued conflicts furthering that we are not able to trust nor walk in each
other’s shoes and experience the validity of the other. To mediate peace is to compromise
the mind for the sake of yielding or giving in or giving up. It has to be more than this.
What we do on the individual level we can do then on the collective level. Peace
education must be about finding the self and being heard while hearing the other.
It behooves us to recognize young people are the future and the skyline of this future
depends on the values we model. Values and ethics are not to be imposed but rather
inspired and defined. One voice, one heart and one humanity.
Limitations of Peace Education for a Culture of Peace
Peace Education stands for the potential of humans learning arbitration and mediation as
well as the idea that no longer is the bully theory of survival alive and growing. Peace
education is about making peace and being peace but is not about the true understanding
of the scientific cutting edge thinking that we are all interdependent and all in actually
one self co-existing. Peace education is in reality one more tool as a life skill in terms of
operating within the given system. The given system is that what we operate as schools.
This education is about personal survival and living skills and not about the collective
whole. It is still about the self.
If we are to build a Culture of Peace then we must impact not only the individuals in a
subject matter or teaching of ethical practices but must STOP the present system of
competitive drive and personal power ‘over’. A Culture of Peace is predicated not only
living ethics but the deeper understanding that we have this incredible opportunity to step
into the educational and inner understanding of deep living as a cosmic whole.
If we begin to realize that the depth of the potential that this Culture of Peace is
predicated upon, then and only then, will we begin to emerge as an evolving species with
cognizant skills of how to live as One.
We must no only learn for educational practices within the microcosm but for furthering
the reflection within our lives as a global entity. We must stand up and be accountable for
developing this Culture of Peace.
Spirituality as Peacebuilding for a Culture of Peace
To go further into the recesses of the Being beyond the teachings of the mind and into the
core of all living forms, we must also recognize that next to emerge for educational
structures will be the recognition that we need more for our own sustainability. We know
environmental issues are paramount and we know population is on the increase, we know
wars and misery exist and we can study these and make recommendations but are not
really addressing the core. This core understanding can be housed in the concept that
spirituality is the truest and only real educational tool for survival.
It is as if we are peeling away layers of an onion to come to the core of the universal
truths of who we are as a species and what is our true relationship to life. Our level of
consciousness demands that we act in accordance with these universal Truths or World
Ethics and no longer see ourselves purely for our personal greed and need. Inner Peace,
Outer Peace, One Peace….many pieces all being connected….the fragments creating a
whole greater than the sum of its parts. Education must begin to address and begin to
understand spirituality as it is no longer a religious term but a manner to build a unified
force field of one life living here on planet Earth.
Spirituality is defined as by many in so many ways yet saying the same in essence. As a
member of a group from The World Spirit Forum 2006 of Arosa, we developed the
following definition. Spirituality is a dynamic process of consciousness and an everevolving path that brings us in deeper touch with our whole selves, with one another,
with our diverse ecologies, the earth, our wider cosmos and the eternal source of all that
is. It is the common thread that weaves all life into a tapestry transcending borders into a
world of meaning, for love of life and for the understanding that all is interconnected and
at every moment we are co-creators of our realities.
Spirituality, as we understand from the deepest region of our heart, is the essential basis
of all being- the "Planetary Consciousness". Being aware of this consciousness allows us
to feel the connectiveness, the interaction and the alignment with all humanity, animals,
nature, economy as well as the cosmos, leading to ethical, holistic and responsible
thinking and acting beyond all personal, national, ethical or religious boundaries.
In addition, we need to understand that this consciousness is used to create our future,
and that is spirituality in action. This is the role of youth and the determination of how
our future sustainability could emerge. Spirituality in action is peacebuilding.
Peacebuilding is not peacemaking but the building of new models for life sustainability,
True stability is the ability to know, to do and to act based on Spiritual Law. The Law is
what is perceived internally is what is conducted externally. The Law is Love. Love saves
the All. Interdependence, harmony and justice create environmental stability within each
person and for the world at large.
Young people are the risk takers. Young people are the dreamers. Young people have the
energy to create and to destroy. Their present demands are only a reflection of our own
shortcomings. Allow young people to explore an inner life and examine the world as a
whole family of life. Children and youth will and can alter the course of our sequential
history that we have insisted upon to date. They can leave the past behind. They are the
culture builders. Let them create the Culture of Peace. Schools and educational
institutions must slowly adjust to recognizing that the spiritual nature of a human being is
absolutely necessary for the future of our planet. If not the young people will form
linking networks outside the frameworks of normal societal structures.
If a young person can feel the soul of the self and build on that knowingness with
knowledge and skills in an environment where others do the same, then living together
becomes a holographic form. We come into harmony with the Creator. We become our
own destiny. Our purpose comes into right relationship to the other.
World service is the outer manifestation of the inner realization that we are all One. As I
meet the other, I am meeting the self, as I meet the self; I have givingness for the other. If
I do not feel depleted and fearful of not having, I give and I receive and am in balance
with nature’s call.
The World Spiritual Youth Movement
In an attempt to recognize and foster this movement young people have started The
World Spirit Youth Council. This is a governing body for the young people to move into
a spiritual linking network outside the normal educational structure. The first of these
meetings was in Arosa, Switzerland to which 25 young spiritual activists with
humanitarian projects were invited to explore collaboration in consciousness. The retreat
was designed to offer a process that reflected going beyond individuality into universal
consciousness. Youth were selected not only on projects but also on the basis of
consideration of cultural differences, gender, age, and religion. It was quite clear that the
program was not to be created to linger in interfaith experiences but rather in the unity of
the human beings as a holographic form. This meant that although presently many
organizers in the spiritual movement are emphasizing the many religions. Taking turns
and sharing religious prayers and meditations were not to be considered living in the
spiritual experience. This program’s intent was to reach individually and as a group a
collective spiritual experience such as entering into a living unifying experience in spite
of the diverse religions and cultures.
The indigenous Native American practices of worship seemed appropriate to use as a
platform to further create an arena of respect on how to enter into the creativity of the
concept of a creator without using a great many religious and unfamiliar words. This
means that because the Native practices revere Mother Earth and Father Sky and all of
Life that the practice through simple ritual could encourage all participants to come
together.
It is for all to be accustomed to the ideas and understanding that all paths, meaning all
religions, lead Home. The Native path is about life on earth and Home is here rather than
in the Sky. We examined as many religions intent as possible and combined these inner
intentions to give the needed steps to merge into wholeness as an example of a living
common humanity. If we can experience through dance and sacred songs and prayer and
meditation the universal understanding of our connectedness as consciousness, it seems
that only after this union can we begin to examine our differences.
This is a test. Test through the Fire…a simple spiritual truth for revealing the deeper
nature of the intent. So as we experience this unity we are able to start to dress in our
differences. This is backwards process from the normal mediation and conflict
transformation approach. In the normal peace provoking answering the constituents is
taught to look at how to come to wholeness…to find the underlying need…to discover
the point of unity…and find respect for the other.
But this is different. It goes from the opposite direction. There are no differences in
consciousness of the whole. The process to get there is there being the starting point. It is
about going where it is that we were before recognition of our differences into the
collective state of being or non-being dependent on the terminology one uses. So it
behooves us as educating facilitators to draw out and find and define processes that offer
this experiential knowledge into wholism.
From this wholistic understanding we can begin to clothe ourselves in a variety of our
custom making differences. We are women and we are men. We are Muslim, Jew, Sufi,
Bahai and Christian etc. We are American, Egyptian, Turkish, Swiss and Ghanaian etc.
We are lawyers, indian chiefs, bakers, street workers…..we dress in colorful clothes, in
shik clothes, in old clothes and we value money, values, power and all the affects of the
cultural experiences that we have been taught in so many unconscious ways.
If we are able to begin to look at this dance as clothing our exteriors to define our
differences then we can enjoy the process and say look at me. I am like a peacock
walking in the streets of life. As the young people feel this and see this, they begin to
release the problem of fighting for personal identity and experiencing self as a unit. The
self no longer seems to need the process of individuality to grow into the potential to
offer collective understanding.
From this point of understanding it is necessary to continue to hold this framework in
order that all problems may be examined from the point of totality. It was Einstein that
told us the only way to look for a solution is to look at the problem from the Higher
perspective. As a problem emerges, instead of taking sides or hearing sides, it is
imperative to look from above and see and hear the dualistic concern yet only see the
point of synthesis as the solution. This space that lives in higher consciousness is the
point of true collaboration.
These youth, at moments had this experience thus experienced the feeling to fall in love
with each other from the non attached state of beingness. It is a place where reflection of
full acceptance of self from the other occurs. This was a glimmer of the potential. On the
other hand, there were moments where they fell back into the form of believing in their
emotional definitions of self and needing confirmation of the singular “I”. As an educator
this is a further revealing for me to find additional ways to continue their process of
finding means to experience their spiritual selves.
This group is now forming local foci and programs are being developed for Japan, Nepal
as well as in Ghana. In addition a website for housing this movement will be structured as
‘The Wisdom Well’ for mentorship in spiritual activism for peacebuilding.
It is one thing to learn inner peace and another to learn about creating outer peace and
furthermore much deeper is to truly know that we are all One. Eventually this thinking
will be sprinkled through our educational systems. The young people are hearing a
call….they are not sure what it is…it is like a remembering. As a creator of forms for
experiential learning I see that they are feeling the sense of wanting to know and to be
and to reflect something deeper than what is usually offered. There is a knowing inside of
many who, when they find this, hear the call, and they become so committed to the
potential for real change that new models for system change can become real.
Spiritual peacebuilding is a manifestation of the new science into personal practice and
also at the same time the old basic Hindu truths in an adapted form.
If we are to find peace, we must be peace, and if we feel peace, then we must practice
peace and strive inwardly for an understanding of how this is to occur on the external.
We can not think that teaching verbal models of peace building can alter the inner life of
the person. We must learn that we no longer can blame others for the outward
manifestations of one’s life. One can not believe in personal needs and desires as the
transforming experience into peace. One must value the total life experience as an
educational process of looking for inner meaning for living life as a true human being. If
we are given consciousness, then this must be used as a tool for our existence. We must
no longer believe in the simplistic view that we are masters of our own fate and yet, at the
same time, we must help create our lives moment to monent. We must experience and
learn how we are living spirit and matter. It is for us as a species to direct this experience
into action for building a Culture of Peace.
Conclusion
It is time here on earth to hear the pleas of the world and recognize that underfoot is a
movement. Whether this movement exists within the educational structures or as an
independent non formal movement is ours to consider. This is akin to the civil rights
movement. It is a call and they will come. They only ask that there be a linking
mechanism so their voice be one voice of the many different shades.
Spirituality is no longer an estranged word. Spirituality no longer represents religion. It
stands alone as a word that reaches into the hearts of the young. It is the word that offers
hope and opportunity to go beyond status quo. The young people know and do not resist
as we do. They have the willingness to step into the age of peace through the door of
spirituality.
Having spent many years resolving and facing issues for the sake of the young and their
personal futures, I see the doorway to this next movement. As an educator, for me it
started with learning and sharing about self-esteem development and then moved towards
personal empowerment skills. It was the early days of recognizing the role of young
people as criteria for building a better future. This growth led me to know global
education as a form to further the esteem of one person could allow that person to begin
to experience another. In this mutuality, one could walk in another person’s so called
shoes. Multi-cultural experiences were one more way to know the world and create a
sense of mutuality and equity for all. This led educators such as myself to the United
Nations’ document on Children Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The right to have a participatory voice at their own political future-- for young people to
know that they are the future and in this future they must be able to participate. It was the
time of giving voice to show the world that as young people they could and would
partake in developing outcomes for their lives and the lives of others. Thus the need for
peace education began to emerge. It did not mean peace versus war but rather peace as a
state of being. Peace education slowly became the buzz word for young activists to gather
and network and appear on the scene.
Now it is time for spiritual peacebuilding. This is the ultimate state of inner
understanding of who we are and where we are going and how we must live as a global
society that wants peace, respect, understanding, justice, and survival on earth.
As educators we stand at a cross roads and are given an opportunity to remember our true
vocational charge and that this is a calling to build a better society through holding the
gates of modernity at a bay and bringing forth the voice of inner reason.
True stability is the ability to know, to do and to act based on Spiritual Law. The Law is
that which is perceived internally and is what is conducted externally. The Law is Love.
Love saves the All. Interdependence, harmony and justice create environmental stability
within each person and for the world at large.
The young people of the world are becoming linked and networked and they want
personal meaning and the survival of the earth. Already young people consist of over
25% of our world’s population. We are the educators bringing in the potential for
building a new culture. Build this better world-- build a Culture of Peace.
Promoting peace is an honor and a privilege.