EDUCATION FOR INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING
Level of difficulty: 3
Recommended age:
When I Grow up...
>14 years.
Objectives:
• Gain an understanding of
military actions and their
implications on civilians.
• Debate which kind of
military is most preferable,
if any.
Summary: Students engage
in discussion on the role of
the military by miming.
Time: 40 min.
Lesson Type: Indoors or
outdoors, quiet.
Group Size: 8 or more.
Materials:
Photocopies of job descriptions (see the Appendix).
Instructions
One by one, ask students to select a job description and mime it for the class; ask the class to guess
the job. Next, have those students miming read out their job descriptions, then ask the class to ask
questions about how the job might be different if the military did it. Sample questions: If the job were
done by the military, would it convey values of war? Might economic resources for civilians be redirected? Might civilians doing those jobs feel unsafe if the military took them over? Once discussion
on one job has ended, have another student mime his or her job, and so on.
Debrief and Conclusions
Questions: Of all the jobs in the lesson, which would be done better by the military? Which worse?
Ask students to summarize the implications for civilians if the military were to take over various
civilian jobs. End the discussion by highlighting various points from discussion, such as arguments
for militaries being illegitimate in principle, playing major parts in society, being useful for limited
periods of time or concrete operations, and being able to do everything civilians can. Further questions: Which of these positions most accurately reflects the situation in this country? What should
the position be here?
Tips for the facilitator
To make the lesson more life like, and because the military does indeed operate in a number of civilian roles, have students wear soldier costumes when they mime their jobs.
Get involved
Source: School for a Culture of
Peace (2009). Juegos de paz: Caja de
Herramientas para educar para una
cultura de paz. Madrid: La Catarata.
There are many initiatives to limit the influence of the military. The campaign “Prou investigació
militar” (“Enough Military Research,” http://www.prouinvestigaciomilitar.org/col_labora.htm, in
Spanish and French) asks scientists to pledge not to conduct research for military ends. The campaign involves writing letters to university presidents and asking them to commit to the campaign.
The campaign “The Right to Refuse to Kill” supports conscientious objectors. It alerts the world to
violations of the right to object through mass emailing, letter writing, and faxing. You can subscribe
to their alerts listserv at http://lists.wri-irg.org/sympa to participate in protests.
The campaign “Reclama la base” (“Take Back Bases”) fights to close military bases in Spain. Every
year it organizes marches on military bases throughout Spain in an effort to return military bases to
civilian control. http://www.antimilitaristas.org often has information on upcoming marches.
Some groups have begun to ask militaries to refrain from advertising at educational fairs (http://
Programme Education for Peace - School for a Culture of Peace - pr.educacio.escolapau@uab.cat
laguerranoesunjuego.blogspot.com, in Spanish) or to organize protests to counter Ministry of Defence recruitment propaganda.
Forces de Pau No Violentes (Forces of Non-Violent Peace, http://www.forcesdepaunoviolentes.org, in
Catalan) works to create non-violent bodies as alternatives to armies, and are open to participation
from individuals interested in working in areas of armed conflict.
Programme Education for Peace - School for a Culture of Peace - pr.educacio.escolapau@uab.cat
EDUCATION FOR INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING
Appendix When I Grow up...
(one job per student)
&
Scientist.
Fireman/woman.
Educator.
Humanitarian NGO.
Bomb-Disposal Operator.
Mapmaker.
Since 1998 the Spanish military has conducted research
into the effects of climate change on humans and of
the long-term effects of eating canned food on living
organisms.
As part of the course “Citizenship and Human Rights
Education,” the military wants students to be positive
and commit to peace by arguing it offers defence as a
civic service and citizens should be aware of and appreciate this.
A more specific job of the military is to find and deactivate explosives and mines found in Spain and surrounding bodies of water.
The Spanish Air Force maintains 15 Canadair airplanes
owned by the Ministry of the Environment. The airplanes
are used to fight forest fires. The army also assists in
rescuing people in air or marine accidents.
The Spanish military participated in humanitarian-aid
missions to assist Iraqi Kurdish refugees in April 1991,
to reconnect communication lines in Honduras and Nicaragua after Hurricane Mitch in 1998, and to set up and
manage a refugee camp in Albania in 1999.
The military’s Geography Service and the Air Force’s
Photography and Cartography Centre are joint operations
responsible for developing military maps for all of Spain.
This work is used heavily by civilians.
Police Officer.
Identify, detect, and monitor illicit merchandise, i.e.
contraband tobacco or drugs entering by sea.
Source: www.soldados.com and www.mde.es (for the Educator job, in Spanish), created by the Ministry of Defence.
These websites aren’t always comprehensive. The Ministry of Defence, for instance, doesn’t mention that police duties include intercepting migrants
Programme Education for Peace - School for a Culture of Peace - pr.educacio.escolapau@uab.cat