Ellis Brooks, peace education and engagement coordinator, working on a strategy with pupils. Photo: Michael Preston for Britain Yearly Meeting.
Learning through peace
Peace education was the subject of a recent conference held at Friends House
Britain Yearly Meeting staff were among those who led sessions at a national conference for primary schools on peace education, which was held on Friday 24 June at Friends House.
The theme of the conference was ‘Learning through Peace’, and the eighty delegates included head and deputy head teachers, other staff involved in peace education, school governors and children from two schools who acted as ‘roving reporters’ throughout the day.
The workshops included: ‘Creating and embedding a values-based culture’; ‘Developing inner peace for children’s well-being’; and ‘Interfaith tolerance and respect’.
Isabel Cartwright, peace education programme manager for Britain Yearly Meeting, explained why Quakers are hosting this event: ‘The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations earlier this month, called for the UK government to intensify its efforts to tackle bullying and violence in schools, including through teaching human rights and improving students’ conflict resolution skills.
‘This is why initiatives such as the Peaceful Schools Movement are so important. It’s civil societies’ way of helping teachers, governors, parents/carers, students and others, to inspire each other to take new steps to build a culture of peace. The Movement encourages schools to work towards building peace at all levels, from inner peace, to inter-personal peace – providing children with the skills to handle conflict constructively – to engaging in wider issues of peace and social justice.’
