Education for Global Survival: Reflections Based on Some Swedish Experiences and Examples. Peace Education Miniprints, No. 33.

Overview & Synopsis

This document which reviews peace education as the subject was presented in Sweden in the later 1980s. The paper argues for a stronger commitment to peace education and approaching the subject from the perspectives of the unique, the absurd, and the relevant. The contemporary era is unique in that humanity now possesses the means to reify apocalyptic myths about the end of the world. Absurdity is identifiable in the gross social inequalities that exist in the world. What is relevant, even central, to education is the future of humanity and the world. Peace education in Sweden sheds light on workable models and strategies. The Swedish National Board of Education (NBE) highlighted curricular areas in which such concepts as human rights and peace have a strong position. The NBE also published service material on peace education and cooperated with international peace organizations. It is unclear what programs will survive the NBE's replacement by the National Agency for Education. Efforts in support of global survival must combine knowledge, feeling, and action. Amid war, overpopulation, refugee problems, and other crises, the current generation must realize that it has the knowledge necessary to solve such problems. (Contains 18 references.) (SG)