Growth towards Peace and Environmental Responsibility. From Theory to Practical Implications. Publication Series B. Theory into Practice 67.

Overview & Synopsis

This report presents the results and activity ideas created by a peace and international education project. The project implemented and evaluated activities suitable for primary school pupils over a three-year period. The goals, contents, and methods presented are those of peace and environmental education. The teaching suggestions, methods, and activity ideas are based on knowledge and research results in developmental and sociopsychological studies and on moral education. The report discusses the meaning, functions, and impact of peace and international education. Peace and environmental education are discussed from the following perspectives: integration, general pedagogical principles, implementation possibilities, and new learning theories and practices. The report tries to answer the question of how to create the values, attitudes, and skills that make people act for peace and global survival. The document discusses structural violence and education for positive peace, human rights, experiential learning, cooperative learning, promoting moral growth, growth for tolerance, promoting empathy and altruism, and learning for cooperation and non-violence in the areas of peace and environmental education. Environmental responsibility is broken down into sensitivity to nature and environmental education, and environmental education as a part of formal education. The project found that teachers needed to have a positive attitude towards new ideas in order to create a new model of teaching. Problems of implementation can be alleviated somewhat by keeping all the staff and parents informed of all the new activities. Cooperative learning and learning games helped increase pupils' self-esteem, moral development, and critical thinking. (DK)