Educational Proposals
CreeSer and Peace
Violence
Violence is the exercise of power through force. It is present in all asymmetrical relationships where one party is defined on top and the other on the bottom and the one on top uses his power to abuse and control.
• Structural violence is rooted in the structures of society and it consists of predisposing the life situation of people and communities (economic, as a work force, socially) leaving them without the power to make decisions about their own life situations.
• Culture violence refers to aspects of the culture which support and legitimates the abuse of power and discrimination. For example the prejudices and stereotypes which are assigned to social groups.
• Direct violence is a reaction against abusive structures (structural violence), beliefs and habits it manifest itself through intentional and repetitive abuse. Various forms of direct abuse can be distinguished: sexual violence, patrimonial violence but above all physical, psychological and emotional violence.
Peace
If violence is abusive exercise of power, peace is the social process through which we can assure equality in the distribution of power. Peace means mutual influence and not dominion.
Culture of peace
The culture of peace is a collective learning process of habits, practices, codes, norms and beliefs based on values of justice, responsibility, liberty, cooperation, respect and tolerance; oriented towards inclusion of all people in the decision making process towards an equal distribution of power.
Why we are working for peace
We acknowledge the urgent need to educate towards the formation of citizens whose objectives are to learn to live together in the construction of a true democracy. In order to reach this goal we need an educational system that promotes inclusive and just tolerance; educating in peace means to educate in values pertaining to citizens, in a non violent culture and with the collective community in mind.
These are the reasons why CreeSer focuses on the schools with the objective that teachers, students and parents should become facilitators of the educational process which can transform conflicts into potentially creative resources considering always that peace implies:
· Peace with oneself
· Peace with the community
· Peace with nature
Fundamentals
Our theoretical basis has its foundations on three elements for the construction of a culture of peace:
1. Human security.
2. Creative conflict.
3. Positive peace.
Human security:
Human security refers to the need for guaranteed minimal indispensable conditions that give way to conviviality because it assures that ´people and communities have favorable conditions for collaborations.
If the minimal conditions for survival are not assured a situation of violence results and it can not be ignored since its solution is warranted in order that a culture of peace be possible.
Creative conflict:
As a society we have learned to use violence in response to conflicts; for this reason we may think it natural but violence is not natural, it is learned. Conflicts are part of the social aspect of the human condition and the greater the diversity in ideas, opinions and ideologies, the more conflicts
Conflicts arises due to contrasting interests among people, groups or countries. The problem is not the conflicts in themselves but in our way of dealing with them. If we have a positive perspective to the conflict it leads to change in the society.
Positive peace and negative peace:
Negative peace predominates in the western World; it emphasizes the absence of war, of direct violence and physical aggression. Peace is thus understood as “absence of war” and it consists of avoiding armed conflicts. Positive peace implies a low level of direct violence and high levels of justice.
Our formative program centers on the creation of social abilities which stem from a vision of positive peace.
To reach this goal we guide our actions on the basis of six axes:
Axes
The culture of peace has to be created through different social agents; including the school system because it constitutes an area that favors tolerant socializing oriented towards the construction of a culture of peace. Formally education for peace contributes references which are transversal which derive from the supports previously discussed. These are:
1. Development of social abilities.
2. Management conflict.
3. Gender and equality.
4. Human rights.
5. Ecological education.
6. Democracy and citizenship.
Promotion of social skills.
This objective aims at the development of skills and strategies:
- To create a group within appreciative and secure surroundings
- To enhance communication and the decisión making process
- To work with cooperation
This is better achieved when working in groups; the learning process is an inividual endeavour but it grows with dialogue; individual responsibilty is acted upon in cooperation; individual efforts result in shared accomplishments. To work within a group does not mean loosing one’s style and individuality but it is a means towards learning the benefits of a peaceful and democratic interaction.
The handling of conflicts
In order to resolve conflicts it is important beforehand to recognize that living together implies conflicts and these conflicts can hinder growth depending on the way they are resolved. We need to understand that conflicts are permanent elements of existence.
We require creative and solidary ways favored by surroundings where consensus, negotiation and respectful dialogue are enhanced.
In order to intervene in conflict it is necessary that we separate three aspects which are present in all conflicts: the people involved, the process or the way to deal with conflict and the problems or needs- as well as conflicting economic interests.
We must deal with these with upmost sensibility towards the people involved in the problem; we must be fair and just as participants in the process of dealing with the problem; and unrelenting with the problem itself when considering personal needs. If this is not taken into account it is common belief that it is the other person who has the problem and as a consequence also that he or she herself is the problem.
Gender and equality
Gender refers to the socially defined differences between the sexes. It implies elements of culture, ideology and socialization which contribute to these differences.
Every society sanctions behavior and abilities which are considered proper to each sex. The work for peace implies continuous transformation of society and its culture in order to better bridge the conviviality between the sexes without oppression and submission.
It is important to work from gender perspective in order to expose de inequalities and discrimination between the sexes and work towards the empowerment of girls and women.
Human Rights and the rights of children
Human Rights refers to the international norms aimed at the protection of the basic requirements which are necessary for the individual’s and the community’s development The liberties and faculties pertaining to each individual as a human being which must be guaranteed in order for us to lead a dignified life. These rights and obligations are independent of status, sex or ethnic and national conditions.
Our human rights are the basis from which to create the individual’s relationship to society. In the work for peace human rights guides our objective practice with people and communities, avoiding subjective and personal leanings.
Ecological education
The most urgent problems to humanity are of a planetary scope and they refer to nature and the search for solutions. The future of mankind depends mostly on our ability to respond to our planet with creative social projects and participation as citizens of this planet which aim at the common good
Democracy and citizenship
To learn to be citizens is to participate jointly under common norms towards the construction of a true democracy. To become citizens is a process generated through education and culture. It is learned and has to be taught.
Methodology
There are many ways to educate in the creation of a culture of peace. CreeSer has chosen a methodology taken from popular education.
Popular Education is a pedagogical methodology which promotes criticism, participation, dialogue and democracy; it generates knowledge and enhances joint participation and dialogue. Based on these fundamentals we must “analyze, question, compare, incorporate, construct and reconstruct proposals”.
The methodology of Popular Education is dialectical through a process of “action-reflection-action” or “practice-theory-practice” which conduces to a proper and conscious practice, permanently transforming and aiming towards a new society. As it stands there is no better methodology to work with violence in way that promotes nonviolence, empowers the actors, legitimizes and returns power, evidences and recognizes knowledge and contributions.
It is also a methodology employed in the education for peace and nonviolence base on various social, political and psychological elements which are here listed:
• Horizontal and group interaction
• Participative interaction
• Reflexive and vivencial interaction
• Ludic or game based type
• Gender perspective
This methodology is aimed at children, teachers and parents and each has its own space within the objectives of the proyect.
To promote significantly these processes means to guide, facilitate and recognize the validity of needs towards the construction of the projects. This means also to recognize goals in the search of change, respecting the collective process in the appropriation of resources, knowledge and powers towards transformations.
The characteristics of the process is:
• It begins with the point of view, interests, living experiences and needs of the participants.
• They recognize all formal and informal values acquired and they acknowledge the need for new knowledge.
• It contribuyes to the identification of the causes of the problems, questioning realities and generating positive attitudes.
• It promotes the search for creative and integrative solutions to the problems.
