Article Presented to the International Journal of Humanities and Peace (29 August, 03), Ed. Dr. Vasant Merchant.
Education, the Arts and Telecommunications
By Prof. Ada Aharoni
Professor Ada Aharoni is the Founder and President of “Iflac Pave Peace,” The International Forum for the Literature and Culture of Peace,” founded in Haifa, Israel, in 2000.
"The power of creation seems to favor human beings who love life unconditionally, and I am certainly one who does!" Arthur Rubinstein
Education provides an important context and channel for the respect and love of humankind and of life. The dilemmas that face the education system are a microcosm of the contradictions and struggles of the whole of society, and the attitude towards education has an important effect on society as a whole. In the light of the recent increase of fundamentalism, terrorism and suicide bombings that we are witnessing in various parts of the world, the promotion of the “unconditional” love of life and of humanity through education, is of central importance.
In trying to establish the dynamics that mark the interplay between education and society, we have to take into consideration that for this symbiotic interplay to take place fruitfully, a transformation of some of the aims and methods of traditional education is needed. The major one, is the creation and establishment of an effective global peace culture
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through all the channels and levels of education, that would stress the humane aspects of respect and love of life and mankind. Schools and colleges are suitable forums where ideals, culture, identity, ideologies and worldviews are formed. Curricula should reflect and make sense of the central events that mark our era, and address the necessity of the building of an ethical and humanistic peace culture. This needed ethical reform could be greatly helped by the active and consistent use of telecommunications.
Various peace researchers and educators have created new programs, networks, websites and NGO’s, to promote various aspects of peace education and research, including the teaching of conflict resolution and non-violence. However the results of these new trends have remained as small pockets of oases in a global desert of a mostly violent culture. The growing boom and expanding dimensions of telecommunications offering various new opportunities and directions for the promotion of peace education and a humanistic approach to culture, have not as yet been explored or used enough.
International co-operation and cross-disciplinary peace studies and research, promoted by electronic technology and information services, could significantly enrich peace education and the creation of a global
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peace culture. Recognizing the importance of this new trend, UNESCO convened a conference on "The Impact of Information and
Communication Technologies on Teaching and Teachers,” to strengthen international co-operation in the pursuit of peace and international understanding (Khvilon, Patru, 1997). Many more laudable conferences of this kind should be convened and organized regionally and internationally.
The links and partnerships that are created through such conferences and through telecommunications, make it possible to integrate multicultural views, based on global understanding, cooperation and knowledge of each others’ realities. Teachers, parents, youths and
children, participating in widely diffused intercultural projects, through various programs and telecommunications, can acquire the potential to move beyond narrow ethnic and group identities, and to assume a wider identification as global citizens and as promoters of a global humanistic outlook based on peace culture.
One of the major values that should be diffused in such programs is the respect for life, and the condemning of the glorification and adulation of the “shahid – suicide bomber”, who commits a double crime against life when he blows himself up, just to murder as many innocent people as he
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can. We have unfortunately lately witnessed again two atrocious suicide bombings on the same day, first, in Baghdad, with the blowing up of the UN Embassy and the killing of 20 UN workers as well as the wounding of many others who had come to Iraq to help it recover. The second horrific suicide bombing was in Jerusalem, with the murder of 20 babies, children and their parents on a twin bus, and the wounding of more than 130 others.
The horror of these sad realities through telecommunications, reinforces the desire of the silent majority of peaceful and conscientious people young and old around the world, to put an end to such an outrageous contempt for life. Through widespread educational programs all over the world, the true face of the “shahid- suicide bomber” should be divulged, as he really is – a murderer of the worst kind, and far from being a “hero” as he pretends to be, and as he is presented to be in some extremist and fanatic circles.
Literature and the Arts in the Service of Peace Education Literature and the arts are some of the best tools for conveying these new humanistic trends, for they can attain the deep levels of consciousness
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that are required for the change in values and in customs to be effectively made.
Probably, no area of the curriculum in education in general, and in peace studies in particular, is more neglected than literature and the arts. They are seldom accorded a central role in the plans of those who develop educational policies and design school and college curricula. Why is it
that culture, literature and art are such an important part of our lives, and yet are quite neglected in education? This subject has received
relatively little attention and no serious and influential research has been conducted on the crucial role that literature and the arts can play in peace education.
Peace education utilizing literature and the arts as stepping stones, should become a crucial part of education, as it is a way of educating creative, imaginative, critical and self-reflective youths, and women and men, with commitments to values and ethics. Literature and the arts are also important sources for the promotion of ethical and liberal values. They are a means of fostering value consciousness, as well as sensitivity to lacks and deficiencies in the world around, together with a willingness to take creative action to build a better world.
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Peace educators need to organize and carry out programs and agendas that would give young people and children, as well as adults, a vision of what could be, a future view that would draw on their imaginations to create new visionary dimensions of a world beyond war and poverty.
Various programs, courses and workshops on these subjects have been carried out by peace researcher Elise Boulding in her "Image and Action in Peace Building" (Brock-Utne, 1995). An additional example is the work carried out by Professor Ian Harris with the teaching of nonviolence, conflict resolution and peace education in the Milwaukee Public Schools, and at the University of Wisconsin (Harris, 1995, and
“Peacemaking” 2002). Various Non Governmental organizations have also organized conferences, programs and workshops toward a “World Beyond War,” such as those organized by IFLAC: The International Forum for the Literature and Culture of Peace: in the Galilee, Israel – 1999, in Sydney, Australia – 2001, in London, England – 20002, and in Bursa, Turkey – 2003.
Tradition and Modernity in Education Education has a special role in mediating the transition between tradition and modernity. The traditional view of education is that it principally represents a vehicle for the transmission and reproduction of established
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values, and the passing on to the young of the accumulated wisdom and knowledge encapsulated over the years in the cultural heritage. However, what is needed at the start of this new millennium, is a different, modern view of education which would include a policy that creates and produces new values and norms, and not only transfers and transmits knowledge and customs from one generation to the other.
There should be a creative development of new contents, curricula, and peace values, that should inspire and influence all aspects of education. For instance, in the teaching of history, there should be an emphasis on the negotiations leading to the conclusions of Peace Treaties - as almost every war ends with a peace agreement - and not mainly on the waging of the wars. This would also have perhaps, an indirect influence on the abating of the violence in schools, which has augmented significantly in recent years.
It is obvious that violence in most cases arises from ignorance - mainly, the failure to understand the oneness of humankind, and the mistaken notion that force is the only way that can solve conflicts. Peace Education - ethical and cultural - is therefore a crucial necessity in today's world.
WOMEN
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Violence against women and girls is a disturbing growing phenomenon. Any attempt to curb educational and societal violence that does not educate individuals and the young to overcome gender prejudice will certainly fall short. At a time when illiteracy is increasing among women in certain fundamentalist parts of the world, and the rate of violence is surging, it is vitally important to emphasize the role of a culture of peace education which includes gender equality. Furthermore, strategies such as direct intervention in controlling violence in the schools and in society should be consolidated and reinforced.
The various programs of peace education in many parts of the world reflect the tension between preservation of traditional values and the need of change. They also reflect a struggle over what forces, ideologies, and religious influences, shall establish leadership over the new generation, and over how one is to define and assert national identity in the face of globalization. Universities in some parts of the world are unfortunately ideal recruiting grounds for fundamentalists. However, if colleges and universities become open and attuned to developing "Peace Studies" and "Peace Culture" curricula, fundamentalist influences and violent trends, could be abated and in time would disappear.
Culture addresses all ages and all classes all over the globe, and even when
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the cultures vary widely, there are some common desirable features that apply to many of them. One of the most important is understanding the necessity of establishing an educational and cultural agenda that excludes violence and promotes a culture of peace that would ensure the sustainability of the earth.
Culture and Creativity Dear Descartes, not only "I think therefore I am," but mostly "I create therefore I am!" Humanity will obviously become what our culture will be. The key lies in what we imagine and envision it to be, and in the ways we will go about to create it. Imagination is involved in all our perceptions of the world, in memory of the past as well as in envisaging of a future that is different and better than the present. Through the fostering of a peace culture and
literature, we can be brought to imagine previously unimagined possibilities.
The general purpose of a flourishing peace culture is to advance and develop a global consciousness that will enable us to function and create not only as citizens of our various countries, but also as global citizens. A true culture of peace entails the transformation of the present human condition where violence, conflicts, wars, and hunger are rampant - by changing
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social structures and the patterns of thought that have created it. Not only our future, but also our present depends on it.
Culture has in large, always been transnational, and it is likely to become more so as high technology communication links improve and travel increases. The innovations that are rapidly transforming the techniques of the arts, have gained a tremendous boost with the use of the television, satellite, Internet, and the computer. These communication tools are indeed bringing about extraordinary changes in the very definition and conception of the arts, culture and literature, and they can become a major force in "unviolencing" the global village.
One of the main questions that can be posed could be: "Is humankind able to self-organize culturally and ethnically in such a way that international law will banish wars and mass destruction?" The answer to this question is manifold. There are some signs recently, that it could indeed be so.
However, certain things have to be taken into account and carried out beforehand:
1. The culture of peace, counteracting violence and war, should be a top priority in governmental planning, all over the world, as it has become
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evident that conflicts and wars are caused not only by territorial claims, but also have an ethnic-cultural basis.
2. The development of a peace culture should be made part and parcel of intercommunications at all levels, including television and satellite programs, as well as an integral part of the curriculum plans and materials in the educational systems from kinder-garden through university.
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Development of research institutions on the Culture of Peace. The research could benefit the various levels of education by the publication and production of peace materials, and the generating of a new literature of peace.
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Departments of Literary Peace Studies should be nationally and
internationally established and empowered. These could promote the publication of periodicals and journals, including online Peace Journals.
5. It is also important to establish "Peace Museums," all over the world, which would organize, exhibit and present to the wide public the fruits of peace research, art and literature, as well as hold public lectures and
symposiums on the development of the global Peace Culture.
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6. Peace grants for research and the encouragement of the writing of peace literature, film-scripts, and plays, as well as the organizing of competitions, awards and prizes, could have an advantageous and high payoff.
7.
The translation of significant peace literature would constitute an
important step forward towards the creating of understanding, openness, and acceptance of a flourishing new era of peacemaking throughout the world.
8. Lives of heroines and heroes who can advance the culture of peace should be extensively studied and presented as models both in education curricula, and to the wide public.
9. Exciting
books, cassettes and videos for all should be produced,
presenting the various themes and aspects of peace, as for instance, the recently published book and ebook, Publishing, London), for young and old. entitled "Peace Flower" (Rowe
10.Peace literature and educational resources should be collected and studied in educational institutions, and disseminated through regional and global electronic media.
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Conclusion - I Create Therefore I am One can define the “culture of peace” as a culture of creation, in which promotion and maintenance of peaceful relations is considered as an important ethical value. The term peaceful relations refer to relations between nations, to relations between various sectors of the society, and to relations between individuals. In the present era of “economic globalization ”, a process of globalization and homogenizing of culture is also taking place. This process is developing rapidly as modern means of communication facilitate and intensify the contacts between the various cultures of the world. The building and development of a peace culture must therefore be considered at the global level, as well as at the local level. Peace culture involves, respect for people of all nations and all cultures and solidarity with all humankind. It implies openness to other cultures, and condemnation of violence in all its forms In order to build a peace culture it is often necessary to alter some deep-rooted attitudes. Prejudice against other populations and other cultures should be fought, and particular attention must be given to the attitude towards populations with whom there is a history of conflicts. The notion that “our” beliefs and way of life are the only worthy ones must be uprooted. Institutions that aim at building and promoting a culture of peace, can use various channels; the most important ones are peace education for all ages,
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non-governmental organizations, and peace museums. It is important to promote the creative ethical values associated with literature and the culture of peace, to encourage the creation of appropriate literary and artistic works, and facilitate global access to the best peace creations in all civilizations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY By Ada Aharoni
1. The Theory of Peace Culture, in Not in Vain: An Extraordinary Life, 218 pp, (Ladybug Press, California, 1998, Amazon.com).
2.
A Song to Life and to World Peace, ed. A. Aharoni et al. Posner and Sons, Jerusalem, 1993. ISBN 965-219-013-6.
7. The Peace Flower, 119 pp. (Ladybug Press, CA. 1999).
8. From the Nile to the Jordan, 146 pp. (Micha Lachman, Haifa 1999).
5.
(ed.), The Peace Culture, in Horizon: Pave Peace, IPRA Electronic
Magazine in the Internet (nos. 1-4, 1997 - 2000), and Pave Peace Through Literature (1), Online, October 1996.
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6. Saul Bellow: A Mosaic, ed. A. Aharoni, G. Cronin and L. Goldman; Peter Lang, N.Y., 7. N.Y., 1992. ISBN: 0-8204-1572-3.
Galim: New Waves Cultural and Literary Magazine 1 - 7, edited Ada Aharoni et al. Tammuz, Tel-Aviv 1985- 1996.
8. Waves of Peace: In the Memory of Yitzhak Rabin, Galim 8, edited Ada Aharoni and Judith Zilbershtein, - Ha Tichon, Shfaram, 1997. ISBN 965-222-774-9.
8. News Waves Peace Anthology, ed., (Galim no. 9), Lachmann, Haifa, 2000.
9. Horizon: Pave Peace,
Electronic Magazine, nos. 1 - 3. IPRA: The
International Peace Research Association, 1996 - 1998.
11. (ed.), Women, Children and Peace, Horizon Pave Peace No. 4, 1999, and Book.
12. You and I Can Save the World, A Collection of Peace Poetry, 99 pp. M. Lachmann, Haifa, 2000.
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13.Peacemaking
Through Culture: A New Approach To the Arab /
Palestinian - Israeli Conflict, 252 - 280 pp, Peace Studies from a Global Perspective: Human Needs in a Cooperative World, ed. Ursula Oswald Spring, 460 pp., Maadhyam Book Services, Delhi, India, 2000.
By Other Writers:
Mohamed Fawzi Deif. The Significance of Peace, 200 pp. The Nile Publications, 1995, Cairo University, Egypt.
Women In Conflict, Palestine-Israel Journal: Politics, Culture, (Jerusalem, Vol 2, No 3, 1995).
Economics and
Nimer Nimer, Meourav Aravi - Arabic Pot - Pourri: Chosen Literary Pieces ( Dept. of Arabic Culture, Ministry of Education, Nazareth, 1996).
Freddie Rokem, " Postcard from the Peace Process: Some Thoughts on the Palestinian - Israeli Co-production of Romeo and Juliet," (Palestine-Israel Journal, No. 5, Winter 1995, pp. 112-117)
Aharon Klieman, Constructive Ambiguity in Middle East Peace- Making (The Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research, Tel Aviv University, 1999).
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A Talk With Saul Bellow, IFLAC: New Waves - Galim 2000 - Peace Culture Anthology, no. 9, pp. 14 - 15. Shimon Peres, On the Way to Peace, pp. 13 - 14, IFLAC: Galim 9, 2000. Kofi Annan, On Humanitarian Intervention, The Hague Appeal for Peace Conference, 1999.
Paulo Coelho, Statutes 2000, Galim 9.
James Calleja and Angela Perucca, eds. Peace Education: Contexts and Values, 436 pp., UNESCO and the Peace Education Commission of IPRA the International Peace Research Association, 1999, Lecce, Italy.
Birgit Brock - Utne, Multicultural Education and Development Education, pp. 229 - 261, Peace Education: Contexts and Values, UNESCO and IPRA, 1999.
Blythe F. Hinitz and Aline M. Stomfay-Stitz, Cyberspace: A New Frontier for Peace Education, 383 - 407, Peace Education: Contexts and Values.
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Ian Harris,
What Culture of Peace?
36 pp. IPRA Peace Education
Commission, Vol. 2, Issue 2, July 1999, and Teachers' Response to Conflict in Selected Milwaukee Schools, in Peace Education and Human Development, University of Lund, Malmo, Sweden, 1995.
Jacqueline Haessly, Values for the Global Marketplace: A Quest for Quality with a Difference, 119 - 133 pp. When The Canary Stops Singing, ed. Pat Barrentine, BK Publishers, San Francisco, 1993. 9.
E.V. Khvilon, M. Partu, UNESCO's Mission in the Promotion of International Cooperation, in T.H.E. Journal 24, 6, 1997.
Betty Reardon,
Educating for Global Responsibility: Teacher Designed
Curricula for Peace Education, Teachers College Press, New York, N. Y., 1998.
Elie Wiesel, Speech delivered on the presentation of the Nobel Prize for Peace (Sweden, The Nobel Prize Foundation).
K. Yamane, A Peace Museum as a Center for Peace Education, in PEACE, Environment and Education 14, Winter 1993, pp. 23 - 35.
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Graphics: IFLAC Logo (attached to the article). previously by email.
Also, pictures, sent
AUTHOR Short Bio
Professor Ada Aharoni is a peace culture researcher, writer, poet and lecturer. She writes in English, Hebrew and French, and has published twenty three books to date that have been translated into several languages. She believes that culture and literature can help in healing the urgent ailments of our global village, such as war, conflict, and famine, and the themes of peace and conflict resolution are major ones throughout her works. She studied at London University and the Hebrew University where she earned her degrees in Sociology and Literature, and she has been has been awarded several International prizes and awards.
Wiesel E. (1986). Speech delivered on the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize (Sweden, The Nobel Prize Foundation). Women In Conflict (1995). Palestine–-Israel Journal: Politics, Economics and Culture, 2 (3). Jerusalem. Yamane K. (1993). A Peace Museum as a Center for Peace Education. Peace Environment and Education. 14 (Winter), pp. 23– - 35.
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