Peace Education in Different Countries. Peace Education and Debate. 81.

Overview & Synopsis

An attempt was made via an international questionnaire to procure information about the current situation and debate surrounding peace education in different countries. After a presentation of the questionnaire's background and composition, some general characteristic features from the response are shown. Then, a more concrete picture of the status of peace education in different countries is given through a series of illustrative responses from letters and documents. It is observed, among other things, that many countries do not have any recommendations on peace education in their official texts for schools. On the other hand, active work on this topic has begun in several countries, so it is now possible to talk about an increasing official recognition and legalization of peace education. It is often seen as a controversial topic, and the lack of research-based knowledge is quite marked. There seems to be a need to spell out more concretely the various educational goals of peace education in order to clarify agreements and disagreements. (Author/DB)