Attributes of a Peace Educator
Social Dimensions of Education
Chapter IV: Peace Education: A Transformative Response
To Major Societal Stages
“Attributes of a Peace Educator”
“The medium is the message.” This phrase - from the book: Understanding the Media by Marshall McLuhan - as used in a school setting, says that teachers has the ability to affect the lives of children. Students look at the teacher as a representation of what they should be in the future. The attributes, values, and actions of their teacher are the ones who can help them learn better. Indeed, teachers must be a good model for the qualities and skills that they will develop in their students. In order for a person to make a change into other, he himself must make the first change ( Lantieri and Patti:1996). According to Betty Reardon (2001), a globally renowned peace educator, the following are the attributes that a teacher of peace must possess: * A teacher of peace is a responsible global citizen, an intentional agent of a culture of peace, a person of vision, capable of hope and the imaging of positive change. * She is motivated by service and is actively involved in the community. * She is a life-long learner. * She is both a transmitter and transformer of cultures. * She is a seeker of mutually enhancing relationships that nurture peace and a sense of community. * She’s gender sensitive and alert to any possibility of gender bias in self or students. * A teacher of peace intentionally develops the capacity to care by knowing the learners in their charge as individuals. * She is an inquirer. * She has the skills of reflective learning through which she applies what is learned from teaching to deepen her own understanding of the students and the learning process. * A teacher of peace has the skills of communication and conflict resolution. * She practices cooperative learning by encouraging cooperative learning tasks and discouraging negative competition or in-group
Chapter IV: Peace Education: A Transformative Response
To Major Societal Stages
“Attributes of a Peace Educator”
“The medium is the message.” This phrase - from the book: Understanding the Media by Marshall McLuhan - as used in a school setting, says that teachers has the ability to affect the lives of children. Students look at the teacher as a representation of what they should be in the future. The attributes, values, and actions of their teacher are the ones who can help them learn better. Indeed, teachers must be a good model for the qualities and skills that they will develop in their students. In order for a person to make a change into other, he himself must make the first change ( Lantieri and Patti:1996). According to Betty Reardon (2001), a globally renowned peace educator, the following are the attributes that a teacher of peace must possess: * A teacher of peace is a responsible global citizen, an intentional agent of a culture of peace, a person of vision, capable of hope and the imaging of positive change. * She is motivated by service and is actively involved in the community. * She is a life-long learner. * She is both a transmitter and transformer of cultures. * She is a seeker of mutually enhancing relationships that nurture peace and a sense of community. * She’s gender sensitive and alert to any possibility of gender bias in self or students. * A teacher of peace intentionally develops the capacity to care by knowing the learners in their charge as individuals. * She is an inquirer. * She has the skills of reflective learning through which she applies what is learned from teaching to deepen her own understanding of the students and the learning process. * A teacher of peace has the skills of communication and conflict resolution. * She practices cooperative learning by encouraging cooperative learning tasks and discouraging negative competition or in-group