“If you want to reach peace, teach peace” Pope John Paul II
In recent times, we have noticed at least four compelling invitations to participate in the transforming power of nonviolence on our planet.
- Pope Francis in Nonviolence: a Style of Politics for Peace, his message for the fiftieth World Day of Peace, January 1, 2017
- The international Catholic Nonviolence Initiative, calling for an affirmation of the vision and practice of active nonviolence at the heart of the Church
- The World Council of Churches calling for ecumenical engagement in promoting just peace and addressing violence at many levels.
- The Global Campaign for Peace Education, seeking to foster a culture of peace in communities around the world.
We started dreaming about every Christian faith-based school in Australia being provided with an invitation and opportunity to teach Peace and Nonviolence by the year 2020.
This dream was shared initially with the Anglican Schools Commission of Western Australia (ACSWA) and grew into an application to the Australian Research Theology Foundation (ARTFinc) in July 2017 for a small grant to fund the development of a ‘prototype’ Year 10-12 Religious Studies unit entitled ‘The Theology and Practice of Peace and Nonviolence’ (LA PEACE AND NONVIOLENCE 1 – Unit 090318). This was then trialled in a number of Anglican High Schools in WA during the first half of 2018 at Year Levels 10-12. A report from the trial indicated a very affirming and encouraging response from teachers and students (Ang Schools WA Feedback summary June 2018 bmk).
Alongside this early development, we were joined by two additional collaborators, Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA) and Catholic Education South Australia (CESA), to co-sponsor a gathering of passionate peace educators from around Australia in Adelaide in July 2018 (2018 Nat Peace Ed Gathering BoP final).
Some of the key Action Plans are already underway and there is strong intention to support the expanding, worldwide movement for Peace Education to become an integral part of mainstream curriculum.
We currently offer a number of Professional Learning and retreat programs.
- Jesus and Nonviolent Peacebuilding – Introduction
- Skills for the Journey – Introduction
- Sustaining Spirituality and Practice – Going Deeper
- Teaching Gospel-centred Nonviolent Peacebuilding
- Nonviolent Action for Justice in the Great Turning Time
- We can also design programs specific to context.
Our hope is that Christian faith-based and other schools, and school systems, will find the experiment timely, relevant and attractive. We wish to share what we are learning with whoever has passion for teaching peace in Australia.
Further information from…
Brendan McKeague mckeaguebrendan@gmail.com 0429 448 090
Michael Wood spacemaker62@gmail.com 0435 065 326