Peace Education and Active Global Citizens

Peace Education provides us with the Attitudes, Skills and Knowledge we need to become agents of change, both locally and globally. In other words, to become Active Global Citizens.

It looks at local and global issues that are relevant to all countries, recognising that Peace can mean much more than the absence of war. In fact, Peace Education encourages us to look at a wide range of issues and helps us gain a better understanding of:

• - our own identity within the local and global community,
• - basic human rights as well as forms of exploitation and injustice,
• - conflicts and how they can be caused, prevented and resolved, and
• - sustainable solutions for environmental and development issues.

Having the opportunity to make friends with people from different backgrounds and life experience can also play an important role within Peace Education. This is because it encourages us to examine our own attitudes and values, which in turn helps to broaden our perspective of the world. It also helps to raise our self-awareness and our awareness of others.

Many of the issues within Peace Education are also found in what is often called Development Education, Intercultural Education and Global Citizenship. You can find more information on the similarities and differences between these in our Big Education Guide (Big Ed).