Op-Ed: "Learning for Lasting Peace"

We live in unprecedented times of global crisis. The interconnected impacts of global climate change, mass disinformation, income inequality, xenophobia, discrimination, racism, and acts of hate continue to dominate our news cycles and impact our daily lives. As we mark the United Nations sixth International Day of Education, it is important to reflect upon the challenges we face and the role of education in shaping our shared futures.

This year, we are asked to consider the theme: “Learning for lasting peace”. This call recognizes that peace is not obtained through further physical, social or economic violence but rather is built intergenerationally through sharing. This recognition was reaffirmed in the revised 2023 language of the 1974 United Nations Recommendation concerning Education for International Understanding, Cooperation and Peace, and Education relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. In part, the 2023 language “…reaffirm(s) the important link between education and the achievement of peace, human rights, and fundamental freedoms…” (UNESCO, 2023). The declaration further calls upon the critical role of education in addressing the root causes of conflict and stresses the “…responsibility… to respect, protect, and promote the right of all persons to education, and ensure that it is… inclusive, accessible and equitable for everyone…particularly for children… affected by armed conflict, occupation, disasters and other crisis.” (UNESCO, 2023)

As we consider the enormity of the task in which education is assigned, it is understandable that formal and informal educators worldwide often feel overwhelmed. Add to this the realization that external interests often assert considerable pressure on education in support of specific social, economic, and political agendas, it is reasonable for individual educators to feel buried in a sea of challenges with no clear path to facilitating the desired impact. How then, as we contemplate learning for lasting peace, do we in our own personal and professional efforts support this goal?

As we contemplate this question, we should perhaps remember that we are never alone in such an enormous undertaking. Like a colony of ants, our individual efforts may seem trivial however our combined efforts can change the landscape. One small example of collective focus related to the goal of learning for lasting peace involves the recently created REACH partnership.

SFU’s REACH Partnership brings together researchers, practitioners, students, NGOs, families, and others around a common commitment to understanding and meeting the inclusive educational needs of perhaps one of the most marginalized populations on Earth: Displaced children with dis/abilities. This non-hierarchical open partnership strives to understand and directly support the inclusive educational needs of this population through sharing interdisciplinary expertise within international contexts. The REACH partnership serves as a community of practice, where ideas are shared, projects are conceived, and learning is distributed freely in a common effort to support inclusive education for this highly complex and diverse population. The partnership’s informal motto is ‘Changing the world, one child at a time’.

To this end, one SSHRC funded project within the partnership brought researchers from Canada, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Turkiye and the United States together to participate in site visits related to the inclusive education of refugee children with dis/abilities. The project team visited schools located within the Za’tari refugee camp in Jordan and exchanged ideas regarding the inclusivity of education at that location. Additionally, the team visited inclusive public schools educating refugee children with dis/abilities in Ajloun, Jordan and Canakkale, Turkiye. Earlier visits saw project teams visiting Canada and Kazakhstan to better understand inclusive education of displaced children in those regions. These site visits provided crucial context to better understand the experiences of refugee/displaced children with dis/abilities while also facilitating an exchange of ideas regarding the inclusivity of contextual educational activities within these settings.

During the most recent trip, the team also participated in a project related research symposium hosted jointly through the REACH Partnership and Istanbul University. Located at Istanbul University, 29 researchers from a variety of global locations shared their work related to dis/ability and displacement. Several researchers from SFU participated in this hybrid symposium including Dr. Inna Stepaniuk, Dr. Susan Barber, Ms. Niyesh Pazoki and Ms. Spozhmay Oriya.

As reminded by the sixth International Day of Education, learning for lasting peace must remain a primary focus of educators worldwide. Indeed, educators drive efforts toward this focus through the vast diversity of teaching and learning content and approaches each apply to their efforts daily. The task is enormous, and as individuals, the goal may appear unattainable. Together in combined effort however, incremental change takes place, one child at a time and that is worth celebration. Happy International Day of Education!