What can be learned from looking for gender differences in peace education data? Lessons from a Bahá’í-inspired undergraduate course

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite attention to the importance of the role of women in peacemaking, there is a curious gap in the peace education literature in gender differences research and study of the specific impact of peace education on girls and women. In this article, we explore some of the reasons for this trend and propose that looking for differences is important to maintain awareness of gendered experiences, the settings in which they exist, and those in which they are absent. Further, we suggest that the principles underpinning the approach to peace and peace pedagogies, in this case Bahá’í concepts of human nobility, the equality of women and men, and the oneness of humanity, and related discursive values, help to foster ‘equal benefit’ environments. We describe our exercise of disaggregating pre- and post-course responses from a Bahá’í-inspired university peace education classroom of twenty students, findings of overall similarity, and particular themes in some women’s responses. Finally, we discuss the lessons learned from an exploratory stance: developing an approach to discourse analysis that focuses on pedagogical insight, the creation of an ‘equal benefit’ learning experience, drawing out strengths and building new capacity in the classroom, and using student perceptions to improve research and practice.