Teaching peace and conflict: the multiple roles of school textbooks in peacebuilding

Abstract

authors clearly ground their work in robust theories and frameworks to revisit the intertwine of peace and human rights. The authors are also successful in provoking us, the readers, to accept the idea that PE and HRE are non-separable, and therefore they need to be taught together that peace cannot be gained unless justice is served first. However, from the pedagogical dimension, implementing PHRE may not be easy. Even as an independent field, teachers are still struggling in teaching peace and human rights in the classrooms. Their pedagogical practices are mostly based on personal perceptions with a lack of legal knowledge and an uncertainty to overcome daily injustice or racism (Osler and Skarra 2021). It is also difficult to ask the students to keep in peace, while they are also taught to fight for their basic rights. We know that conflicts and wars are mostly caused by injustice or the imbalance in rights distribution affecting the absence of peace within this situation. In other words, it is difficult to put peace and human rights side by side. As a teacher myself, I imagine the practice of PHRE is a practice of pouring water and fire at the same time: (almost) impossible. Despite these concerns, this book is essential for those within the fields of PE and HRE. Future researchers, policymakers, and activists can use the book as a starter for them in deciding future studies and making educational policies. Although it might be challenging, teachers and practitioners from various educational contexts and settings may find it a useful resource, particularly as a practical guide to teach peace and human rights together in the classrooms.