Voices from the field: teachers talk about strategies for peace and conflict resolution.

The strength of the field of education comes from the sense of community that we share in this endeavor we call teaching and in learning from one another. We learn both from those who see themselves as peace educators and also from those who see themselves as educators who seek to teach peacemaking to children. In this column, we bring the voices of teachers to our readers. In a focus group with teachers in early childhood programs and elementary schools, we listened to the teachers' concerns and their descriptions of what they are doing for peacemaking and conflict resolution.

First, we asked the teachers what needs they found as they work toward peace education and conflict resolution. All agreed that the primary need is for consistency. Children need to hear a consistent message in the school, home, and community. When children hear the same language and experience shared expectations across different contexts, learning is more meaningful. In school-wide efforts, each child, teacher, and administrator speaks and acts the message of respect or kindness. When these messages are shared with families, the learning is more powerful still. When there is no agreement about approaches to conflict or in day-to-day peace-building routines, however, good efforts go awry. When children are sent to the principal's office only to return with candy, other children view the trip to the office as a reward. Family advice to children about responding to harassment with violence ("hitting back" and "standing up for yourself") is inconsistent with peace-building expectations in the classroom. The community and the media also send mixed messages, calling for peace while implicitly accepting violence and the use of weapons.

The second pressing need that the teachers identified is communication. The consistency that is so greatly needed can only come about with communication. A school-wide program with a family component facilitates peace-building efforts. While it is not always easy to form relationships and develop effective communication with families, who may work long hours or live far from the school or do not share the teacher's language, such communication is vital. E-mail and class Web pages (for the families with online access), frequent newsletters, and informal notes home in accessible home language can supplement the back-to-school nights and parent meetings.

Next, the teachers described some classroom strategies. "Letting children in on the secret" was an inspiration for many of us. One teacher explained to her children that certain centers will have limited materials so that they can practice sharing. She also wants to counteract materialism and help them to begin to understand that the world has limited resources.

Peace Tables are becoming more common, according to the group. One teacher goes beyond class rules, working with the children to establish a "class mission statement ... that we discuss on a regular basis." She next plans to add a "Peace Patrol as a weekly job on our job chart. This person would act as a mediator when conflicts arise in the classroom."

One teacher of 5-year-olds has added a Feelings Helper to her daily helper chart and it has become "the most wanted job!" She explains that "when a child is upset, he/she is now seeking out the Feelings Helper for help. And the Feelings Helpers are always on top of anyone who looks or sounds upset! I saw two Feelings Helpers take a child to Rainbow Fish [the class peace place] and talk to him! It was great to observe how those two peacemaking strategies came together with the help of the children!"

Routine times during the day can be opportunities for children to "share personal thoughts or stories and may generate ideas [about] a particular question such as, 'Our class puppet, Mombo, is having a hard time making new friends; does anyone have an idea about what he could do to make new friends?' Valuable class discussions and opportunities for character building take place at times like these."

Peace Haiku is a strategy to integrate themes of peace with the reading and writing curriculum and gives teachers a chance to hear children's notions of peace.

Peace Love, harmony, care Not hate, not war, not fighting We can do it now Peace

Peace Quiet, accepting Caring, listening, strong Friends, strangers, everyone Together

Our thanks to the contributors to this column: Sarah Guerrieri, Katie Ayres, Charlene Cosentini, Stresa White, Jessica Bolton, and our teacher focus group of graduate students at Towson University. We welcome others' ideas and stories about peace education and conflict resolution for future columns.

--Edyth Wheeler, Towson University, [e-mail]

Aline Stomfay-Stitz, University of North Florida, [e-mail]

ONLINE RESOURCES FOR PEACE EDUCATION

Conflict Resolution Education: Four Approaches in Schools. Four basic approaches to conflict resolution with links to curriculum and program examples, www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr171.shtml

Peace 101: Montessori Peace Curriculum. Lists Montessori school peace activities and peace directory, www.montessoriconnections.com/ peaceeducation/classroom_curriculum.html

United Nations Cyber School Bus: Peace Education. History of peace education and links to peace education documents. Peace education for teachers as learners and unit plans for teaching peace for ages 8 to 14. www.un.org/ cyberschoolbus/peace/index.asp

What Is Peace Education? Basic Information-ERIC Digest. Background and history of peace education, www.ericdigests.org/19983/peace.html

World Peace Society--Australia: Lesson Plans. Ideas for peace programs and activities for ages 3 and up. http://worldpeace.org. au/schools.asp

World Citizen: Peace Education Communities in Schools. Connecting Educators Working Toward Peace. Articles, forums, and a message board for sharing ideas, www. peacesites.org