This month’s issue of the Global Campaign for Peace Education features an article I wrote, The 7 Blossoms of Peace Education. Thanks to Tony Jenkins for providing me with this opportunity. It is an honor to have the chance to share this framework with other peace educators around the world. Continue reading to see the full text of the article and take a look at how I approach and understand my work as a peace educator.
Posted in Writing/Blogging
Tagged 5 sphere of peace, 7 blossoms of peace education, agreements, betty reardon, circle processes, Colman McCarthy, community, community building, conflict resolution, Daniel Golman, education, Elise Boulding, emotional intelligence, energizers, global campaign for peace education, history, howard gardner, Howard Zinn, Ian Harris, icebreakers, James Loewen, Kingian Nonviolence, Martin Seligman, Mary King, multiple intelligences, National Peace Academy, nonviolence, peace, peer mediation, restorative justice, SEL, talking circles, theatre of the oppressed, Tony Jenkins
I recently returned from a week-long advanced seminar in Kingian Nonviolence. While I was there I started seeing a lot of connections between principles of Kingian Nonviolence and principles of yoga that my wife, Alyson has been teaching me.
When I got home from this seminar I immediately sat down and read the Yamas and Niyamas, which are two of the eight branches of yoga. Alyson had encouraged me to read about these before attending the seminar and I wish I had because there is a lot of valuable crossover. This post is an email I sent out to the other 9 seminar participants upon returning home and reading the yamas and niyamas.
Posted in Education/Training
Tagged ahimsa, aparigraha, asteya, brahmacharya, ishvara pranidhana, Kingian Nonviolence, Martin Luther King, niyamas, nonviolence, santosha, satya, saucha, svadhyaya, yamas, yoga
This past week I participated in a week-long, intensive exploration of Kingian Nonviolence. The concepts, philosophies, and experiences that both informed and grew out of the Civil Rights Movement, helped advance an understanding of nonviolence – an understanding very much rooted in the vision and experimentation Dr. King brought to the struggle, hence the term “Kingian Nonviolence.” After he was assassinated, those who had worked and organized alongside Dr. King set out to codify Kingian Nonviolence into a curriculum so that it could be carried on to the ensuing generations. This curriculum was developed by two prominent civil rights activists and leaders who worked alongside Dr. King in some of the movement’s most powerful nonviolent campaigns in Nashville, TN, Albany, GA, Chicago, IL and other communities across the US. These two men are Dr. David Jehnsen and Dr. Bernard Lafayette.
This past Saturday I attended a full-day workshop called, Walking Toward Community – A Restorative Justice Approach, with Dominic Barter. The workshop was held at the Quaker Meeting House in Dupont Circle and it brought together a great group of about 50-60 participants, some of whom I had met from other such events. The workshop was sponsored by the following organizations: DC RJ Network, DC Peace Team, The Peace Alliance, Shambhala Center, Critical Exposure, PeacexPeace, Little Friends for Peace, and Pax Christi.
I am somewhat familiar with restorative justice practices, and utilize elements of the practice, such as the talking circle, in many of my courses, but this was the first time I had an intense introduction to restorative justice specifically. I was not too familiar with Dominic Barter (restorativecircles.org), but I soon realized why many in the RJ field consider him to be one of the best RJ practitioners in the world.
This week in the Kingian Nonviolence Book Club, we discussed The Trumpet of Conscience. It was a fascinated discussion and it became very clear how prescient Dr. King was in recognizing social problems and ills that were emerging and on the horizon during his times. On the one hand, this book was inspiring in that he does provide creative ideas and motivation for addressing these problems. On the other hand, it was clear that not enough people have read Dr. King’s words or taken his ideas to heart since many of the problems he identified over 50 years ago have only gotten worse. Continue reading to see the questions we discussed and excerpts from the book that speak to those questions.
Posted in Books
Tagged Dr. King, Kingian Nonviolence, Martin Luther King, nonviolence, peace, The Trumpet of Conscience, war
This past Friday I was a panelist for the “Faculty Face Off” session at American University’s Social Learning Summit – a 2.5 day conference organized by AU’s Social Media Club that looks at the current and emerging role, trends, and a techniques of using social media tools in learning and education. I was joined by moderator Meghan Foster, and panelists Scott Talan, Jim Quirk, and Stef Woods. In the spirit of the summit, my reflection on the experience will be organized by tweets that members of the audience shared during the discussion.
This week I had the opportunity to give a presentation and lead some exercises around peace education with a group of 35 high school students (9th and 10th graders) from two schools in Queens, NY. They were visiting DC as part of a Global Kids trip. Global Kids is an “educational organization for global learning and youth development – works to ensure that urban youth have the knowledge, skills, experiences and values they need to succeed in school, participate effectively in the democratic process, and achieve leadership in their communities and on the global stage.” This was a unique and valuable experience for a number of reasons I will outline below and I very much appreciated the time I got to spend with the students.
