• Introduction

    The Courses available in the Peace Education Platform are the resultant work of the Project Mainstream Peace Education in Schools (aka Peace Schools), co-funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ Program, Key Action 2, Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices/Strategic Partnerships for school education.

    The Project springs from the following core points:

    • Peace and Respect for Diversity are Core Values of the European Union, fundamental to the development of the individual and to ensure social cohesion and societal welfare.
    • In a rapidly changing world and increasingly diverse societies, specific cultural skills and competencies become more and more important for young adults to participate successfully and effectively in increasingly pluralistic and complex environments.
    • Globalization and technology have brought many challenges to our societies, marked by their potential to deepen inequalities and thus lead to an increase in social conflict, community and cultural identity-based tensions and unrest.

    In this scenario, schools find themselves in the frontline of these challenges, as more and more classrooms are composed of students with increasingly diverse social, cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds.

    Considering that actuality the majority of researchers agree that creating a Culture of Peace in schools requires a Holistic, Multidisciplinary and Multi-level approach, involving the entire school, all the learning environments and stakeholders, the main focus of Project Peace Education is developing a “Whole School” approach to fostering the development of the necessary social, civic and intercultural competencies through: 

    • Proposing an innovative and efficient methodology to assist schools in their effort in mainstreaming peace education through peace-responsive school policies and practices.
    • Integrating peace education and respect for diversity through the curriculum and teaching and learning activities, through the development of interactive and intuitive digital learning tools for schools that promote the acquisition of positive skills, values and attitudes in pupils. 
    • Develop the capacity of teachers in promoting peace and respect for cultural diversity among students. 

    The tools and approaches developed and used during the development of the Project Mainstream Peace Education provide School Leaders and Teachers with a coherent but multifaceted methodology of raising awareness on important issues, and promote values, attitudes and skills conducive to peace and respect for cultural diversity.

    With this main focus in mind, Project Mainstream Peace Education has the following main outputs:

    1. The Mainstreaming Peace Education Training Course for School Leaders and Administrators

    As they are responsible for the development and implementation of administrative, instructional and curricular policies and practices, this training course aims to provide them with the necessary step-by-step guidelines for the development and implementation of peace-promoting school policies and practices

    2. The Mainstreaming Peace Education Toolkit for Teachers and Educators

    Being this group of professionals who need to effectively translate their knowledge about peace and respect for cultural diversity into concrete learning approaches and activities, and that can guide pupils to pursue peace as individuals and as part of the community, this toolkit aims at developing their capacity towards promoting peace and respect for cultural diversity among students. 

    3. The Mainstreaming Peace Education Guide for Parents and Families

    Aiming to support the Parents and Families in the efforts of promoting their children in the acquisition of knowledge, values and attitudes, remembering that most of these important references are acquired outside of the school environment, especially at home, and this way, including the wider community in the coordinated effort of creating and maintaining a culture of peace and tolerance.