How The Language Teacher Can Participate In Conflict Transformation Through Classroom Teaching
Violence and conflict have drawn a lot of attention in modern times owing to the need for peaceful coexistence in communities.
One of the ways to manage conflict effectively is through conflict transformation.
Conflict transformation is the process of moving from conflict-habituated systems to peace systems.
A conflict transformation process can be achieved through several processes among them capacity building for peace educators, curriculum developers, trainers and learners.
The importance of the teacher is, thus, indispensable in this process because the teacher has the onus to play a crucial role in the curriculum implementation processes that lead to change in attitudes and behavior of the learners who in turn affect the entire communities and societies at large.
In view of these, let's look at how the language teacher can facilitate in the process of conflict transformation? First, language teachers can be ambassadors of peace in the country.
If the teachers are posted to teach in areas outside their home districts they can help to foster peace.
The mutual respect, humility, and willingness to learn one another's language will allow the teachers and pupils to reach across the barriers of age, culture, gender, geography, time, and even war, to heal the past.
In the classroom, the teacher can promote a positive and safe learning environment which is a prerequisite for peace, respecting the dignity and rights of all students.
By infusing the classroom environment and content, either explicitly or implicitly, with values of respect and tolerance for difference.
This should help students acquire new linguistic forms, intercultural awareness, and interpersonal skills.
Thus, they can begin to break down existing barriers and transform interactions, be they in the classroom, at work, in the community, or beyond.
In teaching vocabulary, reading, discussion, and writing,the language teacher can ensure that they revolve around the topics of peace and conflict.
In this case the teacher engages students with the voices and writings of international advocates of nonviolence like Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, Jr.
, and encourage them to develop critical and reasoned arguments for their personal beliefs about violence or nonviolence through debate.
Finally, the teacher can explore new ways of speaking with the students by experimenting with different forms of speech, such as debate and dialogue.
This is in order to compare and contrast the speaking and listening skills students employ, the impact they have, and contexts in which certain styles may be more useful or appropriate.
The teacher should also explore techniques such as Mediation, and Nonviolent Communication.
Therefore, language teachers can participate in conflict transformation by mainstreaming conflict transformation and peace building ideas in their content delivery inside the classroom.
One of the ways to manage conflict effectively is through conflict transformation.
Conflict transformation is the process of moving from conflict-habituated systems to peace systems.
A conflict transformation process can be achieved through several processes among them capacity building for peace educators, curriculum developers, trainers and learners.
The importance of the teacher is, thus, indispensable in this process because the teacher has the onus to play a crucial role in the curriculum implementation processes that lead to change in attitudes and behavior of the learners who in turn affect the entire communities and societies at large.
In view of these, let's look at how the language teacher can facilitate in the process of conflict transformation? First, language teachers can be ambassadors of peace in the country.
If the teachers are posted to teach in areas outside their home districts they can help to foster peace.
The mutual respect, humility, and willingness to learn one another's language will allow the teachers and pupils to reach across the barriers of age, culture, gender, geography, time, and even war, to heal the past.
In the classroom, the teacher can promote a positive and safe learning environment which is a prerequisite for peace, respecting the dignity and rights of all students.
By infusing the classroom environment and content, either explicitly or implicitly, with values of respect and tolerance for difference.
This should help students acquire new linguistic forms, intercultural awareness, and interpersonal skills.
Thus, they can begin to break down existing barriers and transform interactions, be they in the classroom, at work, in the community, or beyond.
In teaching vocabulary, reading, discussion, and writing,the language teacher can ensure that they revolve around the topics of peace and conflict.
In this case the teacher engages students with the voices and writings of international advocates of nonviolence like Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, Jr.
, and encourage them to develop critical and reasoned arguments for their personal beliefs about violence or nonviolence through debate.
Finally, the teacher can explore new ways of speaking with the students by experimenting with different forms of speech, such as debate and dialogue.
This is in order to compare and contrast the speaking and listening skills students employ, the impact they have, and contexts in which certain styles may be more useful or appropriate.
The teacher should also explore techniques such as Mediation, and Nonviolent Communication.
Therefore, language teachers can participate in conflict transformation by mainstreaming conflict transformation and peace building ideas in their content delivery inside the classroom.
