Shaping resilience through peace education in schools: results from a case study in Nigeria
The mitigating role of education during an ongoing conflict is pertinent, yet curiously underplayed and under-researched. For instance, little is known about the conflict in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria and its effects on education. Schools have been burnt, attacked or shutdown. Children have been forced out of schools and girls violated, but this has not received adequate attention. Meanwhile, in the area of the study, Christian church organizations are playing an important role in conflict resolution and peace education. This paper explores how peacen education activities in the faith-based education sector in Nigeria provide resilience and protection for children and especially vulnerable girls. The research was conducted in the Middle Belt region as a qualitative study. It included 13 semi-structured interviews with leaders of Roman Catholic and Protestant church organizations. Findings show the two-sided nature of the relationship between conflict and schooling. On the one hand, peace clubs in schools offer safe spaces for mediation and trauma relief. On the other hand, everyday school life is still characterized by forms of social feedback that stir rather than curb conflict such as the use of corporal punishment and demand for obedience. Moreover, peace education offered in the chools under study pays little attention to the condition and processes of learning. Aspects such as the development of self-esteem, good learning climate, critical thinking, cooperative learning and decision making, which have been identified by research as key elements of peace education do not feature in the pedagogical framework of the schools. The paper concludes by underlining that further professional development for educational leaders in faith based (and secular) schools is needed to enhance schools' role in contributing to the resilience and the mental well-being of children in ongoing conflict situations. (DIPF/Orig.) ; Die entschärfende Rolle der Bildung während eines laufenden Konflikts ist relevant, wird aber ...