The purposes of education in peacebuilding: Views of local peace actors in diverse (post-)conflict societies

Abstract

Education has increasingly been recognised as a key component of peacebuilding. However, there are multiple meanings of education in peacebuilding and unresolved questions about whether education can contribute to building peace. This study used creative and qualitative methods to engage with local peace actors in conflict-affected societies to understand their perspectives on the purposes and possibilities of education in transforming conflict and building peace in their communities. We find that local peace actors believed that only particular kinds of education can support sustainable peacebuilding. As the findings show, education should have two key focuses to support conflict-affected societies to achieve peace: transforming people’s attitudes, values, and behaviours and transforming and building inter-group relationships. Such education should be offered in formal (e.g. schools) and non-formal (e.g. community-based) settings and align with the values and principles of the culture of peace and nonviolence.