Constructive Conflict Pedagogies for Peace with Justice and Democrary: Comparative Perspectives and Teaching Resources (Fall 2023)
September 6-8, 2023
About the Conference
The broad objectives of this initiative are to facilitate dialogue and collaborative inquiry among scholars and educators regarding how to enact difficult pedagogies and teacher development for democracy and peacebuilding, especially in formal education (schools) serving non-affluent youth, in a range of conflict-affected contexts. To this end, participants will analyze contrasting exemplars and institutional factors enabling constructive conflict (in) education pedagogies, inside and beyond classrooms, that respond to different kinds of conflicts, conflictual relationships, and contexts. The goal is to derive both scholarly clarity (theory and evidence) and practical teaching resources (exemplars and explanatory scaffolding).
The centerpiece of the project will be a two-day international academic workshop. As a follow-up to the workshop, scholarly papers will be revised and published in an edited volume, and practical educational materials will be made widely available on a teaching resources website. Specifically, to mobilize and synthesize knowledge about core principles and exemplars of teaching and teacher development for sustainable democratic peace, the objectives of this proposed scholarly workshop are to collect, compare and contrast responses.
Wednesday, September 6
6 p.m. Welcome Reception and Dinner
East Dining Room, Harvard Faculty Club, 20 Quincy Street, Cambridge
Thursday September 7
Room 205, Harvard Faculty Club
8 a.m. Continental Breakfast
8:30 - 12:15 / Peacebuilding (in) Education, Responses to Direct and Systemic Violence
Workshop introduction and agenda review
- Kathy Bickmore and participants
60-minute workshop: Pedagogies of Belonging
- Sarah Dryden-Peterson (Harvard Graduate School of Education)
15-minute chapter highlights
- Nurturing Democratic and Agentic Youth Engagement Amidst Social Conflicts and Violence under Tyranny
Najme Kishani Farahani (University of Toronto) - Pedagogies to Confront Conflicts Associated with Inequity: A Case Study in the Context of Teacher Training in Context of Violence and Social Vulnerability in Mexico
Paloma Ramirez-Palacios (Centro de Investigacion y Servicios para la Educacion y la Formacion, Leon, Mexico) - "Follow the Child": Unveiling Peacemaking Mechanisms in the Montessori Environment
Yomna Awad (Toronto Metropolitan University) - Living Violence, Teaching Peace: Enacting Peace Education in Bogota, Colombia
Michelle Bellino (University of Michigan School of Education, USA)
Discussant-rapporteurs
- Paula Mantilla-Blanco (Columbia University Teachers College)
- Jennifer Emelife (OISE, University of Toronto)
12:15 - 1:30 Lunch
Room 212, Harvard Faculty Club
1:30 - 4:30 / Difficult Histories Education across Identities toward Justice
60-minute workshop: Dealing with Conflicted Heritage: Implications for Teaching and Learning
- Constadina Charalambous (European University Cyprus)
Papers:
- Equipping Students with a Usable Past in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Natasha Robinson (University of Bristol UK) - Developing Pedagogies Truth: Teacher Education and Intergenerational Dialogues amidst Ongoing Conflict
Maria Jose Bermeo (Universidad de los Andes, Colombia)
Diego Nieto Sachica (Dialogos Improbables, Colombia) - Exploring a Case of Controversial School Murals through Deliberative Dialogue
Judith Pace (University of San Francisco School of Education)
Discussant-rapporteur
- Orelia Jonathan (Harvard Graduate School of Education)
5 p.m. Group Dinner
Maharajara Restaurant
57 JFK Street, 2nd Floor, Cambridge
6:30 p.m. Participate together in a local-transnational pedagogical exemplar
Little Amal is a 12-foot-tall puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee, a symbol of human rights. From September 7th to November 5, 2023, Amal will journey across the United States to animate lots of local arts and popular education events. On Thursday September 7, Little Amal will begin her USA journey in Harvard Yard (https://walkwithamal.org/ )! Our group is invited to be part of the Little Amal welcoming activities at Harvard.
Friday, September 8
Room 205 Harvard Faculty Club
8 a.m. Continental Breakfast
8:30 - 12:15 / Democratic Issues Dialogue and Engagement Pedagogies toward Justice and Decolonization
Workshop check-in, agenda adjustment if needed
60-minute workshop: A Collaborative Deliberative Framework for Critical Harmony and Transformative Hope
- Li-Ching Ho (University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education)
Papers:
- Learning to Teach about Conflicts: An Experience in the Education of Future Elementary School Teachers in Chile
Gabriel Villalon Galvez (Departamento de Estudios Pedagogicos, Universidad de Chile) - Decolonizing Assessment: Indigenous Maternal Praxis as Peace Building
Jennifer Brant (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at University of Toronto) - Student Voice, Deliberative Competencies and Democratic Communities: The Possibilities and Challenges of School Participatory Budgeting
Daniel Schugurensky (Arizona State University)
Discussant-rapporteurs:
- Catherine Pitcher (Harvard Graduate School of Education)
- Maria Vamvalis (OISE, University of Toronto)
12:15 - 1:30 Lunch
Room 212, Harvard Faculty Club
1:30 - 4:30 / Theory-to-Practice Deliberations and Final Working Session
1:30-2:30 Critical deliberation theory-to-practice small-group sessions
Participants in small groups (3-4, organized by learners' ages) apply insights and exemplars from this workshop by critiquing and suggesting improvements and expansions of a practical resource website (https:/ /www.oise.utoronto.ca/peacebuildingeducation) for teaching peacebuilding citizenship education for and with children and youth and in relation to school subjects
2:30-3:15 Reports-back from small groups, questions, and discussion
3:30-4:30 Final reflection session (full group)
Doctoral student rapporteur commentaries, reflections, and input on follow-up activities including edited volume